In this, the silliest of all silly seasons, we conservatives find ourselves in a rather unfortunate position, given who the Republican standard bearer is.  He may be more conservative than Obama, but then again the odds are that any name randomly chosen from a phone book would be as well.   There has been much back and forth about McCain’s record and stance on the issues, and a lot of hope that McCain’s choosing Palin might indicate a more rightward change in direction on his part.  A lot of numbers have been tossed about regarding his voting record and how conservative his rating is from various groups in order to prove the point one way or the other. 

Not one to be all that comfortable relying on percentages arrived at by 3rd parties, I decided to undertake my own analysis of McCain’s recent legislative activities.  To that end I made a new friend, THOMAS, the legislative search engine of the Library of Congress (http://thomas.loc.gov/).  THOMAS and I focused on those bills McCain cared enough about to put his name on, the ones he either sponsored or co-sponsored. 

Now there are a few of these that we’re all familiar with, his signature pieces: McCain-Feingold (campaign finance reform, the 1st amendment takes it in the shorts), McCain-Lautenberg (closing the gun show loophole, the 2nd amendment takes it in the shorts, has BrianR mentioned his C rating from the NRA lately?), McCain-Kennedy (amnistia, por favor, every American takes it in the shorts), and last but not least McCain-Lieberman (CAP {economic growth} AND TRADE {prosperity for poverty, Christianity for Gaia worship}, globull warming, the Republican Party’s newest plank).

Now obviously while significant, these are just four pieces of legislation, and as bad as they are at least he agrees with conservatives on a majority of issues, certainly more than Barry, right?  So I thought I’d look at the other pieces of legislation he put his name on, the most recent ones from the current Congress to see what’s mattered to him lately.  McCain has sponsored or co-sponsored 245 pieces of legislation so far in the 110th Congress, and I’ve gone through the whole list.  Hey, if getting your name on legislation and getting it though the Senate is what a good Senator does, McCain’s one of the best.  The question is, just exactly what kind of legislation are we talking about here?

In the two posts that follow I have included a few details with respect to some 40 of the 245 bills or amendments sponsored or co-sponsored by McCain.  Specifically their title, sponsor, and co-sponsors, along with my usual witty and urbane comments.  I crack myself up.  I chose them because their titles indicated that they were relevant to an issue we as conservatives care about, either positively or negatively.  No, I did not read the text to any of these bills.  If you’re suffering from insomnia, go ahead.  Unlike U.S. Senators, I don’t have the ability to dip into the public purse to pay a bunch of relatives and drunken students, er Senate staffers, to read them and then give me the gist of it five minutes before they hit the floor of the Senate, that is to say five minutes before Teddy Kennedy hits the Senate floor on Martini Mondays in a more literal fashion.

To be fair to McCain, one thing that comes across loud and clear is his support for the military, and specifically its personnel.  There was a lot of legislation from him in support of the troops, funding for wounded warriors, posthumously awarded medals, etc.  Individually, none of these bills seemed particularly noteworthy, and thus aren’t listed below, but taken collectively they were pretty impressive.  In my opinion he does really mean it on this one because it shows.  In fact, after reading it all, if my kid was in the military, it’d be hard not to vote for him based on this issue alone.  Seriously.

There is a lot that can be drawn from the information in the following posts, I don’t have the time to slice and dice it as much as it could be, so please feel free to crib from them and make your own analyses of his record on your own blogs. 

What I want to bring your attention to at the moment is the following.  Look at the titles of the legislation, and whether or not you think he is supporting conservative causes or poking us in the eye yet again, and make a tally sheet.  Note that I have not deliberately excluded bills to make him appear either better or worse. 

Also, what I found even more interesting, look at who co-sponsors his bills and whose bills he co-sponsors.  A lot has been made of the company Obama has kept and what that says about him, and rightfully so.  Take a look at the company McCain has been keeping, legislatively speaking, and be consistent when considering what this says about him.  And bear in mind how long McCain has been working with some of these guys in the Senate, (I mean the collective amount of time served by the gang of 14 alone is measured in what, centuries or millenia?) and what conclusions can be drawn with respect to who has influence with him and who he has influence with.  I'm guessing that to our collective chagrin Sara is not even close to being in the picture.

 To that end, I’ll just post as a refresher the names of the gang of 14, most of whom were still around in the 110th: Byrd Robert (D-WV), Chafee Lincoln (R-RI), Collins Susan (R-ME), DeWine Mike (R-OH), Graham Lindsey (R-SC), Inouye Daniel (D-HI), Landrieu Mary (D-LA), Lieberman Joe (D-CT), McCain John (R-AZ), Nelson Ben (D-NE), Pryor Mark (D-AR), Salazar Ken (D-CO), Snowe Olympia (R-ME), and Warner John (R-VA).  For bonus points, count how often their names appear as sponsors and co-sponsors.

