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MEMBER DIARY

What Conservative Leadership Looks Like

By: pilgrim (Diary)  |  March 25th, 2012 at 12:46 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Speaker of the House

Paul Ryan, Wisconsin 1st District

Age: 42 (born January 29, 1970)

Time in Office: 12 years

Scores: Heritage 76% CFG 2011 73% CFG Lifetime 88%

 

 

 

 

Majority Leader

Jim Jordan Ohio, 4th District

Age: 47 (born February 17, 1964)

Time in Office: 6 years

Scores: Heritage 96% CFG 2011 100% CFG Lifetime 99%

 

 

 

Majority Whip

Jeb Hensarling Texas, 5th District

Age: 54 (born May 29, 1957)

Time in Office: 10 years

Scores: Heritage 83% CFG 2011 87% CFG Lifetime 98%

 

 

 

Republican Conference Chairman

Trent Franks Arizona, 2nd District

Age: 54 (born June 19, 1957)

Time in Office: 10 years

Scores: Heritage 98% CFG 2011 100% CFG Lifetime 98%

 

 

 

Republican Policy Committee Chairman

Tom McClintock California, 4th District House

Age: 55 (born July 10, 1956)

Time in Office: 4 years

Scores: Heritage 86% CFG 2011 94% CFG Lifetime 98%

 

 

 

Republican Policy Committee Vice-Chairman

Ann Marie Buerkle New York, 25th District House

Age: 60 (born May 8, 1951)

Time in Office: 2 years

Scores: Heritage 82% CFG 2011 92% CFG Lifetime 92%

 

 

 

Budget Chairman

Justin Amash Michigan, 3rd District

Age: 31 (born April 18, 1980)

Time in Office: 2 years

Scores: Heritage 94% CFG 2011 100% CFG Lifetime 100%

 

 

 

Appropriations Chairman

Tom Graves Georgia, 9th District

Age: 42 (born February 3, 1970)

Time in Office: 3 years

Scores: Heritage 94% CFG 2011 100% CFG Lifetime 100%

 

 

 

Ways and Means Chairman

Tom Price Georgia, 6th District

Age: 57 (born October 8, 1954)

Time in Office: 8 years

Scores: Heritage 76% CFG 2011 86% CFG Lifetime 95%

 

 

 

Financial Services Chairman

Scott Garrett New Jersey, 5th District

Age: 52 (born July 9, 1959)

Time in Office: 10 years

Scores: Heritage 91% CFG 2011 99% CFG Lifetime 96%

 

 

 

Armed Services Chairman

Doug Lamborn Colorado, 5th District

Age: 57 (born May 24, 1954)

Time in Office: 6 years

Scores: Heritage 94% CFG 2011 100% CFG Lifetime 100%

 

 

 

Agriculture Chairman

Tim Huelskamp Kansas, 1st District

Age: 43 (born November 11, 1968)

Time in Office: 2 years

Scores: Heritage 93% CFG 2011 100% CFG Lifetime 100%

 

 

 Oversight Chairman

Jason Chaffetz Utah, 3rd District

Age: 44 (born March 26, 1967)

Time in Office: 4 years

Scores: Heritage 97% CFG 2011 100% CFG Lifetime 99%

 

 

 

Transportation Chairman

Tim Scott South Carolina, 1st District

Age: 46 (born September 19, 1965)

Time in Office: 2 years

Scores: Heritage 87% CFG 2011 92% CFG Lifetime 92%

 

 

 

Energy and Commerce Chairman

Phil Gingrey Georgia, 11th District

Age: 69 (born July 10, 1942)

Time in Office: 10 years

Scores: Heritage 84% CFG 2011 92% CFG Lifetime 85%

 

 

 

Intelligence Chairman

Michele Bachmann Minnesota, 6th District

Age: 55 (born April 6, 1956)

Time in Office: 6 years

Scores: Heritage 90% CFG 2011 89% CFG Lifetime 93%

 

 

 

Education and Workforce Chairman

Dennis Ross Florida, 12th District

Age: 52 (born October 18, 1959)

