The American Conservative Union was founded in 1964 to promote the principles of liberty and the strength of the Constitution.

As the nation’s largest and strongest grassroots conservative organization, the ACU serves as the umbrella organization for conservatives in America.

The American Conservative Union tracks a wide range of issues before Congress to determine which issues and votes serve as a dividing line to help separate those Members of the U.S. House and Senate who protect liberty as conservatives and those who are truly liberal.

As a result, the ACU Ratings of Congress has throughout its 38 Editions included a wide variety of issues covering votes on taxes, wasteful government spending, cultural issues, defense and foreign policy.

The votes selected in this edition of the ACU Ratings of Congress are not always considered the “most important” votes as defined by others, instead the votes selected are chosen to create a clear ideological distinction among those casting them.

These ratings have throughout the years become a go-to guide to determine whether an elected official’s philosophical rhetoric matches his or her record. ACU’s purpose in this guide is to inform the public, in an unbiased way, on where individual members of Congress fall on the ideological spectrum.

Vote Breakdown

For the Second Session of the 110th Congress (2008), the ACU rated 25 votes in the House and 25 votes in the Senate. As a result, each vote is worth four points in the House and four in the Senate. ACU does not count missed votes in these ratings. Thus, the value of each vote increases for every vote a member of Congress misses. When viewing a Member’s score, this should be considered.