Below are several screen captures that highlight our problems in the Republican Party. I have written several articles on TBE about the changes needed by the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV), and if interested you can go here, here, and here to read them.
Let’s discuss the first two screen caps.
The first picture is a listing from the Conservative Review of all Republican Congressional Representatives that are ranked from their lowest to highest Liberty Score. Conservative Review is an organization that provides their Liberty Score (Conservative Voting Record) for all Senators and Representatives that you can filter by state, party, and House/Senate. You can find the Conservative Review Scorecard here.
The interesting information here is the lowest Liberty Score for Barbara Comstock at 19%, and the highest score of 100% by Tom Garrett and Dave Brat. BTW: Dave Brat has been at 100% for the two terms he has been a Congressman. Tom Garrett is off to a good start.
This is Conservative Review’s list of Virginia’s Democrat Representatives.
Notice they range from 0% for Don McEachin to 17% for Bobby Scott. The take away from this is that the bottom of the Republican Caucus is the top of the Democrat Caucus. Essentially, the only difference between Barbara Comstock’s 19% and Bobby Scott’s 17% is that Barbara has an “R” behind her name. BTW: She is only 6 percentage points above Gerry Connelly at 13%.
SEVERAL OTHER OBSERVATIONS:
1. There is only one Virginia Republican Congressman that received a “C” grade (Morgan Griffith at 71%);
2. Grade of “D” for two Congressman Robert Goodlatte (67%) and Robert Wittman (65%)
3. A grade of “F” for Scott Taylor (50%) which should probably be ignored since he just took office.
4. Notice that Dave Brat and Barbara Comstock entered Congress at the same time (within a few days) and Dave’s consistent 100% with Barbara’s consistent “F” score over the same time period. What is the difference between these two Representatives?
5. Why aren’t all of our Representatives at least a “B+” or better? Is it too much for us to expect that our elected officials, that claim to be and campaign as a rock ribbed Conservative, have at least a score of a “B+” or better.
Please notice the little indicator under the column labeled PDF. When you are on the Conservative Review site, you will see the ten categories where votes are reviewed by clicking on that indicator. The Liberty Score uses the last 50 votes from these categories for the last six years. This is part of the transparency of the Representatives’ voting record.
The following are the categories used in determining the Liberty Score.
1. Budget, spending and debt
2. Civil Liberties
3. Education
4. Energy and Environment
5. Foreign Policy and Defense
6. Free Market
7. Healthcare and Entitlements
8. Immigration
9. Moral Issues
10. Taxes, Economy, and Trade
Below is a recently received fund raising letter from Barbara Comstock. I circled several areas to examine exactly what they mean.
1. The only reason Nancy Pelosi would want to take the 10th District of Virginia is she doesn’t think she can count on Barbara’s support when the Democrats try to impeach President Trump. However, with Barbara’s contemptuous lack of support for President Trump and a 19% Liberty Score, Nancy should not rule her out.
2. Obviously, the American People rejected Obama’s Liberal Policies, but with a 19% Liberty Score, Barbara did not. Conservatives do have a commonsense approach to fix the problems that were inflicted on America by Obama. Obviously, Barbara does not believe in this commonsense approach with her 19% Liberty Score. This is just another attempt for Barbara to campaign as a “Conservative” so that when she is reelected she can govern as a fellow Liberal Democrat.
Continuing to review Barbara’s fundraising letter:
3. Why would the Democrats consider the Virginia 10th District as a competitive district? The Democrats already have a “Democrat” at a 19% Liberty Score. There is a concept taught in Economics called Diminishing Marginal Utility. I know the Democrats think that economic laws don’t apply in the Liberal worldview, but how much more liberal a representative do they need that would justify fielding 8 candidates against Barbara? It seems to me that they are going to spend a lot of time, effort, and money to gain only a few percentage points of increased liberality.
4. In what universe is Barbara Comstock a Conservative Woman? She has alienated TEA Party Republicans, Libertarian Republicans, Traditionally Conservative Republicans, and Deplorable Republicans. Maybe she is counting on the ever shrinking group of Establishment Republicans and their duplicitous Democrat friends to insure her nomination.
It won’t be long before Establishment Republicans will wake-up and insist on our elected officials governing by the same campaign Conservative Principles that they use in fund raising letters.
