On Tuesday, Times reporter Robert Pear couldn’t describe Nancy Pelosi and Henry Waxman as “liberal Democrats,” only as “influential Democrats.” In Thursday’s Times, Pear displayed no aversion to labeling conservatives named to the new “super committee” created in the debt-limit deal.
Pear even found Democrats John Kerry (lifetime American Conservative Union rating 5) and Max Baucus (ACU lifetime score, 14) would be found in the middle: “If a deal is to be struck in the middle, it is likely to involve Mr. [Rob] Portman, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and perhaps Senator Max Baucus of Montana, Congressional aides said.” But the Republican list included the “most conservative” Members:
Mr. [Jon] Kyl, the No. 2 Senate Republican; Mr. [Pat] Toomey, a former president of the Club for Growth; and Mr. [Jeb] Hensarling, a former chairman of the Republican Study Committee, are among the most conservative members of Congress and rarely vote with Democrats on issues that split the parties. Mr. Toomey voted last week against the bill that raised the debt limit, saying it did not do enough to cut spending.
In more than two decades in Congress, Mr. Upton, a moderate conservative [ACU lifetime score of 73], has often shown an independent streak. He supported expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, for example. But last fall, under fire from conservatives, he tacked to the right in his successful effort to become chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Liberals who opposed Rep. Jeb Hensarling’s spending caps weren’t liberals, but lobbyists for the old and poor:
In 2004 and 2005, Mr. Hensarling proposed an overall cap on spending for most entitlement programs other than Social Security.
Lobbyists for older Americans, veterans and poor people opposed the idea, saying that it could lead to deep cuts in such programs.
Pear could somehow not describe in his output this week that Kerry, Pelosi, and Waxman are “among the most liberal members of Congress and rarely vote with Republicans on issues that split the parties.”
