WASHINGTON So, how does your U.S. senator or congressional representative vote on issues affecting government competition with the private sector?

A group that calls itself the Business Coalition for Fair Competition has released a "key vote scorecard" for the 112th Congress.

"This scorecard shows how members of the House and Senate each voted on 10 key issues affecting government competition with the private sector in the 112th Congress," John Palatiello, Business Coalition for Fair Competition president, said at a news conference at the National Press Club here.

In an effort to call attention to the issue of government competition with private enterprise, and to educate and inform American voters on where their congressional representatives and senators stand, the coalition created and released a government competition voting scorecard.

The 10 House and Senate votes that make up the scorecard "provide the public a clear and concise guide to who in Congress supports free enterprise and small business and who supports bigger government that competes with free enterprise," said the coalition.

"On issues from healthcare to insourcing, public-private partnerships, to land ownership, the scorecard provides transparency on where incumbent members of Congress stand on the tough votes," the coalition added.

"We are seeing an unprecedented level of government expansion into numerous activities that should be left to the private sector. In our free enterprise system, government should be the umpire, not the opposing team.

"Firms in the marketplace should be free to compete against one another, with government assuring a level playing field and imposing only that level of regulation that prevents competitors from injuring each other, or their customers. For-profit companies should not be subjected to unfair competition created by the government," said Palatiello.

"(The coalitions) ratings of Congress are central to understanding who really supports small business, and who hides behind the rhetoric of being a friend to the entrepreneur. Competition from government is a real threat and constraint for Americas small businesses, and the (coalitions) vote ratings help separate the friend from the foe," said Karen Kerrigan, President & CEO, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

To view the ratings, go to: http://governmentcompetition.org/uploads/2012BCFCKeyVoteScorecardWeb.pdf.

Or, go to www.governmentcompetition.org and click on News-Policy-Resources.

The Business Coalition for Fair Competition says it is a national coalition of businesses, associations, taxpayer organizations and think tanks committed to reducing all forms of unfair government-created, -sponsored and -provided competition with the private sector.