How Kay Votes On: Middle-Class Issues

The Drum Major Institute

According to their website, the Drum Major Institute (DMI) is "a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to challenging the tired orthodoxies of both the right and the left. The goal: progressive public policy for social and economic fairness."

Starting in 2003, DMI has issued a Congressional scorecard on middle-class issues every year. Their scorecard tracks how well Congress supports the middle class, from economic issues such as job creation, bankruptcy and the minimum wage, to other crucial programs, such as Medicare and Social Security. Sen. Hutchison's rating started low, and has gone steadily down from there.

Past Years: 2003 & 2004

For the 2003 scorecard, DMI focused on just six Senate votes. They included legislation on job growth, unemployment, home financing, overtime payment, job offshoring and childcare funding. Of those six votes, Sen. Hutchison voted in support of the middle-class four times, earning her a score of 67%. DMI graded on a curve that year, giving all the 67's a "C" grade. This would prove to be the highest grade Kay would earn from DMI.

The 2004 scorecard was comprised of seven votes, including legislation dealing with Medicaid, job creation, the legal rights of pregnant mothers, overtime pay, Pell Grants, pension funding and deficit spending. Of these, Sen. Hutchison voted against the interests of the middle-class on every vote but one (the Pension Funding Equity Act). This earned her an embarassing 14% grade from DMI - a score so low that no curve could bring it up from a grade of "F". However, that still gives her room to fall, which she promptly did the next year.

Most Recent Year: 2005

The 2005 scorecard shows the votes for the most recent complete session. This time, there were eight votes that made up each Senator's score. The DMI website has full details on Sen. Hutchison's bad votes, summarized here:

  1. Kay voted against authorizing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers to get the best possible bulk prices for drugs purchased under Medicare Part D. (Details...)

  2. Kay voted for a bankruptcy bill "written by and for credit card companies," which made it harder for debtors to get a fresh start after bankruptcy, from restricting the grounds for filing to making debtors pay more to creditors. (Details...)

  3. Kay voted for moving class-action lawsuits regarding state laws from state courts to federal courts, giving the advantage to corporations being sued, and making it harder for citizens to get a fair trial. (Details...)

  4. Kay voted for budget cutbacks in many crucial programs, from Medicare and Medicaid to college loan and foster care programs. (Details...)

  5. Kay voted for Tom DeLay's DR-CAFTA, a trade agreement expected to increase the outsourcing of U.S. jobs to Central America and erode wages of U.S. workers competing with poorly-paid Central American workers who lack strong labor protections and rights in the workplace. (Details...)

  6. Kay voted for energy policy legislation that rolls back Clean Water Act protections, provides massive subsidies to some of the world's most profitable companies and does very little to address either the causes of global warming or America's dependence on foreign oil. (Details...)

  7. Kay voted against legislation that would have raised the federal minimum wage from a poverty wage (currently $5.15/hr) to a level approaching a living wage ($5.85/hr in 60 days; $6.55/hr in a year; $7.25/hr in two years). (Details...)

  8. Kay voted against a "non-binding resolution that would have expressed the Senate's determination to address the solvency of the Social Security system while rejecting any plan that would require deep benefit cuts or a massive increase in debt." (Details...)

Kay voted against supporting the middle-class on every one of these votes. That's right, every one. That earned her an appalling 0%, a score so bad that even she can't get worse next year. Also note that half of those votes were within just a few votes - sometimes just one - of favoring the middle-class. If Sen. Hutchison had voted in support of the middle-class on any of those, it might have made a big difference to millions of Americans. But she didn't.

Bottom Line

The scorecard published by DMI is unique in that it covers a broader spectrum of legislation than more focused reports put out by other groups (like environmental and education groups, for example). But even on this wider range of issues, from health care to employment, from social services to college loans, Sen. Hutchison has received the lowest ratings, and is trending lower each year. If you're middle-class, as most Americans consider themselves to be, then you'd be better represented by just about anyone other than Kay Bailey Hutchison.