Time in Office: 2 years

Scores: Heritage 91% CFG 2011 96% CFG Lifetime 96%

 

 

 

Natural Resources Chairman

Raul Labrador Idaho, 1st District

Age: 44 (born December 8, 1967)

Time in Office: 2 years

Scores: Heritage 87% CFG 2011 100% CFG Lifetime 100%

 

 

 

Homeland Security Chairman

Joe Walsh Illinois, 8th District

Age: 40 (born December 27, 1961)

Time in Office: 2 years

Scores: Heritage 96% CFG 2011 99% CFG Lifetime 99%

 

 

 

Judiciary Chairman

Trey Gowdy South Carolina, 4th District

Age: 47 (born August 22, 1964)

Time in Office: 2 years

Scores: Heritage 96% CFG 2011 97% CFG Lifetime 97%

 

 

 

Foreign Affairs Chairman

Jeffrey Duncan South Carolina, 3rd District

Age: 45 (born January 7, 1966)

Time in Office: 2 years

Scores: Heritage 98% CFG 2011 97% CFG Lifetime 97%

 

 

 

Small Business Chairman

Mick Mulvaney South Carolina, 5th District

Age: 44 (born July 21, 1967)

Time in Office: 2 years

Scores: Heritage 94% CFG 2011 99% CFG Lifetime 99%

 

 

 

Veterans’ Affairs Chairman

Marlin Stutzman Indiana, 3rd District

Age: 35 (born August 31, 1976)

Time in Office: 2 years

Scores: Heritage 88% CFG 2011 99% CFG Lifetime 99%

 

 

 

Science Chairman

Paul Broun Georgia, 10th District

Age: 65 (born December 7, 1946)

Time in Office: 6 years

Scores: Heritage 96% CFG 2011 95% CFG Lifetime 99%

COMMENTS

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  • texastaxpayer

    Thx..

  • acat

    After her foolish anti-science anti-vaccination screeds in Iowa, I’ve lost any respect I had for her.

    Mew

    • http://www.unifiedpatriots.com/ pilgrim

      .

      • acat

        and either of those have quite a lot to do with the House Intelligence Committee indeed.

        Mew

        • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

          She bolted up in the polls and had visions of being elected President and then when her polls dropped she went all political and lazy with the facts, jumping on her rivals. Showed a bad character of a small and universal degree.

          But her work in Congress has been truly tea partier conservative and also has her professional legal work and family success. She is very competent in any job she takes…except as presidential candidate…

          • Dave_A

            Lost me this summer with the debt-cieling situation.

            Politics is NOT war. You do NOT ‘fight to the last man’ in individual battles, if doing so means you lose the broader war.

            You do not, for example, insist that we absolutely do not raise the debt limit for any reason – especially when you don’t have the votes to achieve this – because all it will do in the end, is give the Democrats a weapon with which to brow-beat the entire GOP caucus, based on the extreme (and untenable under a Democrat President) position of a small few.

            In a sense, the phrase ‘better to rule in hell than serve in heaven’ comes to mind – specifically in the sense that some Conservatives have this insane belief that it’s better to be a powerful figure in a permanent minority/opposition party, than it is to be a nobody in the party in power…

            Because there’s very little explanation for the ‘absolute ideological purity at all costs, even if we never win an election again’ position besides that.

            Politics is about small steps & compromises, not dramatic victories couched in military terms. People who try to treat politics as war, and to move through political objectives with lightning speed usually end up losing (something Obama has seen first-hand, via 2010)….

          • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

            But you raise the right issues concerning overall party strategy, ultimately…but, hear me out (and I know you will…smile, but seriously).

            1) This is about her ability to run a certain congressional committee, so right there we need to be careful about overemphasizing past positions under dissimilar circumstances with relevance to the proposed job.

            2) I think we need to have come conservative members pushing for showdowns like she did. We can always compromise AFTER the Dems cave and/or after some time goes by and everyone sees that the world doesn’t end if the government shuts down.

