Long tops Akin, Hartzler on ‘Conservative Scorecard’

Rep. Billy Long (PoliticMo Photo/Natalie Preston)

— Freshman Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield, is Missouri’s most conservative member of Congress, says new report out by the Heritage Foundation’s political action group.

Long leads the pack with an 83 percent rating, voting against Heritage’s criteria seven times.

“With each vote cast in Congress, freedom either advances or recedes,” Heritage Action’s CEO Michael A. Needham said. “Heritage Action’s scorecard will empower Americans to hold their Members of Congress accountable to conservative principles.”

Rep. Todd Akin, R-St. Louis, scores second, voting against Heritage only eight times on things like agriculture subsidies and expanded funding for the Homeland Security Appropriations Act.

“We are tough graders and we don’t apologize for it,” Needham said. “After all, we are conservatives, not tenured university professors.”

The criteria includes voting for a state’s rights approach to education, repealing the Affordable Care Act, cutting funding for NPR, and support of expanded offshore drilling.

Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., scored last — behind fellow Democrats Rep.’s Russ Carnahan, Emanuel Cleaver, and Lacy Clay. McCaskill’s rating is five percent for her support of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

The list, in order:
(1) Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield., with 83 percent;
(2) Rep. Todd Akin, R-St. Louis, with 81 percent;
(3) Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, with 75 percent;
(4) Sen. Roy Blunt, R., with 72 percent;
(5) Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Columbia, with 60 percent;
(6) Rep. Sam Graves, R-Kansas City, with 58 percent;
(7) Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, with 44 percent;
(8) Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, with 14 percent;
(9) Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, with 10 percent;
(10) Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, with seven percent;
(11) and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D., with five percent.

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