Finally, since this election is about McCain vs. Obama (the ultra-lightweight match of the ages), pay special attention to those bills they are together on, of which there are several.  The ones that struck me the most were McCain-Lieberman (same page wrt glbaloney), benefits and education rights for aliens (same page on illegal immigration), AIDS and other diseases funding for foreign countries (hey, why stop at nationalized health care when you can have internationalized health care), and nanny stateism (car seat safety laws and tobacco regulation).  How about this: Lieberman sponsored bills on both establishing (SPEW ALERT:) a Senate Office for Public Integrity and on earmark disclosure and McCain and Obama were both co-sponsors for each of them.  Then there’s this: Obama, McCain and even the Hildebeast co-sposored Jim DeMint’s amendment for an earmark moratorium for fiscal 2009.  Finally, here’s the kicker: McCain was one of only three co-sponsors on Obama’s bill to (SPEW ALERT:) strengthen transparency and accountability in Federal spending.  So if McCain can agree with Obama on global warming, illegal immigrants, health-care for illegal immigrants and foreigners, earmarks, integrity and accountability with respect to Federal spending, can I ask which of the following is true?

1)    John McCain is no better than Obama on these issues.
2)    Barack Obama is no worse than McCain on these issues.

S.84: A bill to establish a United States Boxing Commission to administer the Act, and for other purposes. Co-sponsors Byron Dorgan and Ted Stevens.  Baseball hearings weren’t enough, I guess.

S. 327: A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of sites associated with the life of Cesar Estrada Chavez and the farm labor movement. Co-sponsors include Barb Boxer, Ken Salazar and Robert Menendez.  Government subsidized, pro-illegal propaganda?

S. 463: A bill to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify when organizations described in section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 must register as political committees, and for other purposes.  One co-sponsor, Russ Feingold.  You think he’s changed his mind on campaign-finance reform?

S. 952 A bill to amend the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental and Native American Public Policy Act of 1992 to provide funds for training in tribal leadership, management, and policy, and for other purposes.  No co-sponsors.  Yep, after all, native Americans were just peaceful folk living in harmony with nature until whitey screwed it all up.

S. 1900: A bill to authorize appropriations for the United States Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution.  No co-sponsors.  Not even his Uncle Joe would touch this one.

S. 2890: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a highway fuel tax holiday.  Co-sponsors include: Lindsey Graham, Joe Lieberman, Mel Martinez.  Well, he has been frank on how he knows nothing about economics.

S. ADMDT.650 to H.R. 1591 (I love this one): Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration.  The exact same statement accompanied S.AMDT 2974 to H.R. 1585, S AMDT.650 to H.R. 1591, S. AMDT 651 to H.R. 1591, S. AMDT. 2974 to H.R. 1585.

S. AMDT 1190 to S. 1348: To require undocumented immigrants receiving legal status to pay owed back taxes. (emphasis mine, boy he’s one tough hombre)  Three co-sponsors: Richard Burr, Lindsey Graham, Arlen Specter.

S AMDT. 29 to S.1: To provide congressional transparency. Co-sponsored by two Senators, Feingold and Graham.  Probably thought this one up when they took a bathroom break together.

S. 280: A bill to provide for a program to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by establishing a market-driven system of greenhouse gas tradeable allowances, to support the deployment of new climate change-related technologies, and to ensure benefits to consumers from the trading in such allowances, and for other purposes. (Joe Lieberman)  11 other co-sponsors, most notable: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Dick Durban Susan Collins, Norm Coleman, Olympia Snowe.  Globalony, do I really need to say more?

S. 340: A bill to improve agricultural job opportunities, benefits, and security for aliens in the United States and for other purposes. (Diane Feinstein)  Un-friggin’ believable.  Note that 30 of the remaining 99 Senators co-sponsored this.  Other than McCain there were Joe Biden, Babs Boxer, Hillary Clinton, Larry Craig, Chris Dodd, Russ Feingold, Chuch Hagel, Teddy Kennedy, John Kerry (who served in Vietnaaam), Leaky Leahy, Joe Lieberman, Mel Martinez, Bill Nelson, Barack Obama, Ken Salazar, Chuck Schumer, Olympia Snowe, Arlen Specter, George Voinovitch.