            3) Most of the time politics has to be small steps and ultimately about the possible, but more than a few times, politics must be about big steps and some risk, especially given how the Dems have used temporary super-majorities at strategic times to fundamentally transform America; ie

            Have you read my now 10-year signature line of late? Substitute “woman” for “man” and you’ll get my drift.

            more later

      • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

        Bachmann marginalized herself for me with the Gardisil crap, and frankly I don’t know that she can win reelection.

      • ffc99

        Those screeds (and frankly, much of Michele’s behavior as a member of Congress) have shown that she lacks the temperament, judgment and intelligence to take on a important role like chair of the Intelligence Cmte.

    • Tbone

      with her “poor little girls” crap.

  • Tbone

    He has thrown in with the dishonest leadership that has sold us down the drain.

    • http://www.unifiedpatriots.com/ pilgrim

      ?

      • acat

        Is Ryan really qualified to replace Boehner?

        Mew

        • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

          Since this, unfortunately, has even a lower probability of happening than Santorum getting the nomination.

        • http://www.unifiedpatriots.com/ pilgrim

          I also believe the peanut gallery here can take pot shots at every member of the House Republican Conference. None of us who are not elected to a House seat has a vote. I like Ryan to be a better choice for them than the weeper, Boehner. I like that he makes the Dems a lot more angry than Boehner does.

          • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

            I wouldn’t quibble about that. For me, it’s an issue of “best use”. I’d rather see Ryan as a committee chair dealing with budgets because I think that is his real strength. There’s nobody in the House that can match him and it’s a spot where he can really raise hell with any administration on spending and growth of government. Especially if we manage to get control of the Senate.

            The Speaker’s job, at least to me, is more strategic politics than legislative and I think Ryan’s talents would be given short shrift as Speaker.

            I’d rather see Jordan, Hensarling or even Alan West (especially if Obama get’s reelected) as Speaker. Issa might be fun in the Speaker’s chair too.

          • red_oakster

            He will try to push everything as far to the right as he can and win a majorityof votes in Congress (assuming there’s a GOP majority in the Senate with which to do big things in budget reconciliation).

            Put another way, anything Ryan passes through his committee, Boehner will support. And so will Romney.

            If Romney wins and the GOP captures the Senate, Ryan and Jeff Sessions will be the most important players in Congress. The extent to which those two can collaborate will be the extent to which conservative principles are advanced legislatively.

          • aesthete

            Do you think he’ll get the same kind of play in a Republican administration as under the current one? Or do you think it’s a bait and switch — i.e., someone will have a “chat” with Ryan about how he’s damaging the party by promoting a plan that they won’t enact? It seems to me that if Republican leadership is not firmly behind Ryan, he’ll be swept under the carpet like the anti-war folk were in the Obama administration.

            This is yet another reason why we should be working for a more conservative Congress: conservative leadership in the House and Senate might make all the difference for how Republicans respond to the debt and deficit going forward.

          • http://www.unifiedpatriots.com/ pilgrim

            The only ones who have a vote in this are the ones who have a seat. I do wish a majority could agree to vote for conservative leadership.

          • Dave_A

            And got to his current position in Congress because of it.

            The reason he had much less visibility, is that right now BOTH parties can capitalize on his budget-crusading – back then, NEITHER one could use him to fit their campaign strategies…

            The Democrats use it to rally their base by claiming that ‘Republicans want to SLASH the Safety Net’ (see all Demo pundits since ‘Path to Prosperity’ was released)…

            The Republicans use it to rally our base with the out-of-power-party’s favorite issue (The Dems loved ‘Fiscal Conservatism’ & were budget-hawks too if you believed their rhetoric – but only between 2002-2006) of deficit spending & so on…

            Under Bush, with the Republicans in power, the budget was less of a fanfare item, and the Democrats used Bush as the bug-a-boo, not ‘OMG, evil congressman from WI wants to take granny’s medicare’….

          • aesthete

            Dealing with the debt and deficit are only popular in the abstract. Get into the nitty-gritty of it, and it quickly becomes an exercise in goring sacred cows — you need look no further than your average RS thread for proof, and RS’s readership is certainly more amenable to the idea of debt and deficit reduction than the general public.

