Commentary
The establishment media, in an effort to salvage Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-Wyo.) precarious political career in deep red Wyoming, habitually describe her as one of the most conservative members of Congress. Regardless of how one views Cheney’s “principled” targeting of former President Donald Trump, the media tells us, conservative Wyomingites should be rallying behind their conservative congresswoman. However, Cheney’s targeting of Trump aside, just how conservative is she? An objective look at her voting record shows conclusively that she is one of the most liberal Republicans in Congress.
This is of national importance because public policy is determined by the ideological makeup of the two parties. Those who support limited government are sick of seeing their preferences denied by squishy liberals masquerading as fiscal and social conservatives.
The efforts by liberal media to portray Cheney as a true conservative are endless.
USA Today calls Cheney “one of the most conservative members of Congress.”
Bloomberg News calls Cheney a “stalwart conservative.”
The Financial Times claims Cheney has “high ratings from most of the conservative watchdogs.”
CNN asserts, “By every measure you can find, Liz Cheney is not only a Republican, but a pretty conservative one.”
Those portrayals are designed to boost Cheney’s reelection chances in conservative Wyoming and portray any conservative voter opposition to Cheney as hypocritical. The facts, however, reveal an entirely different story.
Heritage Action scores members of Congress on their votes regarding the most important and impactful pieces of legislation. Some of the proposed legislation included in the Heritage Action scorecard include the massive omnibus spending bills, gun restrictions, election integrity, and so-called Build Back Better.
The average Heritage Action score among House Republicans is 89 percent. This term, Liz Cheney scores just 78 percent. Her lifetime score is even lower, at merely 74 percent.
This congressional term, and throughout her congressional career, Cheney is more than twice as likely as the average Republican member of Congress to break ranks with conservative principles and take sides against conservative colleagues.
Among the 211 Republicans in the House of Representatives, only 13 have a lower score this term than Cheney’s current-term voting record.
Cheney is easily among the 10 percent most liberal Republicans. For her congressional career, she is easily among the 5 percent most liberal Republicans. You don’t get much more RINO than that.
Representing perhaps the most politically conservative state in the country, Cheney’s liberal voting record stands out even more.
For illustration and comparison, the establishment media habitually calls Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) a “conservative Democrat.” Some media outlets and prominent liberal activist groups have even published calls for the Democratic Party to expel Manchin for allegedly straying too often from liberal doctrine. Yet, Manchin’s Heritage Action score this term is 12 percent, with a lifetime score of 21 percent. Cheney breaks with her Republican colleagues and votes the liberal position on key pieces of legislation much more often than Manchin breaks with Democrats and votes the conservative position. Indeed, only one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), breaks with liberals more than Cheney breaks with conservatives.
Examples of Cheney voting against the conservative position this term include her voting for the $250 billion corporate welfare package for Big Tech, known as the CHIPS Act. Also, Cheney was one of the few Republicans voting for the hurriedly composed gun restriction bill this June. Cheney voted for President Joe Biden’s $1.5 trillion spending package this March, which came on the heels of earlier massive spending bills in the wake of COVID-19.
For Cheney and the few other Republican members of Congress who bask in media love for attacking Donald Trump, their hostility to Trump is clearly rooted in something other than their claimed love of country. The reality is that Trump effectively shined the light on how the nation’s professional political class are all essentially the same, whether Republican or Democrat. Bushes pal around with Clintons and Obamas while they share a mutual view that a dominant government class should reign over the will of the people. The only difference in their vision for the role of government is merely a matter of degree. Republicans who break with conservatives and frequently vote with liberal Democrats on important pieces of legislation despise Trump because he governed as a true conservative. Appeals to Jan. 6 or anything else are mere window dressing.
Regardless of Cheney’s targeting of Trump, she should not have been surprised that she received a primary challenge from Wyomingites tired of having one of the most conservative states in the country represented by a RINO congresswoman.
