CATO: Most Fiscally Conservative Governors

Jindal, Sanford top the list

From Eric Dondero:

Cato is out with their annual list of most fiscally conservative governors in the U.S. right on time 1 month before the election. Their simple grading system:

The governors are graded on their fiscal performance from a limited-government perspective. The governors receiving an “A” are those who cut taxes and spending the most, while the governors receiving an “F” raised taxes and spending the most.

There were not many surprises. Republicans tended to bunch up at the top of the list with 'A's and 'B's. There were a couple dissapointing exceptions - Connecticut's Jodi Roell, Hawaii's Linda Lingle, and Florida's Charlie Crist who's not really a Republican, though listed as such.

In converse the Democrats were bunched up in the 'F' and 'D' category, with two notable exceptions: Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming who did rather well. Some notable rather bad Democrat scorers: Doyle of Wisconsin, Gregoire of Washington, Rendell of PA, Lynch of New Hampshire, and Patrick of Massachusetts.

Oregon's Ted Kulongoski worst fiscally conservative record in entire U.S.

Four governors were awarded an “A” in this report card—Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Seven governors were awarded an “F”—Ted Kulongoski of Oregon, David Paterson of New York, Jodi Rell of Connecticut, Pat Quinn of Illinois, Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, Bill Ritter of Colorado, and Chris Gregoire of Washington.

Note - Quinn is in a very tight race for reelection. Kulongoski scored very worst of all with a 19 'F'. He is currently behind by a few points in his race for reelection.

Of special note, my Governor Rick Perry did rather well in 8th place with a 61, 'B' score.

See the full list pdf.