            IMO, dealing with the debt and deficit in a substantial way would cost us politically — that is why we need politicians who are strong-willed enough to do what must be done, and ones who are savvy enough to do the deed in a way that causes the least amount of damage to the party. Reagan was the right President during the 80s, in part because he supported Volcker’s moves in the Fed to deal with stagflation despite the political damage that it caused for him. I wonder if the same commitment can be found today — if not, I expect him to suddenly disappear during a Republican administration, along with any serious talk of government reform.

          • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

            makes it possible that his best use is as the up front communicator to the public to sell the overall conservative message. I don’t know.

          • http://www.unifiedpatriots.com/ pilgrim

            We may have a minor disagreement over who the Speaker should be, but I think we both agree it would be better to have conservatives in leadership instead of Boehner and Cantor.

          • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

            put Boehner in a canoe with Ron Paul and drop them in the nearest river with tall waterfall.

          • acat

            Not saying Boehner is anything great, but .. if we’re gonna talk degrees of competence, McConnell’s *GOT* to go, Boehner would probably do adequately if 50% of the rest of Pilgrim’s wish list came true…

            Mew

          • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

            with an anchor.

          • acat

            I was thinking more of west Texas, anthills, and honey…

            Mew

        • Dave_A

          As a committee chair dealing with budget matters…

          The Speakership is for an arm-twister/whip-cracker type, not for a policy-man…

      • Tbone

        as Santorum has no chance. If it is, we will have the House and the Senate. We will also have the current leadership and you know what, Pilgrim? NOTHING will change for the good, it just won’t get worse quite as fast.

        Ryan is part of the rotten leadership. He can bloviate about fiscal reform all he wants but he has already sold his soul to Boehner and the big government Republicans.

        Pull your head out of your butt and face the truth about the Republican leadership.

    • texastaxpayer

      Ryan has been the most outspoken proponent of fixing our deficit and entitlement spending. His plan has fact based and honest. He not only committed the ultimate congressional sin of speaking the truth to seniors he also wrote it down in ink. Let’s face it while he was holding the line in a sh*t storm of liberal demogoguery even the likes of Newt Gingrich where running for cover.

  • Melody Warbington (rwm52)

    In every interview I’ve heard him give, he’s fearless in going after liberals and their bad policies.

    Did you intentionally focus on the House? Does that explain the lack of any Senator on the list?

    • http://www.unifiedpatriots.com/ pilgrim

      I did focus on the House because there are such slim pickings in the Senate to fill the leadership and committee chairs with conservatives. I do believe that Marco Rubio would serve conservatives better as Senate Majority Leader than as a veep.

      • acat

        There’s no shortage of young conservatives in the Senate.. and we’ve got a LOT of opportunities to improve the situation in 2012.

        Mew

        • http://www.unifiedpatriots.com/ pilgrim

          I did make an attempt at this link
          http://www.unifiedpatriots.com/2012/03/07/what-conservative-leadership-looks-like-part-2/pilgrim

          I was not pleased with who I had to choose between for 5 leadership positions and 15 committee chairs.

          • acat

            there will be some new bright spots on that list.

            Imagine Paul Ryan as the *senate* finance chair. (in Kohl’s old seat) (I don’t think he’s ruled out a run.. could be mistaken…)

            Or, if you prefer, imagine Bachman at Ag (replacing Klobuchar D-MN to get there) and with DeMint as the majority leader, with Rubio and Thune heading the GOP conference… Make it really interesting and have Rubio set up a parallel Conservative conference…

            2012 ought to be a bad year for Senate Dems, they have to defend more seats in purple States, and Obama’s star is crashing to earth … I don’t view the question as “can we win?”, I view it as “to what degree is our victory?”

            We can obviously take Kohl’s seat – he’s dropping out, and Wisconsin has qualified GOP candidates and an internal war on the Dem side… Retiring Klobuchar will be tougher, and Bachman was a prime choice until she went full-metal-anti-science…. Wonder if Pawlenty would like the job…

            Mew