How liberal are Reps. Tim Ryan and Charlie Wilson?

By David Skolnick

Each year, the National Journal ranks who it considers the most liberal and most conservative members of the U.S. House and Senate.

The political magazine/Web site compiled the 2008 ranking of members of Congress based on 78 House votes and 76 Senate votes it considered key economic, social and foreign policy issues last year.

Votes on economic issues weigh heavily in the composite score. For example, of the 78 House votes counted in the ranking, 45 deal with the economy compared to 14 social issues and 19 foreign policy issues.

The Web site — www.nationaljournal.com/2008voteratings — includes really cool graphics, lots of stuff to click on, and hours of fun for the political junkie.

The ranking received national attention during last year’s presidential campaign.

Remember all that talk about Barack Obama being the most liberal member of the Senate? That originated with the National Journal’s ranking of votes in 2007.

But the president and U.S. Sen. John McCain, Obama’s Republican opponent, missed so many votes last year while on the campaign trail that neither is included in the 2008 listing.

The Web site gives this really detailed explanation as to why certain votes were counted.

It reads, in part, “The votes in each issue area were subjected to a principal-components analysis, a statistical procedure designed to determine the degree to which each vote resembled other votes in the same category.”

Yeah, um, OK. That’s crystal clear. Right?

I wonder how votes to provide American Indians with vouchers for health insurance and to set tougher consumer product safety rules makes someone a liberal. Also, how does voting to increase income taxes for millionaires and using that money for special education, low-income energy assistance and Head Start programs make you a conservative?

The listing is relatively harmless fun unless you’re a talk show host on FOX News. If you’ve read this far you’re probably curious where our local members of Congress are ranked.

The most liberal congressman representing the Mahoning or Shenango valleys is the only one who lives here — U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th. His district includes most of Trumbull County and about half of Mahoning.

Ryan is the 144th most liberal member of the House [and the 283rd most conservative]. Ryan voted liberal 69.8 percent of the time, according to the survey. That puts him in the lower half of Democrats with the liberal label.

When it comes to economic issues, Ryan voted liberal 69 percent of the time. His liberal percentage of 75 is high in the social category. But when it comes to foreign policy votes, Ryan’s liberal percentage is only 59.

The ranking places U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson of St. Clairsville, D-6th, as the 191st most liberal House member and the 237th most conservative. Wilson’s liberal composite percentage is 56.7 percent.

Wilson voted liberal 53 percent of the time on economic issues, 54 percent of the time on social issues and 59 percent on foreign policy issues, according to the survey. His district includes about half of Mahoning County and all of Columbiana County.

U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire of McCandless, Pa., D-4th, was the only member of Congress to vote 50 percent of the time liberal and 50 percent conservative. He was the 222nd most liberal House member and the 206th most conservative.

“When I decide how to vote on a piece of legislation, I don’t care whether Democrats or Republicans wrote the bill,” said Altmire, whose district includes all of Lawrence County and a portion of Mercer County. “What I [care] about is whether or not it will help the people of western Pennsylvania.”

U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette of Bainbridge, R-14th, whose district includes a small northern portion of Trumbull County, was the most liberal Republican in Ohio, according to the survey. But his 38.3 liberal voting percentage made him the 256th most liberal member of the House and its 172nd most conservative.

Ex-U.S. Rep. Phil English of Erie, Pa., R-3rd, whose district included a portion of Mercer County, had a voting record last year similar to LaTourette’s. He voted liberal 40.5 percent of the time. That made him the 248th most liberal House member and the 180th most conservative.

As for Ohio’s two U.S. senators, Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, is the 28th most liberal member of the upper chamber. He voted liberal 75.8 percent of the time.

U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich, a Republican, is the 38th most conservative senator, voting liberal 38.7 percent of the time. Voinovich has announced he will not seek re-election next year.