S. 500: A bill to establish the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of the National Museum of the American Latino to develop a plan of action for the establishment and maintenance of a National Museum of the American Latino in Washington, DC, and for other purposes. (Ken Salazar)  Other purposes that would have nothing to do with promoting amnesty for illegals, right?  24 other co-sponsors, including usual suspects, Joe Biden, Babs Boxer, Hillary Clinton, Durban, Feingold, Feinstein, Teddy Kennedy, John F. Kerry, Mary Landrieu, Joe Lieberman, Mel Martinez, Rbert Menendez, Ben Nelson, Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer.

S. 625: A bill to protect the public health by providing the Food and Drug Administration with certain authority to regulate tobacco products. (Teddy Kennedy)  Can never regulate anything too much, can we, especially not a cash-cow like tobacco?  Oh, no wait, I forgot, it’s regulated for health reasons.  LMAO.  56 Senate co-sponsors, including: Joe Biden, Barbara Boxer, Robert Byrd, Hillary Clinton, Susan Collins, Dick Durbin, Russ Feingold, Diane Feinstein, Dan Inouye, John Kerry, Mary Landrieu, Frank Lautenberg, Joe Lieberman, Patrick Leahy, Barack Obama, Ken Salazar, Bernie Saunders, Chuckie Schumer, Olympia Snowe, Arlen Specter.

S. 694: A bill to direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations to reduce the incidence of child injury and death occurring inside or outside of light motor vehicles, and for other purposes. (Hillary Rodham Clinton)  Yep, we conservatives love regulations, right?  I’m sure all those other purposes are part of the enumerated powers, too.   37 Senate co-sponsors, including: Barb Boxer, Chris Dodd, Dick Durban, Russ Feingold, Diane Feinstein, Teddy Kennedy, John Kerry, Frank Lautenberg, Barack Obama, Mark Pryor, Chuckie Schumer, Olympia Snowe and Arlen Specter..  Sure is a lot of comity in the Senate these days, isn’t there?  At least between John and the Dems.

S. 774: A bill to amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to permit States to determine State residency for higher education purposes and to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien students who are long-term United States residents and who entered the United States as children, and for other purposes.  (Dick Durban) A little more illegal love. 26 co-sponsors, including: Joe Biden, Babs Boxer, Hillary Clinton, Larry Craig, Mike Crapo (great name for a Senator), Chris Dodd, Russ Feingold, Diane Feinstein, Chuch Hagel, Teddy Kennedy, John F. Kerry, Leahy, Joe Lieberman, Dick Lugar, Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Bernie Sanders.

S. 1001: A bill to restore Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia. (Kay Bailey Hutchinson) 46 co-sponsors.  Hey, credit where credit is due.

S. 1341: A bill to provide for the exchange of certain Bureau of Land Management land in Pima County, Arizona, and for other purposes. (John Kyl)  McCain was the only co-sponsor.  Land-deal Kyl?

S. 1742, 1748: A bill to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from repromulgating the fairness doctrine. (John Thune; Norm Coleman)  Again, credit where credit is due.  Finally a bill where the other co-sponsors don’t contain the usual suspects.

S. 1771: A bill to increase the safety of swimming pools and spas by requiring the use of proper anti-entrapment drain covers and pool and spa drainage systems, to educate the public about pool and spa safety, and for other purposes. (Mark Pryor)  Holy nanny-state Batman!  Other co-sponsors included Dick Durban, John Kerry and John Warner.

S. 1780: A bill to require the FCC, in enforcing its regulations concerning the broadcast of indecent programming, to maintain a policy that a single word or image may be considered indecent. (John Rockefeller)  Can I think of a few single words for them, although they wouldn’t get past the TH censors.  Co-sponsors included Robert Byrd (betcha he knows an indecent word or two when he sees them), Daniel Inouye and Mark Pryor.

S. 1862: A bill to provide for the exchange and conveyance of certain National Forest land and other land in southeast Arizona, and for other purposes. (Jon Kyl)  Land-deal Kyl strikes again, McCain only co-sponsor.

S. 1984: A bill to strengthen immigration enforcement and border security and for other purposes. (Jon Kyl)  Co-sponsors include Lindsey Graham, Mel Martinez and Arlen Specter, which leads me to believe the description is probably somewhat misleading, to say the least.  1984 is probably a good number for it, double-speak and all that rot.  Where’s the dam fence?

S. 2348: A bill to ensure control over the United States border and to strengthen enforcement of the immigration laws. (John Cornyn)  Co-sponsors included Pete Domenici, Lindsey Graham, Mel Martinez, Arlen Specter and John Sununu.  Again, nice title, but I’d be more impressed if the list of co-sponsors wasn’t dominated by guys I know are soft on illegal immigration.  And if something has actually been done on the issue, I must have missed it.  Where’s the dam fence?

