How does DMI decide which bills to include on TheMiddleClass.org in general and which 2008 bills count toward a legislator’s grade?
TheMiddleClass.org site encompasses legislation that would have a significant impact on the squeezed middle class or the aspirations of low-income Americans who want to work their way into the middle class. 2008 grades are based on ten votes in the House and ten votes in the Senate that illustrate legislators’ overall commitment to the current and aspiring middle class. We excluded bills, like the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008 where the main provisions were part of another bill graded in the Scorecard. We also left out legislation, such as the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 that was generally positive but weak. Other bills were tough calls. Click here for a complete list of the bills that count toward legislators’ 2008 grades.

What if my representative voted in 2008 but is no longer in Congress?
TheMiddleClass.org legislators page is an updated list of the current members of Congress only. You can find the votes and grades for Members of Congress who voted in 2008 but have left office as of March, 2009 by clicking here.

How does the grading work?
DMI assigns letter grades to Members of Congress each year based on their votes for or against the middle class. A letter grade of ‘A+’ is awarded for a perfect record of voting for the middle class. A letter grade of 'A' is awarded to legislators who voted the middle-class position on 90% or more of the votes they cast. A letter grade of ‘B’ is awarded for an 80% voting record or better; ‘C’ for a 50% record or better; ‘D’ for a 40% record or better; and ‘F’ for legislators who voted for the middle class less than 40% of the time. Missed votes – whether due to absence or abstention – do not count in the percentage of votes used to calculate the grade. But a Member of Congress who has missed five or more votes in a year receives a grade of incomplete (INC.) A legislator who was not in office during a given year receives a grade of N/A. For information on the grading formulas used prior to 2007, click here.

Does DMI endorse candidates who receive As?
No. The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization, and neither supports nor opposes any candidate for office. We believe better policy can be created when ordinary citizens – not just political insiders – know how their legislators voted on the issues that matter most to them, and when legislators know their constituents are watching.

Why doesn’t the latest grade match the percentage gauge on the top of a legislator’s page?
The gauge reflects the percentage of votes cast in favor of the middle class so far in 2009. The latest grades reflect a selection of legislators’ 2008 votes.

What do you mean by "middle class"?
The middle class is more than an income bracket. Over the past fifty years, a middle-class standard of living in the United States has come to mean having a secure job, a safe and stable home, access to health care, retirement security, time off for vacation, illness and the birth or adoption of a child, opportunities to save for the future and the ability to provide a good education, including a college education, for one’s children. When these middle-class fundamentals are within the reach of most Americans, the nation is stronger economically, culturally and democratically. Most Americans identify themselves as middle class. Yet DMI is concerned not only with those who currently enjoy a middle-class standard of living, but also with expanding the middle class by increasing the ability and opportunities of poor people to enter the middle class. The middle class is strengthened when more poor people are able to work their way into its ranks. In a nation that is increasingly polarized between the very wealthy and everyone else, DMI sees the poor and middle class as sharing many of the same interests. Simply put: what strengthens and expands the middle class is good for America.