Am I Blue? Yup.

The Blue Dog Coalition defines itself as, "The fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition was formed in 1995 with the goal of representing the center of the House of Representatives and appealing to the mainstream values of the American public." So where exactly do the sleeping Blue Dogs lie when it comes to the ratings of the American Conservative Union and the Americans for Democratic Action, respectively the prominent conservative and liberal ratings organizations?

Each organization selects a number of votes considered to be of paramount importance to their constituencies. They then track the votes of all members of Congress. Each organization uses 100 as the "perfect" score, with the ACU defining the "perfect" conservative, and the ADA doing the same for the "perfect" liberal. Using the latest published data (ACU, ADA), for those members of Congress present during the 2008 legislative session, we can calculate the bona fides of the Blue Dogs.

Blue Dog ACU Lifetime Rating ADA 2008 Rating

Altmire, Jason (PA-04) 26.00 80.00

Arcuri, Mike (NY-24) 2.00 90.00

Baca, Joe (CA-43) 16.44 90.00

Barrow, John (GA-12) 41.00 75.00

Berry, Marion (AR-01) 36.81 75.00

Bishop, Sanford (GA-02) 32.30 90.00

Boren, Dan (OK-02) 54.25 65.00

Boswell, Leonard (IA-03) 27.52 95.00

Boyd, Allen (FL-02) 35.53 75.00

Bright, Bobby (AL-02) New NA

Cardoza, Dennis (CA-18) 28.50 85.00

Carney, C. (PA-10) 24.00 85.00

Chandler, Ben (KY-06) 26.50 85.00

Childers, Travis (MS-01) 41.00 NA

Cooper, Jim (TN-05) 24.17 60.00

Costa, Jim (CA-20) 25.25 80.00

Cuellar, Henry (TX-28) 38.10 80.00

Dahlkemper, Kathy (PA-03) New NA

Davis, Lincoln (TN-04) 52.54 80.00

Donnelly, Joe (IN-02) 36.00 70.00

Ellsworth, Brad (IN-08) 26.00 75.00

Giffords, Gabrielle (AZ-08) 12.00 80.00

Gordon, Bart (TN-06) 28.76 80.00

Griffith, Parker (AL-05) New NA

Harman, Jane (CA-36) 22.23 95.00

Herseth Sandlin, S. (SD) 41.11 70.00

Hill, Baron (IN-09) 24.50 75.00

Holden, Tim (PA-17) 40.23 85.00

Kratovil, Jr., Frank (MD-01) New N/A

McIntyre, Mike (NC-07) 51.50 85.00

Marshall, Jim (GA-03) 47.14 70.00

Matheson, Jim (UT-02) 42.75 55.00

Melancon, Charlie (LA-03) 46.22 80.00

Michaud, Mike (ME-02) 16.00 90.00

Minnick, Walt (ID-01) New NA

Mitchell, Harry (AZ-05) 20.00 75.00

Moore, Dennis (KS-03) 17.10 80.00

Murphy, Patrick (PA-08) 8.00 85.00

Nye, Glenn (VA-02) New NA

Peterson, Collin (MN-07) 45.41 80.00

Pomeroy, Earl (ND) 23.08 85.00

Ross, Mike (AR-04) 38.00 85.00

Salazar, John (CO-03) 27.00 85.00

Sanchez, Loretta (CA-47) 3.33 100.00

Schiff, Adam (CA-29) 8.56 90.00

Scott, David (GA-13) 23.92 95.00

Shuler, Heath (NC-11) 5.92 75.00

Space, Zack (OH-18) 16.00 80.00

Tanner, John (TN-08) 41.49 80.00

Taylor, Gene (MS-04) 66.11 75.00

Thompson, Mike (CA-01) 11.38 90.00

Wilson, Charles (OH-06) 12.50 80.00

Average 29.00 80.89

Unfortunately, even while there is some overlap in the issues used by each organization to rate Congressmen, each organization uses a different set of votes to do its calculations, and therefore it is difficult to directly compare ratings. But both sets of numbers allow trends to be identified. A Representative such as Jim Matheson, representing the relatively conservative second district of Utah comes in somewhere in the middle of the road in both ratings, while Loretta Sanchez, representing the relatively liberal Orange County stands out as a die-hard liberal in both ratings. Just for comparison, John McCain carries an 82.3 ACU rating and a 15.00 ADA rating, and while in the Senate, Barack Obama had an 8 ACU and 95 ADA rating.

We now know that Obama deserved his extremely liberal rating as we witness his attempt to overhaul the Constitution and change the American experiment to a collectivist path. Looking at the corresponding ratings numbers for the Blue Dogs, we see they are much more closely aligned to Obama than they are to McCain. While a small number of Blue Dogs are undoubtedly in the center of the political spectrum, as a group we must call them liberal and it is arguable that they are aligned closely to the center of America.

Paraphrasing Rep. Peter Roskam, the Blue Dogs are really just traditional Democrats by another name. The numbers seem to agree.

Update: The Wall Street Journal agrees.

Piece of Cake

I invite you all to stare awhile at this slide that was prepared by the Joint Economic Committee Republicans. Even if this chart has been exaggerated, as Democrats claimed while censoring the franking privileges of Congressional Republicans, if one-half of the chart is true, a new burdensome bureaucracy will have been created that will drain your tax dollars.

Like the Cubs, ObamaCare is a loser

Roskam: Facts Suck the Oxygen out of the Democrats' Healthcare Bill

What's Good for the Goose

If ObamaCare is good enough for us, it's good enough for Congress and Federal Workers

Last week, I heard a Congressman discussing healthcare with one of his constituents. He pointed out that the Democrats in the House have repeatedly defeated Republican attempts to require Congress to have the same health plan as required by ObamaCare.

See how your health plan matches up with the Federal employee benefit plans.

Now you know why the amendments have been defeated.

Call your Congressman and demand that Congress lives up to the requirements of ObamaCare, just like the rest of us. Better yet, while you have him on the phone tell him to vote NO to socialized medicine, H. R. 3200.

Back to the Farm

For the next couple of weeks, I will be unable to post except for the odd short post, like this one. I am remodeling the house I am moving to, and it takes too much time to get the plaster dust off me to research and write. See you in August, sooner I hope.

Once Around the Block

I read the news so you don't have to.

John Stossel looks at how much better off we will be under ObamaCare, reinforced by Carol Platt Liebau.

Chip Reid and Helen Thomas (!) take on Robert Gibbs about the most transparent administration in galactic history. (by our friend @mkhammer) Today, Helen doesn't let up.

NRO calls Obama a "big fat liar". I think they are being too kind.

Iraq is doomed.

The Norks launch more missiles. We need missile defense.

Job Losses Rise in June as Unemployment Reaches 9.5%. Did you ever wonder what the real unemployment rate is when you include those who have given up looking for work? 16.5%.

Of course, check out my Tribute to the 4th of July.

4th of July Tribute

When the House of Representatives passed Cap & Trade, I thought we might all need a little something uplifting.

Here is my attempt to put a smile on your face. Enjoy!