There has been some mocking of those who speak about a battle going on between the Republican Establishment and the grass roots tea party conservatives. They mock these grass roots conservatives saying, “there is no secret handshake or secret meeting place, and it is tinfoil hat conspiratorial clap trap to even suggest such a thing.” These same elitist critics try to convince us that this so-called “establishment” is just an ethereal nebulous figment of our imagination. Let me use a different term that is more defined, and not so easy to mock. The word is “leadership,” and when the GOP took the majority in the US House 2010 elections, leadership roles were the first order of business.
I was not happy with the leadership the House Republican Conference voted for, and the Club for Growth Scorecard for 2011 reinforces my concerns. It’s not enough to send good tea party supported Representatives to Washington if they choose the wrong leaders to follow. It does not matter if we’re talking about shark-infested waters off the Philippine coast in 1944 or a different infestation inside the beltway in 2012. In both instances a leader saying “Follow me” is sought. I have created two tables that show two entirely different sets of elected members of the US House. The first set gives the scores of the 25 Republican leaders in the US House. The second set shows the top 25 scores in the US House. Not one member of the US House is a member of both groups, and this a big mistake. Voting for our interests is one of the most important tasks they have, but too many times we’ve been let down. It’s been my observation that those who vote the right way are also more likely to speak, and live the right way as well. I am grateful to organizations like Club for Growth who keep scores, and I am hopeful that in 2013, the Republican Conference will change the leadership with this in mind.
The Club for Growth Congressional Leaders Scorecard for 2011 (‘N/A’ the lawmaker did not vote enough times to be ranked and/or scored.)
| Member | State | District | Rank | Score | Lifetime |
| Jeb Hensarling,Republican Conference Chairman | TX | 5 | 47 | 87% | 98% |
| Tom Price, House Republican Policy Committee Chairman | GA | 6 | 49 | 86% | 95% |
| Jeff Miller, Veterans’ Affairs Chairman | FL | 1 | 49 | 86% | 89% |
| Ralph Hall, Science Chairman | TX | 4 | 72 | 81% | 76% |
| Darrell Issa, Oversight Chairman | CA | 49 | 97 | 74% | 83% |
| John Boehner, Speaker | OH | 8 | N/A | N/A | 83% |
| Paul Ryan, Budget Chairman | WI | 1 | 101 | 73% | 88% |
| John Kline, Education Chairman | MN | 2 | 115 | 70% | 82% |
| Mike Rogers, Intelligence Chairman | MI | 8 | 132 | 66% | 74% |
| Sam Graves, Small Business Chairman | MO | 6 | 136 | 66% | 71% |
| John Mica, Transportation Chairman | FL | 7 | 137 | 65% | 78% |
| Kevin McCarthy, Majority Whip | CA | 22 | 148 | 63% | 85% |
| Cathy McMorris Rodgers,House Republican Policy Committee Vice-Chairman | WA | 5 | 154 | 61% | 75% |
| Spencer Bachus, Financial Services Chairman | AL | 6 | 154 | 61% | 72% |
| Lamar Smith, Judiciary Chairman | TX | 21 | 166 | 59% | 72% |
| Eric Cantor, Majority Leader | VA | 7 | 176 | 55% | 80% |
| Fred Upton, Energy Chairman | MI | 6 | 190 | 52% | 54% |
| Doc Hastings, Natural Resources Chairman | WA | 4 | 192 | 52% | 71% |
| Buck McKeon, Armed Services Chairman | CA | 25 | 196 | 50% | 71% |
| Dave Camp, Ways and Means Chairman | MI | 4 | 196 | 50% | 66% |
| Jo Bonner, Ethics Chairman | AL | 1 | 200 | 49% | 69% |
| Frank Lucas, Agriculture Chairman | OK | 3 | 205 | 48% | 70% |
| Hal Rogers, Appropriations Chairman | KY | 5 | 205 | 48% | 65% |
| Peter King, Homeland Security Chairman | NY | 3 | 205 | 48% | 55% |
| Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Foreign Affairs Chairman | FL | 18 | 235 | 41% | 50% |
The Club for Growth Congressional Top 25 Scorecard for 2011
| Member | State | District | Rank | Score | Lifetime |
| Justin Amash | MI | 3 | 1 | 100% | 100% |
| Raul Labrador | ID | 1 | 1 | 100% | 100% |
| Doug Lamborn | CO | 5 | 1 | 100% | 100% |
| Tim Huelskamp | KS | 1 | 1 | 100% | 100% |
| Jason Chaffetz | UT | 3 | 1 | 100% | 99% |
| Jim Jordan | OH | 4 | 1 | 100% | 99% |
| Trent Franks | AZ | 2 | 1 | 100% | 98% |
| Tom Graves | GA | 9 | 1 | 100% | 98% |
| Mick Mulvaney | SC | 5 | 10 | 99% | 99% |
| Joe Walsh | IL | 8 | 10 | 99% | 99% |
| Scott Garrett | NJ | 5 | 10 | 99% | 96% |
| Marlin Stutzman | IN | 3 | 13 | 99% | 99% |
| Ben Quayle | AZ | 3 | 16 | 98% | 98% |
| Trey Gowdy | SC | 4 | 17 | 97% | 97% |
| Jeff Duncan | SC | 3 | 17 | 97% | 97% |
| John Fleming | LA | 4 | 17 | 97% | 96% |
| Joe Wilson | SC | 2 | 17 | 97% | 86% |
| Dennis Ross | FL | 12 | 21 | 96% | 96% |
| Ted Poe | TX | 2 | 22 | 95% | 86% |
| Paul Broun | GA | 10 | 22 | 95% | 99% |
| Andy Harris | MD | 1 | 22 | 95% | 95% |
| Tom McClintock | CA | 4 | 26 | 94% | 98% |
| Steve Southerland | FL | 2 | 26 | 94% | 94% |
| Jeff Landry | LA | 3 | 29 | 94% | 94% |
| Steve Chabot | OH | 1 | 30 | 93% | 92% |
