September 30, 2010 2:36PM # Fiscal Report Card on the Governors By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) --- SHARE We released [Cato’s report card](https://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/PA668.pdf) on the fiscal policies of the governors today. We calculated data on the taxing and spending habits of 45 of the nation’s 50 governors, between 2008 to August 2010. The governors are scored from 0 to 100 on seven separate taxing and spending variables. The scores are aggregated and converted to letter grades, A to F. Four governors earned an “A” this year: Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. You can [read the report](https://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/PA668.pdf) to find out what these governors did right from our limited-government point of view. As it turns out, the residents of these four states seem to like the fiscal stance of their winning governors, who favor tax cuts and spending restraint. Pawlenty has a [52 percent approval rating](http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/minnesota/election_2010_minnesota_governor) in quite a liberal state. Jindal has a [74 percent approval rating](http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_state_surveys/louisiana/74_in_louisiana_like_job_governor_jindal_is_doing). Manchin has a [69 percent approval rating](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42824.html). Sanford has a [55 percent approval rating](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703793804575512170779861424.html), despite the troubles in his personal life. Governors shouldn’t just focus on being popular in a superficial sense. These polls tell us that governors who focus on cutting taxes and spending in an honest and intelligent way will be supported by the people. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).