When my wife convinced me to move from the People's Republic of Washington to the state of Mississippi, I looked at the political landscape and found that the state House, state Senate, and governorship were all controlled by Republicans.  I said, "Thank God for Mississippi!" and supported the move.

Then I looked into it deeper and found that all is not as it appears.  This is a state packed with RINOs and "former" Democrats.  I searched the internet to find a reliable conservative site that had rated legislators at the state level and found the Americans for Prosperity website.  This site rates on fiscal conservatism and conservative values.  This report grades all the legislators' votes against a conservative standard, then grades them just like in high school: A = 90%+, B = 80–89%, and so on.  Among the 36 Republican senators, only three scored an "A," one scored a "B," and 19 scored a "C."  The rest got "D" or less.  The Republican members of the House did not fare much better.  Of the 77 House Republicans, only seven scored an "A," two scored a "B," and eighteen scored a "C."

These are not conservatives.  Not even close.  Many are former Democrats who just want to get elected.

This explains why, in a state with a $1-billion surplus and a call from the governor, Tate Reeves, to eliminate the disastrous income tax, the bills making their way to the governor do not even come close to achieving this goal.  According to House speaker Philip Gunn, the House version of the Tax Freedom Act would reduce the tax burden on an average citizen by $1,513  the first year, while the Senate version would reduce it by only $260.  That is because the Senate plan cuts only the 4% bracket, and that is phased over four years.  In my opinion, tax relief for my state is unlikely.

Let's turn our attention to my representatives to the United States Congress.  I turned to Conservative Review's Liberty Score to see how well my representatives did.  They use a similar scoring methodology as AFP.  It is not pretty.  Cindy Hyde Smith scored an "F" at 50%.  I looked into her further.  She was a Democrat until 2010.  Her voting record is not one of liberty and fiscal responsibility.  Roger Wicker did worse at 46%.  AT readers know he is a very dangerous senator.  The highest-scoring representative scored a "C" at 78%.

At this point, it became clear to me that the representation is not as conservative as the constituents.  At least now I know where to spend my time and money in the political arena.  I believe there is hope for my state.  We need to work to get our politicians in line with our views.

Mississippi is not an isolated example.  Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin (just to name a few), and other states all have similar issues.  I encourage everyone take a good hard look at the voting records of their representatives and act accordingly.

Image: Odder (talk).