John McCain, taxpayer hero

Watchdog group, The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, has released its annual list of which congressmen and Senators have been naughty or nice (pdf here).

The group rewards tax-cutters and spending-gutters on a scale from 0-100.

0-19%: Hostile to taxpayers

20-39%: Unfriendly

40-59%: Lukewarm

60-79%: Friendly

80-99%: Taxpayer hero

100%: Taxpayer Super Hero

The ratings are based on 42 sample votes from 2008. The first number is the Senator's 2008 score; the second, his/her lifetime score.

2012 Prospects and other notable Senators:

a. Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, 98%, 93%

b. Arizona Sen. John McCain, 85%, 88%

c. Nevada Sen. John Ensign, 95%, 92%

d. SC Sen. Jim DeMint, 98%, 97%

e. SD Sen. John Thune, 79%, 70%

f. Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, 70%, 68%

g. Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, 73%, 68%

Notes: Right wings sites love to hate John McCain -- labeling him with the dreaded "RINO" (which actually means: someone who doesn't conform absolutely and universally with my ideology).

But if the peddlers of McCain-hate really want to look for RINOS, they should start by tagging the following first.

Over their Senate lifetimes, these Republicans all scored worse than McCain on cutting spending and taxes: Jeff Sessions, Richard Selby, Lisa Murkowski, Mel Martinez, Saxby Chambliss, Johnny Isakson, Larry Craig, Mike Crapo, Richard Lugar, Chuck Grassley, Sam Brownback, Wayne Udall, Pat Roberts, Jim Bunning, Mitch McConnell, David Vitter, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Norm Coleman, Thad Cochran, Roger Wicker, Kit Bond, Chuck Hagel, Pete Domenici, Richard Burr, Liddy Dole, George Voinovich, James Inhofe, Gordon Smith, Lindsey Graham, John Thune, Bob Corker, Lamar Alexander, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Bob Bennett, Orrin Hatch, John Warner.

That's 37 Republicans from the 2008 delegation.

There are many, many more metrics on which McCain scores higher than his colleagues, but the point is: If you want to call John McCain a RINO, you might as well call the whole party, Republican in Name Only.