Miller, Levin more middle-of-the-road than expected

The congressional scorecards for 2012 are coming out and it appears that Macomb County’s two House members, Republican Candice Miller and Democrat Sandy Levin, are either poles apart or somewhat close together on the liberal/conservative spectrum – depending on who you believe.

The report card compiled by Americans For Prosperity, a staunchly pro-business group, gave Levin a “D-“ and Miller a “B”. AFP says that it’s scorecard rates lawmakers based on legislation that involves “economic freedom.” That includes lots of tax and spending bills (they downgraded congressmen who supported the Jan. 1 fiscal cliff deal that raised taxes on the wealthy) but they also delve into climate change issues and environmental regulations.

As a result, House and Senate Republicans voted “correctly” 80 percent of the time, according to AFP standards, and Democrats were on the right side just 6 percent overall. Miller, a Harrison Township Republican, was at 73 percent; Levin, a Royal Oak Democrat who represents most of Macomb County, was at 5 percent.

In contrast, the League of Conservation Voters scorecard put Miller at 6 percent and Levin at 94 percent. The LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard, not surprisingly, takes a very different approach than AFP. The “key votes” they scrutinize deal with various forms of pollution, mining and oil drilling, land conservation and even issues such as protections for migratory birds and sea turtles. They called the 2012 House of Representatives the “most anti-environmental House in our nation’s history.”

What’s particularly noticeable, when contrasting Miller with Levin is that they agreed on just one of the 35 bills that LCV scored. Though Miller repeatedly calls for protection of the Great Lakes, the only vote she cast that was in tune with Levin was a vote in favor of a measure to cut federal subsidies for the oil, coal and natural gas industries by $554 million.

A third Sandy vs. Candy comparison comes from the reporters at the National Journal, which provides a much more balanced approach to ranking Congress from most liberal to most conservative. NJ takes a comprehensive approach, tallying votes on 116 bills that cover a wide array of issues.

The surprise in the NJ ratings for 2012 is that Miller, who portrays herself as a conservative Republican and represents one of the Reddest districts in Michigan, ranks as a fairly moderate House GOP member. Of the 423 members rated (minus illnesses and vacancies), the congresswoman comes in as the 192nd most conservative member, 229th most liberal. Her composite score shows that she votes on the conservative side 57.7 percent of the time, and 42.3 percent on the liberal side.

Her most moderate tendencies, according to NJ, come on votes regarding economic issues, where she leans slightly to the right 52-47 percent.

In contrast, Levin was more solidly to the left but not as much as some Macomb County voters may assume 100th most liberal, 323rd most conservative. His composite score showed that he votes for the liberal position on legislation 78.3 percent of the time, and with the conservatives on 21.7 percent of the votes scrutinized by NJ. His most moderate stances are demonstrated on foreign policy measures, with a 71-27 percent tendency toward liberalism.

Among the 14 House Democrats who tied for most liberal was Rep. John Conyers of Detroit. Republican Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin of Missouri was the most conservative.