Taxpayers Union Gives 'F' For Tax Cuts?

 'Tis the season for congressional vote ratings based on 2009. The latest is from the National Taxpayers Union, which as you might guess hates taxes.

Every member of the Massachusetts delegation scored a solid 'F', which requires a score of 16% or lower; John Tierney came closest to passing with 5%.

Turns out, the median score for Democrats was 4% in the House, and 6% in the Senate. For Republicans, it was 85% in the House, 87% in the Senate. So, you know, a couple more of those summits should bridge that minor partisan gap.

Funny, though, I could have sworn that it was almost all Democrats who voted in that $275 billion tax-cut package, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and Republicans who voted against it. Surely, that must have counted for something, right?

Of course it did -- in the other direction. The ARRA votes were heavily weighted against those voting for passage. In fact, they were among the heaviest weighted votes of the entire year.

I realize that NTU would say that the heavy spending included in ARRA could, in theory, lead to tax increases in the future. But isn't $275 billion in the hand worth something?