Turns out that New York's members of Congress aren't all at the top of the class, but most are getting a passing grade, says the Drum Major Institutes's congressional scorecard website, TheMiddleClass.org. The site rates members of Congress based on their votes on legislation that has a significant impact on the current and aspiring middle class.
So how did New York's senators and representatives rate? Senator Chuck Schumer received a B and Hillary Clinton earned an A+. Schumer, it turns out, missed a vote on immigration legislation and voted wrong on a trade deal with Peru that would have moved American jobs overseas and brought down the wages of American workers. Clinton voted "with the middle class" on all of the bills. As DMI says of its grading,
"TheMiddleClass.org 2007 Congressional Scorecard takes a closer look at the decisions made by Congress, from the one-year freeze to prevent the Alternative Minimum Tax from hitting middle-class families to the filibuster that originally torpedoed a minimum wage increase (later passed) and the trade bill that put the interests of multinational corporations and large investors before the concerns of middle-class Americans. After examining 13 bills in detail, the 2007 Congressional Scorecard assigns a grade to each Member of Congress based on his or her support for the middle class."
New York's representatives were more of a mixed bag, weighing in with 9 A+s, 11 As, 3 Bs, 4 Cs, 1 D and 1 F. Check out the grades of the individual members here.
DMI held a press conference/reception for legislators who received As on the scorecard, and several of New York's representatives were in attendance. Check out this video of Rep. John Hall, where he speaks about issues of importance to his constituents and the importance of "tilting the balance of power back towards regular folks." "There is a middle class squeeze going on, and many people who thought they were in the middle class are being squeezed down," he said.
