Notes on Congress

CQ politics has a really cool tool that for each Congressman shows the proportion of the time they (1) voted with the president, (2) voted with their party, (3) voted at all.

No senator voted with the president less often than Ted Kennedy. Interestingly, no senator voted with the president more often than John McCain. The two senators from Maine, both Republicans, were the least loyal senators to their party.

Of those not campaigning (or cancerous), Senate artifacts Robert Byrd and Daniel Inouye (71 combined years in the Senate) missed the most votes.

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In other news, it's already been a big deal that Vietnamese Republican Anh "Joseph" Cao brought down uber-corrupt William Jefferson (try as you want, you can't add "Clinton", nor can you make a "movin' on down" joke) in Louisiana. Well, as if that wasn't enough, when a reporter asked, Cao (Anh?) said he would be interested in being a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (One Two Three). Just for reference, though others have tried, there has never been a non-black member of the CBC. There have been two black Republicans in congressional history, one was a member of the caucus (and generated frequent controversy) and the other declined to join.

And if that's still not enough for you, just enjoy what my current Congressman is bringing to race relations.