S. 2543: A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit taking minors across State lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions. (John Ensign)  This is a good one.

S. 2587: A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for compensation to States incarcerating undocumented aliens charged with a felony or 2 or more misdemeanors. (Diane Feinstein) Co-sponsors included Barbara Boxer, Larry Craig, Mike Crapo (I don’t know him, just like his name), Pete Domenici, Dick Durban, Charles Schumer and Fartin’ Arlen Specter (he stinks).

S. 2731: A bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 to provide assistance to foreign countries to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and for other purposes. (Joe Biden)  Forget about nationalized health care, bring on internationalized health care.  Go for the gusto, I always say.  Co-sponsors included: Chris Dodd, Dick Durbin, Chuck Hagel, Teddy Kennedy, John Kerry, Carl Levin, Richard Lugar, Barack Obama, Olympia Snowe.

S. 3077: A bill to strengthen transparency and accountability in Federal spending. (Barack Obama)  I nearly peed in my pants when I saw this one.  Only three co-sponsors, McCain, Thomas Carper and Tom Coburn.

S. 3159: A bill to require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws, and for other purposes. (Tom Coburn)  Yeah, right, I wish!  Again, I wish I had been wearing a pair of Depends when I saw this one.  Although since there was a scarcity of Dem co-sponsors, it might actually have been a decent bill.  If I understand the last major action report, it’s been sent to die in committee.

S. AMDT.30 to S.1: To establish a Senate Office of Public Integrity. (Joe Lieberman) Are these guys politicians or comedians?  Look at the other co-sponsors: Susan Collins, Russ Feingold, John Kerry and Barack Obama.

S. AMDT. 43 to S.1: To require disclosure of earmark lobbying by lobbyists. (Joe Lieberman)  The other two co-sponsors: Russ Feingold and Barack Obama.  Good for you, Uncle Joe.

S. AMDT. 411 to S. 4: To advance and strengthen democracy globally through peaceful means using transformational diplomacy to assist foreign countries to implement democratic forms of government, to strengthen respect for internationally accepted human rights standards and norms in foreign countries through increased United States advocacy, to strengthen alliances of democratic countries, and to increase support for programs of nongovernmental organizations, individuals, and private groups that promote democracy. (Joe Lieberman) McCain was the only co-sponsor.  The McCain-Lieberman doctrine?  He really should’ve picked Uncle Joe for veep, two peas in a pod. 

S. AMDT. 990 to S.1028: To provide for the importation of prescription drugs. (Byran Dorgan)  Co-sponsors include: Chuck Grassley, Claire McCaskill, Bernie Sanders, Olympia Snowe.  Hey, as a Canadian I can hook you up to cheap meds, whaddaya need?  Probably Ritalin, you guys seem to go through that like Barry through weed.  Oops, I mean like Barry used to go through weed, yeah, that’s the ticket.  Hey, doping kids is easier than teaching them.  Now that’s school choice that even Marion Barry can believe in. 

S. AMDT. 1173 to S.1348: To provide for minimum sentences for aliens who re-enter the United States after removal. (Lindsey Graham)  Also co-sponsored by Mel Martinez.  I’m sure Lindsey meant to say minimal, and the typo will be corrected soon.

S. AMDT. 2412 to H.R. 2638: To ensure control over the United States borders and strengthen enforcement of the immigration laws. (Lindsey Graham)  Other co-sponsors: Norm Coleman, Pete Domenici, Mel Martinez and Arlen Specter.  Geez, I never knew Graham was such a hawk on border control.  Oh wait he isn’t.  Could somebody who speaks BS please read these and get back to me on what they actually say? 

S. AMDT. 2480 to H.R. 2638: To ensure control over the United States borders and strengthen enforcement of the immigration laws. (Lindsey Graham)  This one must have been good, 30 co-sponsors, divided almost 50-50 between Dems and Rinos, such as: Lamar Alexander, Sheets Byrd, Norm Coleman, Pete Domeneci, Diane Feinstein (she only signs on to the ones that are really tough on illegal immigrants, or the hired help as she calls them), Mary Landrieu, Mel Martinez, Mark Pryor, Ken Salazar, Arlen Specter, John Warner and Jim Webb.  Wow, Lindsey’s tackling this issue single-handedly!

S. AMDT. 3117 to H.R. 3222: To improve the security of United States borders. (Lindsey Graham)  Other co-sponsors include: Pete Domeneci, Mel Martinez, Mark Pryor and Arlen Specter.  So where’s the dam fence, or I have I said that already?

