Since talk of a potential run for Governor by Roy Barnes is really starting to gain some attention in the press and blogosphere, I decided to go back to the Cato Institute's Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors from the two years he was graded and compare it to his successor.

Roy Barnes
2000: C
2002: B

Sonny Perdue
2004: D
2006: C
2008: B

The report grades governors on various parts of fiscal policy from a free market perspective, everything from taxes to spending to debt incurred. It should be noted that the author and methodology of the report changed in 2008. Stephen Slivinski and Stephen Moore co-wrote the study from 2000 to 2004. Slivinski wrote it alone in 2006. Chris Edwards took over in 2008.

Despite his grade in 2000, Barnes was given high marks, near the best of any governor in the nation, for holding spending down (Barnes actually cut spending by 2%). In 2002, the report says, "Roy Barnes has built a strong fiscal record in his first term in office." It also shows that Barnes cut the property tax burden by $250 million.

There's no real explanation for Perdue's score in 2008, other than a passing comment about spending. They point out that Perdue took credit for $2 billion during his re-election campaign in 2006. Edwards writes, "[Perdue] was taking credit for tax cuts enacted under the prior governor."

Just some food for thought.