Nov 09 2009
Civitas Releases Conservative Rankings
The Civitas Institute has released its 2009 Conservative rankings and the result is that the North Carolina State Legislature isn’t all that conservative. Well, there’s a shocker. This is the state that constantly raises taxes, hands out corporate welfare, and allows dangerous criminals to appeal their death sentence based on their race.
The rankings rate each state representative and senator on a scale of 0 to 100, 0 being not conservative at all and 100 being about as conservative as you can get. Nobody made it into the 90s. The best scoring member was State Representative Dale Folwell (R-Winston-Salem) with an 89.8. The State Senate was truly pitiful with only one member scoring in the 70s or above. That would be Senator Andrew Brock (R-Mocksville) who got just a 70.
Knowing the electorate of the state, it is very clear to me that the elected officials are not a remotely close representation of the people they are allegedly representing. It shows a clear disconnect between the government and the people and reiterates, as I have pointed out many times, the laziness and complacency of the people who keep putting them back in office.
PffT! Who decides what ‘conservative’ is or whether these folks vote in line with their constituants? It seems that really is a personal judgement, not anything Civitas should decide.
One should always think for himself and vote his own conscience. The rest is just politics.
“Who decides what ‘conservative’ is”
Hundreds of years worth of political philosophy and tradition…
“or whether these folks vote in line with their constituants?”
Their constituents decide that one on election day, of course, but that obviously isn’t what Civitas is trying to decipher.
“It seems that really is a personal judgement, not anything Civitas should decide”
Since millions of people have more or less the same vision of what conservatism is, it’s helpful for groups like Civitas to point out how in- or out-of-sync our representatives are with that vision.
Civitas, therefore becomes an arbiter of what ‘conservative’ is.
Political philosophy is of course personal, for the thinking man, or the man who thinks what he is told (ie. the political ‘base’). Tradition is generally for pack animals and fools. If you haven’t questioned ‘why’, really questioned ‘why’, then, tradition is for you.
Civitas is deciding what is good versus what is bad, right versus wrong within a narrow mindset called ‘values’. Values, in general, are simply prejudice with a tuxedo on.
I won’t use someone else’s hat to hold my brains in.
I’d rather think for myself.
So every new person has their own version of the truth, and people only agree because they’re stupid. Gotcha.
Yes to part ‘A’, no to part ‘B’.
50%? Good try, though. If we were talking baseball.
Both parties legally steal form the people!!!
Douglas:
It depends on what your definition of ‘legally’ is.
Sometimes a ‘law’ is just a sanction for illegal activity.
I would like to know where i can find out how Randy Stewart ranked in this voting record pertaining to conservative vs liberal. thanks
Debbie, he ranked 114th. You can see the whole list by clicking on the link in the first sentence of the post.