(XPosted 2/29/2008 6:14 PM PST on MyDesert.com)
The Children’s Defense Fund’s (CDF) Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. CDF has never taken government funds.
Annually, the CDF Action Council compiles a Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard for U.S. Senators and Representatives. In the Scorecard, 100% represents an excellent voting record on children’s issues while 0% represents a terrible record in the estimation of CDF. Sen. John McCain ‘achieved’ a score of 10%, the lowest of any U.S. Senator. McCain supported only one CDF position, opposed one other CDF position, and voted ‘Not Voting’ on the other eight bills. Either McCain is anti-children or is yet another absentee Republican leader when it comes to important issues.
More below the flip…
In 2007, U.S. Senators were graded on their votes on ten different issues that CDF supported:
(1) 2008 Budget Resolution (Measure was Agreed To)
(2) Extend Health Coverage to 3.1 Million More Uninsured Children (Agreed To)
(3) Extend Health Coverage to 3.2 Million More Uninsured Children (Passed)
(4) Fund Child Health and Education (Agreed To)
(5) Give Children a Head Start (Agreed To)
(6) Help Youth Pay for College (Agreed To)
(7) Increase Funding for Education for Children with Disabilities (Failed)
(8) Increase the Minimum Wage (Passed)
(9) Protect Children from Unsafe Medications (Passed)
(10) Support Education for Children of Immigrants (Failed).
In 2007, 50 U.S. Senators, including 44 Democrats, 4 Republicans, and 2 Independents had excellent scorecards, that is, 80% or higher. The following Senators had excellent records: Blanche Lincoln D-AR (80%), Mark Pryor D-AR (90%), Barbara Boxer D-CA (90%), Dianne Feinstein D-CA (100%), Ken Salazar D-CO (90%), Joseph LIeberman I-CT (100%), Tom Carper D-DE (100%), Bill Nelson D-FL (90%), Daniel Akaka D-HI (100%), Daniel Inouye D-HI (100%), Tom Harkin D-IA (100%), Richard Durbin D-IL (100%), Evan Bayh D-IN (100%), Richard Lugar R-IN (80%), Mary Landrieu D-LA (80%), Edward Kennedy D-MA (90%), John Kerry D-MA (90%), Benjamin Cardin D-MD (100%), Barbara Mikulski D-MD (100%), Susan Collins R-ME (90%), Olympia Snowe R-ME (90%), Carl Levin D-MI (100%), Deborah Stabenow D-MI (100%), Norm Coleman R-MN (80%), Amy Klobuchar D-MN (100%), Claire McCaskill D-MO (80%), Max Baucus D-MT (80%), Jon Tester D-MT (80%), Kent Conrad D-ND (90%), Byron Dorgan D-ND (90%), Ben Nelson D-NE (90%), Frank Lautenburg D-NJ (100%), Robert Menendez D-NJ (100%), Jeff Bingaman D-NM (100%), Harry Reid D-NV (100%), Charles Schumer D-NY (90%), Sherrod Brown D-OH (100%), Ron Wyden D-OR (90%), Bob Casey D-PA (100%), Jack Reed D-RI (100%), Sheldon Whitehouse D-RI (100%), James Webb D-VA (90%), Patrick Leahy D-VT (100%), Bernard Sanders I-VT (90%), Maria Cantwell D-WA (90%), Patty Murray D-WA (100%), Russell Feingold D-WI (100%), Herb Kohl D-WI (100%), Robert Byrd D-WV (90%), and Jay Rockefeller D-WV (100%).
Five of 100 U.S. Senators had failing grades, that is, 20% or lower: Jim DeMint R-SC (20%), James Inhofe R-OK (20%), Tom Coburn R-OK (20%), David Vitter (20%), and John McCain R-AZ (10%).
Yes, out of 100 U.S. Senators, McCain ranked the lowest of any on the CDF scorecard, lower than any Democrat and lower than any other Republican. McCain voted ‘nay’ to Extend Health Coverage to 3.2 Million More Uninsured Children, a measure that passed in the Senate. McCain voted ‘not voting’ on all of the other bills except for Increase the Minimum Wage where he voted ‘yea’ on a measure that passed.
In comparison, Sen. Hillary Clinton D-NY obtained a 70% rating while Sen. Barack Obama obtained a 60% rating.
You be the judge.