Conservative group grades Alabama congressmen on their ‘courage to stand up to big govt.’

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May 12, 2015

WASHINGTON — The American Conservative Union, the grassroots organization most well-known for hosting the massive annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), released its grades for members of the 113th Congress this week, and Alabama’s delegation earned both approval and disdain.

“For 44 years, our ACU Ratings have been considered the gold standard in determining a Member of Congress’ courage to stand up to big government liberals and to stand strongly in favor of policy positions important to conservatives,” said ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp. “Our award-winning Senators and Congressmen are fighting to protect the rights and freedom of all Americans by honoring President Reagan’s three-legged stool of economic, national security, and cultural conservative issues.”

For receiving a grade between 80-90%, four members of Alabama’s delegation — Reps. Byrne, Rogers and Brooks, and Sen. Shelby — each earned the ACU Conservative Achievement Award. Sen. Sessions received the higher Conservative Excellence Award for scoring between 90-100%.

So, how did all of Alabama’s congressional delegation stack up?

House:

Bradley Byrne (R-AL1) — 88%
Martha Roby (R-AL2) — 56%
Mike Rogers (R-AL3) — 84%
Robert Aderholt (R-AL4) — 61%
Mo Brooks (R-AL5) — 84%
Spencer Bachus (R-AL6 now retired and replaced by Gary Palmer) — 72%
Terri Sewell (D-AL7) — 8%

Senate:

Jeff Sessions (R) — 96%
Richard Shelby (R) — 88%

In addition to ranking the Alabama delegation, ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp noted how several presidential hopefuls fared.

“Another interesting fact in our analysis is the stark reminder that Hillary Clinton is no moderate,” he said. “While many in the media portray her as more centrist than self-described Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders or fringe activist Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Clinton’s lifetime rating of 8.13 percent is within two percentage points from those extremists.”

Only one of the GOP’s presidential candidates scored 100% on the scorecard, Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Fellow hopefuls Rand Paul and Marco Rubio each received a 96%.