Just in case you think Barbara is an exception to the rule, let’s take a look at several fellow Representatives with Liberty Scores similar to Barbara’s. She is in the company of her peers. In fact there are only two Republicans with a Liberty Score lower than Barbara’s.
| NAME | PARTY | DISTRICT | LIBERTY SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maxine Waters | Democrat | CA-43 | 29% |
| Adam Schiff | Democrat | CA-37 | 17% |
| Tulsi Gabbard | Democrat | HI-2 | 17% |
| Luis Gutierrez | Democrat | IL-4 | 21% |
| Bobby Rush | Democrat | IL-1 | 25% |
| Elijah Cummings | Democrat | MD-7 | 15% |
| Nancy Pelosi | Democrat | CA-12 | 11% |
| Shelia Jackson-Lee | Democrat | TX-18 | 14% |
My hope is that we defeat Barbara Comstock using her self-requested Primary. Currently, Shak Hill has thrown his hat in the ring for the 2018 Primary. I hope we don’t flood the Primary with many egotistical Conservative candidates. I would not be surprised by Barbara paying semi-conservative candidates to enter the primary to split the Conservative vote. One of the things she is counting on is winning the Primary by a plurality decision. We need to make sure we have a binary choice. Liberal Barbara vs a true Republican Conservative.
Maybe one of these days our 10th District Committee will be strong and independent enough that when we have a Representative so far out of step with the Republican Party of Virginia that we do not let her/him run as a Republican.
Also, maybe one of these days, all of our District Committees will expect that our elected officials maintain at least a B+ or better Liberty Score.
23 comments
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Outstanding work, Reagan George! Shine a light on Comstock and she runs to the next photo op in a controlled setting so she does not have to answer questions. Her staff in Sterling are a bunch of kids who cannot even take down address and phone number information. The Loudoun Board of Supervisors is exploring possible bridge sites in Comstock’s district you think she would be interested but no reply from her or her staff on the subject. Who would of thought that Frank Wolf was the good old days in the 10th? Does anyone think Shak Hill will phone in a town hall like Comstock, lol? Name a federal budget savings that Comstock favored, there ain’t none. Even John Whitbeck cannot defend Comstock’s votes so he avoids them and advocates for the republican brand. Shak Hill was a Cruzer and when Trump won the nomination he worked to help elect Donald over Hillary! Anyone but Comstock, please!
This is a ridiculous post — Barbara’s ratings include an “A” rating from National Right to Life, an “A” rating from National Right to Work, an “A” rating from NRA, and an”A” rating from NFIB (National Federation of Independent Businesses)…
Doesn’t sound like a Dem to me. Democrats have spent almost $20m trying to oust her. They wouldn’t have to spent $20 dollars trying to defeat Shak.
I addressed all of this in my article. Her score (17% – 19%) still makes her closer to being a Democrat than any brand of Rep[ublican. She thinks being a Conservative is like selecting dishes from an “all you can eat” buffet. That strategy no longer works and I hope she learns this the hard way in the primary.
Hopefully Shak Hill will defeat her in the primary and be our candidate. But even if she prevails in the primary, she is doomed in the general election. Enough Republicans are paying attention to her voting record to refrain from voting for her on principle. As you point out, a Democrat in that seat will make very little difference, and the damage done by sitting Republicans bad-mouthing our President and his policies is much greater.
How exactly are these numbers determined?
I would recommend you looking at the Conservative Review website for an explanation. If you don’t like the CR website you can try the Heritage Action site or the FreedomWorks site. Her score might vary slightly, but Barbara Comstock does not fare much better on these other sites either.
Morgan Griffith is a liberal?
Compared to Barbara Comstock he is a Conservative. Compared to Dave Brat and Tom Garrett he is a Liberal. Simple classifications are not the point of this article. The point is that the Republican Party is guilty of allowing low expectations of our elected officials. Some of this stems from the Establishment view of the party that we should ignore the voting record of Republicans. Set down and shut up and let the professional politicians govern us differently from the way they campaign. Those days are over and RPV should expect their elected officials to maintain at least a B+ Liberty Score.
