More than a dime's worth of difference

We have a new rating for legislators. It's the Economic Efficiency Score (Econ-E Score).

This score was developed as the Ph.D dissertation of Martin Kennedy.

In essence, representatives are given a percentage score based on how many times they vote in favor of laws that will yield more economic benefits to the nation than costs. A score of 100 would mean the legislator supported greater economic efficiency 100% of the time.

The lowest scoring legislator managed a score of zero; no one managed 100%.

The highest scoring House Democrats were Barney Frank (MA), Earl Blumenauer(OR), Ralph Hall(TX), and Charlie Stenholm(TX). They all scored 48%.

The highest scoring House Republicans were John Shadegg(AZ), John Sununu(NH), Tom Petri(WI), and James Sensenbrenner(WI). They tied at 87%.

In the Senate, Blanche Lincoln(AK) had the highest Democrat score at 64%, and Republican Richard Lugar(IN) had the highest Republican score at 91%.

Average Econ-E Scores by House and Party

Average Score	Rep	Dem
House	54	20
Senate	69	40

On the whole, the Senate is less sensitive to the pressure to bribe constituents with Federal pork, but Republicans are generally more disciplined than Democrats are.