Is Gibbons effective in Congress? Yes, in a most uninfluential way

J. Patrick Coolican and Steve Kanigher

Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2006 | 7:25 a.m.

The televised debate between Democrat Dina Titus and Republican Jim Gibbons featured accusations that did not match up with the facts. Here is a look at the truth behind the debate on two issues of importance in Nevada.

Gibbons accused Titus of favoring a plan to give illegal immigrants driver's licences. Gibbons has been making the same accusation in a 30-second TV ad.

As the Sun reported in a recent "Reality Check," Gibbons is referring to two stories published in the Sun. One of them declared in a headline that Titus supported driver's licenses for illegal immigrants. Titus called the Sun and said the reporting was wrong, and the Sun published a clarification a few days later. The candidate never said she supports the licenses.

She supported a measure as a state senator in 2003 to allow certain entities - but explicitly not the Department of Motor Vehicles - to accept ID cards issued by the Mexican Consulate. But that same session, Titus also voted for two bills that would make it more difficult for new Nevada residents to get driver's licenses - bills that were touted as essential for homeland security and measures that were criticized by Hispanic activists as racist and anti-immigrant.

Last year, Gibbons voted for a tough, enforcement-only bill in the U.S. House that would make illegal immigrants and those who support them felons, even people working at churches and other charities.

Earlier this year, President Bush outlined his principles of immigration reform, which included a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants after they pay a fine and learn English. Gibbons backed the plan.

As for driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, Gibbons opposes them, although he recently told the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce: "I'm willing to listen on that issue. My door will always be open."

Government spending

Gibbons said during the debate that Titus has been campaigning on her five "E's" and then said "expensive" should be her sixth "E." His constant refrain was that he would save voters money, while Titus would cost them money.

During Titus' Nevada Senate career, state spending has increased markedly. When Titus joined the Senate in 1989, the biennium budget was $2.4 billion. The budget passed in 2005 called for nearly $9.7 billion in state spending. And, Titus has called for new spending on education, economic development and health care, among other items.

Gibbons led the fight for a state constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds majority to pass any tax increase.

However, Gibbons has been a member of Congress during a period of flowing red ink. After a period of balanced budgets and surpluses at the end of the Clinton administration, federal deficits have soared in recent years.

Gibbons has been part of the Republican majorities that have approved large spending increases, big tax cuts - many directed at the wealthy - and lots of new borrowing.

According to Americans for Tax Reform, federal spending has increased 7.2 percent per year since 2000, which is well above historical levels. The 2005 deficit was $318 billion.

Gibbons has not been immune from criticism on this score. Citizens Against Government Waste named him its December 2003 "Porker of the Month" for $225,000 he brought home to fix a Sparks public swimming pool.

- J. Patrick Coolican

What with a federal nuclear dump still being considered for Nevada and the paltry 73 cents the state gets back for every dollar it sends to Washington, Silver State residents might be surprised to know they're represented by the most powerful delegation in Congress, or that Rep. Jim Gibbons is a legislative heavyweight.

But that's what a Virginia company says after inputting data into a computer and spitting out a "power ranking" for each member of Congress.

Gibbons, the Republican candidate for governor, turned to the rankings in his debate Monday night with Democratic state Sen. Dina Titus of Las Vegas, who accused the Reno congressman of being uninformed, ineffective and a backbencher.

Gibbons struck back by citing the Virginia company's study. It ranked him as the 20th most effective legislator in getting bills passed and amended. The ranking study was done by Knowlegis LLC, which also ranked members by "influence" as well as "position" - tenure, committee rank, etc.

Gibbons neglected to mention in the debate that in the influence category, he ranked 418th out of 438 House members and delegates, or just ahead of Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, who's headed to prison after getting snared in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.

In the end, none of it may matter, say people who watch Congress closely. The Knowlegis rating isn't on many radar screens.

"I've been in Washington covering politics for five years, and I'm vaguely familiar with them, but nobody's ever cited them to me," said Marc Ambinder, an editor at The Hotline, a widely read Washington political newsletter.

Instead, in Washington, veterans rely on other measurements. "The traditional markers remain: What committee are you on? Do you have the influence to pass legislation or block it? Do you deal with the media in a way that enhances your profile?"

Ambinder continued: "I've never heard someone use it in any way other than as a small resume plank to pad out their biographies," he said, noting that he could not comment about Gibbons specifically.

Overall, with all the Knowlegis categories added up, Gibbons ranked 68th on its power list, which makes sense if you are trying to reconcile how the same congressman can be 20th from the top in law-passing effectiveness and close to 20th from the bottom in influence. Maybe he's like a kid who nails the SAT verbal but bungles the math. Or vice versa.

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., scored 182nd overall and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., was 369th. But it should be noted that lawmakers of the majority party - Republicans this year - automatically score higher because their leaders control Congress and often block the work of their opponents.

On the Senate side, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., ranked fifth and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., 49th.

Add up the five Nevadans and divide by five, and the state's delegation ranks No. 1.

Knowlegis co-founder and Chief Executive Brad Fitch downplayed the state-by-state rankings, calling the feature "eye-candy" and not necessarily realistic or relevant. He noted that with one powerful member - Reid - and a small delegation, Nevada catapulted to the top, sort of like how the Bill Gates household is pretty much guaranteed to be richest in any town.

Fitch, a former Hill staffer, said in a telephone interview that he tried to create objective criteria to measure power on the Hill. The company wrote a formula and ran it by staff members on Capitol Hill, lobbyists and other practitioners of legislative power.

He conceded that there are some things that can't be measured. For instance, legislation is often crafted out of public view, especially when it provides money, known as earmarks, for specific projects. This kind of backroom influence can be hard to measure, Fitch said.

"We're going to try to do a better job in the next power rankings," he said.

In the statistic cited by Gibbons, Knowlegis said that it took into account the success rate lawmakers had in 2005 at each stage of the legislative process.

Gibbons' congressional Web site says that since last year, his accomplishments have included legislation on charter schools, sex offenders, rural health care and public lands management.