Griffith is a mixed bag. He likes pork dedicated to his district and can’t always be counted on to vote against the grain of the GOP-e (i.e. his vote for Boehner as speaker and the lame excuse he sent to unhappy constituents). Then again, I don’t know that a 100% CR pick would have any luck out here. Griffith took his seat from a Dem, we’re heavily populated by working class Blue Dogs who feel the Dem Party left them.
Sometimes I wish we could appoint our govt reps from how well they score on a test of conservative principles and values, but that’s not how it works. I think VA is very fortunate to have two 100%ers. Can their success be packaged up and sold just as well in other very different districts? Kinda doubt it.
If Republicans actually want to be a diverse party returning it its roots in liberty – EMANCIPATING ENSLAVED PEOPLE OF COLOR – the so-called Liberty Score MUST also include the issues of ending UNJUST MASS INCARCERATION a mega-industry that rests historically and economically on disproportionately arresting, charging, convicting, and incarcerating men of color. Can you do that please? Many REPUBLICANS have endorsed that the Republican Party MUST take on that issues directly and with vigor. You cannot – NOT – pretend to be interested in LIBERTY without making a high priority the LIBERTY to be in the community and not confined away from community, neighborhood, and family .
Finally something we agree on.
Just to be clear. What do you mean by UNJUST MASS INCARCERATION of people of color? Are you complaining about the laws passed by the General Assembly and signed by a Governor, that people violated and were subsequently investigated by police, reffered to a Grand Jury, Indicted, Prosecuted, found guilty by a jury of peers, and sentenced by a Judge? Alternatively, are you complaining that the “people of color” were not guilty but were incarcerated anyway?
large-scale (large numbers and especially considering unrealistically disproportionate numbers)
impacting particular populations disproportionately, in large numbers, when considering all other factors – ‘holding other critical factors equal’ – a population that is incarcerated in large numbers and disproportionately to their sub-population size in the general population
example, persons with serious mental illness are disproportionately incarcerated (you’ve heard the phrase: ‘our jails and prisons are our largest mental health system, and a poor one to improve mental health’)
example, poor or working class persons without good financial reserves are disproportionately incarcerated when they can’t pay high fines and costs, regardless of the actual criminal act upon which the fines and costs are demanded
example, people of color or poor or working class status are disproportionately incarcerated for property crimes while high income people of any color are more likely to escape notice, escape charges, escape prosecution and escape incarceration (if only because of the quality of their legal defense)
etc
So justice should be meted out based on artificial classifications and their population quotas derived from leftist’s utopian ideals. Looking at the current general population of prisons and seeing that there are more people in prison from our protected classes, means that the justice system discrimates, not that those groups commit more crimes. It seems to me that Lady Justice really is blind.
we stated clearly
‘disproportionate’ ‘when considering all other factors – holding other critical factors equal’
e.g.
if we hold all other factors equal and find that – for some reason – persons with mental illness are disproportionately incarcerated – we must, as decent human being and citizen concerned for due process – WHY are persons with mental illness so much incarcerated
when we look at possible explanations we must assign some weight to their meaning and make decisions about procedural justice
e.g. if we find out that persons with mental illness have dysregulation of behaviors because they have not been property diagnosed and treated …. it is in society’s interest – in justice, and in cost savings, and in humane care – to do a better job of diagnosing and treating
that is but one example
so get off your priggish high horse foaming at the mouth about ‘artificial’ and ‘utopian ideals’ … sheesh! as bugs bunny would say …. ‘what a maroon!’
So what happened to all the mental hospitals that used to hold those with a mental illness? If they are in jail, chances are they committed a serious crime. Are you saying they were jailed just because they have a mental illness?
Many decades ago the budget cutting General Assembly set a policy – that was a good policy, overall – to take away the liberty of FEWER persons, i..e to DETAIN, in STATE CUSTODY, IN HOSPITALS fewer persons. BUT the GA DID NOT FUND services, housing, workforce training, support systems in the communities. And, now, as you should know, the Commonwealth is struggling through the results of those long ago decisions. Because as we know, jails and prisons are now the largest “mental health ‘facilities'”. BAD for LIBERTY – that Republicans claim to honor! and BAD FOR RESPONSIBLE BUDGETS – that Republicans claim to honor!
We can only hope for another “Dave Brat” moment where an entrenched RINO in the form of Eric Cantor was expelled from the House. Keeping the heat on this RINO until she can be expelled, will be critical.