Project Vote Smart reports Bill Orton's voting record so clearly that he can no longer pretend to be a conservative Democrat or even a moderate. Project Vote-Smart was co-founded by presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford with the support of George McGovern, Barry Goldwater, Geraldine Ferraro, Newt Gingrich, Utah's own Frank Moss and others - some of the most idealistic public servants who want voters to be able to hold politicians accountable.
In its Voter's Self-Defense Manual, Project Vote-Smart publishes performance evaluations of all U.S. representatives as reported by 17 diverse issue groups. The manual shows that Orton received a rating of only 32 from the American Conservative Union, while Enid Greene and Jim Hansen were each rated a 92.The Christian Coalition scored both Hansen and Greene's voting records at 100, but Orton only got a 57. From the liberal Americans for Democratic Action, Orton received a favorable score of 65, while Utah's two conservative House members each received a zero rating. The big-labor AFL-CIO gave Hansen and Greene zeros, while Orton got a whopping 75. The dove-oriented PeacePac gave Hansen and Greene zeros, but Orton got an 83.
Project Vote Smart also reports that Orton voted against the following key measures that Hansen and Greene voted for: A motion to adopt the final version of a bill to give the president the line-item veto (HR 3136), a bill to limit the outrageous punitive damage awards that have been granted in product liability cases (HR 956), an amendment to require private groups receiving federal funds to disclose lobbying expenditures (HR 3019) and a constitutional amendment that would have required a two-thirds super-majority vote in Congress to raise taxes (HJR 159).
To learn more about Congressman Orton's voting record and to see how all candidates answered the National Political Awareness Test, contact the Voter's Self Defense System through the Internet at (http://www.vote-smart.org) or by calling 1-800-622-SMART.
Try as he might to make himself appear so, Orton is no conservative.
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