The 1982 midterms didn’t go so well for Republicans in the House. Thanks to an effective strategy by Democratic Congressional Committee chief Tony Coelho (D-Calif.), they lost 26 seats. The more Democratic House was oppositional to Reagan in many ways and sought to further limit the Reagan tax cuts, restrict military spending, restrict Reagan’s support for the Contras in Nicaragua and for the government of El Salvador in its efforts to defeat a communist rebellion backed by the USSR, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Weapons development and procurement is also a prominent issue, with votes included on the B-1 bomber and MX missile. Americans for Constitutional Action in this Congress strongly supported Reagan’s policies in Central America, supported school prayer, supported retaining the Reagan tax cuts, supported keeping tax brackets adjusted for inflation.

Curiously, ACA had nothing to say about the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday despite ACU and ADA both counting the vote on their scorecards and didn’t count the House vote on the proposed Civil Rights Act of 1984 despite ACU and ADA counting it. This is a marked contrast to the organization’s stance in the Great Society Congress, in which they counted four major civil rights votes in the House. They once again counted raising the debt limit and the closest thing they had anything to an opinion on abortion was their opposition to the 1983 vote on the Equal Rights Amendment, in which a proposal for an “abortion neutral” amendment was the centerpiece of the debate. President Reagan improves his numbers in this Congress over the last in the Senate and has a slight downturn in the House. His House and Senate scores for 1983 and 1984, respectively, are: 89%, 83%; 80%, 92%.

In 1983, the following legislators did no wrong by ACA standards:

House

Norman Shumway (R-Calif.)
Chip Pashayan (R-Calif.)
Carlos Moorhead (R-Calif.)
David Dreier (R-Calif.)
Dan Lungren (R-Calif.)
Larry McDonald (D-Ga.)
Larry Craig (R-Idaho)
George Hansen (R-Idaho)
Barbara Vucanovich (R-Nev.)
Thomas Hartnett (R-S.C.)
James Hansen (R-Utah)

Senate

Bill Armstrong (R-Colo.)
Steve Symms (R-Idaho)
Jesse Helms (R-N.C.)
John Porter East (R-N.C.)

In 1984, the following legislators did no wrong by ACA standards:

House

Norman Shumway (R-Calif.)
Chip Pashayan (R-Calif.)
Carlos Moorhead (R-Calif.)
David Dreier (R-Calif.)
William Dannemeyer (R-Calif.)
Dan Lungren (R-Calif.)
Dan Schaefer (R-Colo.)
Larry Craig (R-Idaho)
George Hansen (R-Idaho)
Phil Crane (R-Ill.)
Dan Crane (R-Ill.)
Dan Coats (R-Ind.)
Danny Burton (R-Ind.)
Gerald Solomon (R-N.Y.)
Bob McEwen (R-Ohio)
Denny Smith (R-Ore.)
Robert Walker (R-Penn.)
Phil Gramm (R-Tex.)
Bill Archer (R-Tex.)
Jack Fields (R-Tex.)
James Hansen (R-Utah)
Howard Nielson (R-Utah)
Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.)

Senate

Jeremiah Denton (R-Ala.)
Pete Wilson (R-Calif.)
Steve Symms (R-Idaho)
Jacob Hecht (R-Nev.)
Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.)
Jesse Helms (R-N.C.)
John Porter East (R-N.C.)
Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.)
Jake Garn (R-Utah)
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)
Bob Kasten (R-Wis.)

Some names you might know today scored thusly, including the president and the top two Senate Democrats today. I must note that these ACA scores, as has been noted in previous postings on this subject, are modified to include pairs for and against legislation. I see it as a more complete assessment of ideology. The people and scores:

Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz.

1983 – 77
1984 – 90

John McCain, R-Ariz.

1983 – 81
1984 – 85

Joe Biden, D-Del.

1983 – 26
1984 – 17

Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.

1983 – 85
1984 – 90

Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

1983 – 15
1984 – 19

Bob Dole, R-Kan.

1983 – 74
1984 – 88

Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

1983 – 11
1984 – 10

John Kasich, R-Ohio

1983 – 86
1984 – 95

Al Gore, D-Tenn.

1983 – 42
1984 – 25

Ron Paul, R-Tex.

1983 – 63
1984 – 65

Note: Paul’s score takes a bit of a beating given the emphasis on issues surrounding the military.

Dick Cheney, R-Wyo.

1983 – 96
1984 – 85

The Criterion Used for Determining ACA Scores:

1983 House:

1983 Senate:

1984 House:

1984 Senate: