The Stakes. Thank You RINOs

Top 10 Worst Democrat House Chairmen in Waiting

Ranked by the editors of HUMAN EVENTS.

If Democrats are successful in taking over the House this November, congressional committees would lurch to the left with Democrat majorities and far-left chairmen. Here are the 10 House members who would inflict the most liberal damage.

10. Rep. Barney Frank (Mass.) – Financial Services
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 4%
Ultra-leftist and ethically troubled Frank (his boyfriend was found to be running a male prostitution ring out of the congressman’s apartment) has a record of heavy class-warfare rhetoric and of supporting policies dangerous for a leader of the Financial Services Committee.

9. Rep. George Miller (Calif.) – Education and Workforce
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 5%
A California leftist who helped create the No Child Left Behind Act, Miller would support the bill only if it didn’t include vouchers. He is a constant critic of Bush for not spending more on schools, despite the fact that federal education spending has more than doubled since.

8. Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.) – Homeland Security
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 10%
Thompson has helped to keep the U.S. dependent on foreign oil by opposing drilling in ANWR and the easing of rules for building new refineries. He also voted against the Patriot Act and the House border-security bill.

7. Rep. Alcee Hastings (Fla.) – Intelligence
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 6%
Would-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) would likely snub Intelligence ranking member Jane Harman (Calif.) and appoint Hastings, a former federal district court judge who was impeached and removed from the bench by Congress for corruption and perjury.

6. Rep. Tom Lantos (Calif.) – International Relations
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 8%
During the Reagan Administration, Lantos opposed funding for the Contras and pushed for a nuclear freeze. He is a supporter of the International Criminal Court and opposed President Bush’s abrogation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

5. Rep. John Dingell (Mich.) – Energy and Commerce
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 12%
Dingell’s record of opposing drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and off the coasts of the U.S. and his support for higher CAFE standards would make him a dangerous anti-energy Energy chairman.

4. Rep. David Obey (Wis.) – Appropriations
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 10%
A classic big-spending Democrat, Obey opposed an attempt to cut $58 billion in mandatory spending and last year’s final budget that held discretionary spending to $843 billion and made room for $70 billion in tax cuts. He supports using tax dollars to pay for congressional campaigns.

3. Rep. Charlie Rangel (N.Y.) – Ways and Means
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 4%
Rangel has opposed income-tax cuts since he was elected in 1970, including the historic Reagan cuts of 1981 and each of the Bush tax cuts. He supported Clinton’s record tax increase and would likely push for higher taxes and allow the Bush cuts to expire.

2. Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.) – Government Reform
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 5%
A far-left Hollywood Democrat, Waxman has demanded multiple investigations of the Bush Administration and would lead them as chairman (though he opposed a probe of former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger for stealing classified documents).

1. Rep. John Conyers (Mich.) – Judiciary
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 5%
Conyers has already called for an impeachment investigation of President Bush, and his staff produced a report outlining charges that “clearly rise to the level of impeachment.” With a Chairman Conyers, watch for Bush to face an impeachment inquiry.

Top 10 Worst Democrat Senate Chairmen in Waiting

Ranked by the editors of HUMAN EVENTS.

If Democrats are successful in taking over the Senate this November, congressional committees would lurch to the left with Democrat majorities and far-left chairmen. Here are the 10 senators who would inflict the most liberal damage.

10. Sen. Jeff Bingaman (N.M.) – Energy and Natural Resources
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 13%

The quiet Sen. Bingaman, who is consistently wrong on issues ranging from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Kyoto Protocol climate-change requirements, would be dangerous for American energy policy.

9. Sen. Kent Conrad (N.D.) – Budget
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 20%

One of the Senate’s biggest class-warfare bloviators, Conrad has consistently argued against tax cuts and was a leading opponent of the early Bush budgets that provided tax relief for American families.

8. Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) – Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 5%

Kerry voted against the Bush tax cuts, opposes repealing the Death Tax and supports hiking the minimum wage. His chairmanship would be a disaster for America’s small businesses.

7. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (W.Va) – Intelligence
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 10%

Rockefeller is demanding a full-scale investigation of how America was “lied into” the war in Iraq and has been a vocal opponent of the NSA’s surveillance of international phone calls.

6. Sen. Joe Biden (Del.) – Foreign Relations
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 14%

Biden, a self-absorbed know-it-all on every international issue, has been one of the most outspoken critics of UN Ambassador John Bolton and a repeated advocate of appeasing America’s enemies.

5. Sen. Carl Levin (Mich.) – Armed Services
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 7%

Levin, who supported Clinton’s Kosovo raids but opposed the Iraq War, has repeatedly accused the Bush Administration of misleading the U.S. into war. He has been a long-time opponent of Missile Defense.

4. Sen. Barbara Boxer (Calif.) – Environment and Public Works
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 3%

A global-warming alarmist and Kyoto Protocol supporter, the ultra-liberal Boxer is sure to advocate a far-left environmentalist agenda for this committee.

3. Sen. Ted Kennedy (Mass.) – Health, Educations, Labor and Pensions
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 3%

Liberal lion Kennedy would use the leadership post on the HELP Committee to push his leftist social ideas on such issues as stem-cell research, minimum wage and the federal role in education.

2. Sen. Robert Byrd (W.Va.) – Appropriations
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 30%

Byrd is the Senate’s most senior member and the king of pork. He has never seen a tax dollar he couldn’t spend and would likely lead the way to even larger federal deficits.

1. Sen. Pat Leahy (Vt.) – Judiciary
Lifetime American Conservative Union Rating: 6%

A leading obstructionist of President Bush’s judicial nominees, Leahy and committee Democrats would see to it that no conservative nominee to the Supreme Court or other vital post on the federal bench would be confirmed.