S. AMDT. 4302 to S. CON. RES. 70: To provide for a reserve fund for legislation to provide access, coverage, and choice for every American to quality and affordable care. (Judd Gregg)  But it must have been for the children, because Judd had 36 co-sponsors, including: Lamar Alexander, Larry Craig, Mike Crapo (man I love this guy), Jim DeMint, John Ensign, Joe Lieberman, Mel Martinez, Ken Salazar and George Voinovich.  You have to have money put aside for legislation?  I thought these guys got paid salaries to pass legislation.  Care, huh, as in health care probably?  What does choice usually mean in this context? 

S. AMDT. 4347 to S.CON.RES.70: To establish an earmark moratorium for fiscal year 2009. (Jim DeMint)  Other co-sponsors: Hilary Rodham Rodham Lindsey Graham, Mel Martinez and Barack Obama.  Good idea, but the motion was ruled out of order by the Chair.

You can search a number of different ways with THOMAS, and I thought it would be fun to take a stab at McCain’s legislative record from another angle, this time just some numbers.  Again, I’m going to focus on those bills important enough to merit having his name on them, either as a sponsor or co-sponsor, in the 110th Congress.

What I’m doing this time is to see who he worked with the most, conservatives or liberals.  To that end I have consulted the American Conservative Union’s list of Senate Standouts for 2007 to choose a sample of Senators.  (http://www.conservative.org/archive2/Senate_standout.asp) From the five with a 100% rating, we have John Barrasso, Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, James Inhofe and Jon Kyl.  From the 21 with a 0% rating, I have chosen 10: Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Dick Durbin, Daniel Inouye, Teddy Kennedy, Frank Lautenberg, Patrick Leahy, Robert Menendez, Harry Reid, and Chuckie Schumer.

So the number next to each Senator’s name represents the number of times their name appeared with McCain’s on a Senate bill during the 110th Congress.
 
Barrasso: 29
Coburn: 69
DeMint: 64
Inhofe: 61
Kyl: 87 (the other AZ Senator, not a terrible surprise they worked together a lot)
 
Biden: 65
Dodd: 64
Durbin: 70
Inouye: 40
Kennedy: 56
Lautenberg: 45
Leahy: 44
Menendez: 53
Reid: 36
Schumer: 61

So McCain spent more a lot more time working with ten Dems with a 0% ACU rating than one of the Repubs with a perfect score, John Barrasso.   He spent more time with a zero, Turban Durbin, than with a hero, save for his fellow Arizonan Kyl, as much time with Schumer as Inhofe and as much time with Dodd as DeMint.  Who can credibly tell me that the Democratic Congressional agenda, such as it is, would move along faster under Obama than McCain?  I would suggest it would be the opposite.  I have a feeling that Obama would be such an inept boob that things’ll slow down because he can’t manage process or procedure; while McCain has ably demonstrated that he can keep things humming right along.  And, once again, what do the above numbers suggest about the type of legislation we’d get from President McCain, and where he’d look for support on his issues?

Update:  Even though not a perfect zero (7% ACU rating, pretty crappy but still nowhere near the most liberal Senator, at most the 22nd most liberal Senator), I really should have posted the number for Obama, which is:

Obama: 72

That's right, McCain's name appeared beside Obama's more than often than with any of the other Senators listed above save Kyl.  And you've seen what the important ones were about in my previous posts. 

And for added fun, I thought I'd just check up on the Hildebeast and McCain:

Clinton: 73

Wow, even better!  So during 2007 and 2008, when these guys are all campaigning for their party's nomination, they all decided to go in the same direction.  Sounds like they all must have had the same advice as to what the best direction would be for them during their campaigns.  Greats minds think alike!

Also, just to provide some comparative numbers, I took a couple of the 100% rated conservatives and searched how often their names appeared with Obama and Clinton.

DeMint-Obama: 27
DeMint-Clinton: 32

Kyl-Obama: 31
Kyl-Clinton: 36

And in every comparison for DeMint and Kyl, between 20 and 25 of the bills they were on with Obama and Clinton were simple Senate Resolutions, you know, useless declarations welcoming a dignitary, honoring a Senator, mourning the passing of a Senator or ex-Senator, celebrating the birthday of a Senator or ex-Senator, tut-tutting regimes like Iran or Burma.  And obviously for Kyl, even though he worked on a lot of bills with McCain, most of those weren't the same ones McCain was working on with the Dems.

2nd Update:  BrianR just noted on his blog that McCain's said that he and John F'n Kerry are 'buds', and so I thought that it'd be worth it to see how often they hung out:

Kerry: 61