Democratic Representative from the 14th District of Florida, Kathy Castor, when looking at her voting record, ranked 350 out of some 500 people in Congress in 2022 when it comes to views on the proper role, scope and duty of government.
With a 5.06% limited government percentage (out of a possible 100%) on the Institute for Legislative Analysis’ Limited Government Index (LGI), Rep. Castor bombed the analysis.
In fact, in seven out of the 10 categories analyzed, Castor received a 0% rating, which include healthcare, free speech and elections, workforce and labor, education, tax and fiscal, regulations and individual liberties.
A look at a few of her votes show why she ranked where she did. She voted for:
HR 2377–Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2022
The “Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2022” establishes a national “red flag” program whereby any individual may seek to have a firearm immediately taken away from another person through an “ex-parte” (one-sided) petition to a court if the individual alleges the person is a danger to themselves or others. “Oppose” is the Limited Government Position as the one-sided petition violates due process under the law (an individual can’t provide their defense) and this program lacks provisions that prevent nefarious individuals from abusing the system to harass or harm law-abiding individuals, thus unduly infringing their Second Amendment protections and leaving them defenseless.
HR 2617–Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023
The “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023”, which was passed on December 23, 2022 funds government through the rest of fiscal year 2023. The package is over 4,000 pages long and includes numerous earmarks, ultimately amounting to $1.7 trillion in spending. Spending increases included 5.5% in domestic spending and 10% in defense spending. “Oppose” is the Limited Government Position as this measure was voted upon only days before the new congress, which would likely have significantly cut spending within the bill due to Republicans taking control of the House. The bill also contained nearly $50 billion in additional spending on Ukraine (without safeguards to prevent corruption), bringing the year’s total to $113 billion – totaling more than half the size of Ukraine’s entire pre-war economy.
HR 350–Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022
The “Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022” provides the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) a series of new powers and duties, including assessing the domestic terrorism threat posed by “white supremacist and neo-Nazi infiltration of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and the uniformed services.” “Oppose” is the Limited Government Position as this bill provides employees within the DOJ, DHS, and FBI overreaching new surveillance and investigative powers and does not contain critical safeguards to protect civil liberties under the Fourth Amendment. Additionally, there have been numerous cases of recent politicized actions taking place within the FBI, including their support of a letter from the National School Boards Association that characterized parental engagement on school curriculums as “heinous actions” that “could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism.”
The Limited Government Index (LGI) utilizes the voting records of elected officials to showcase exactly what they view as the proper role, scope and duty of government. Unlike the vast majority of scorecards that are based on a particular political party or philosophy (which tend to evolve overtime), the LGI provides a non-partisan measurement that is based on the limited government principles of the U.S. Constitution.
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