John McCain is not a conservative

Economy- First, I would like to address the estate tax. So EVERY conservative votes down the estate(death) tax? This is a direct quote from McCain "I am concerned that repeal of the estate tax would provide massive benefits solely to the wealthiest and highest-income taxpayers in the country. A Treasury Department study found that almost no estate tax has been paid by lower- and middle-income taxpayers. But taxes have been paid on the estates of people who were in the highest 20% of the income distribution at the time of their death. It found that 91% of all estate taxes are paid by the estates of people whose annual income exceeded $190,000 around the time of their death. …" McCain's reason for supporting the estate tax is a conservative reason. He thinks the estate tax only taxes the rich and not the poor. If this is true, his reasoning is conservative. Notice, conservatives have no problem taxing the rich as long as the poor isn't taxed as well. Furthermore, let's look at NAFTA http://www.youtube.com... In this interview, McCain supports free trade and NAFTA. Now, you think NAFTA restricts free trade? Here is the first tip off that you are wrong. NA Free Trade A. The purpose of NAFTA is free trade. It's primary job was removing tariffs from the NAFTA members and increasing trade. McCain supported NAFTA (free trade). How else is McCain uber conservative in the economy… http://www.johnmccain.com... Read this and learn…oh wait, I already told you to read this. Did you? Apparently not if you still think McCain is not conservative enough with the economy. Immigration- Amnesty? Is that what you're calling it? I read the outlines of the McCain-Kennedy Immigration Plan. Amnesty is the granting of citizenship automatically. The McCain-Kennedy Plan allows immigrants to apply for citizenship without returning home first. That doesn't mean 11 million illegals become citizens, it means they have an easier shot at becoming citizens quicker. And you think a conservative has never supported a lenient immigration plan? Ronald Reagan (and if you tell me he isn't conservative you obviously do not know what a conservative is) passed the Immigration and Reform Act that granted legal residency to illegal aliens. McCain is following the same path as the so-called father of the republican party. If you listened to any of the debates, McCain clearly said he supports citizenship for those that deserve it, but would never support amnesty. Judge Appointments- Half of your argument here is accurate. McCain was part of the Gang of 14. He did not, however, support democratic filibustering. The Gang of 14 agreed on was stopping republicans from gaining simple majority and democrats from filibustering. The senate count was 55-45. Reps needed 51 for majority and Dems needed 41 to filibuster. The Gang of 14 had 7 Republicans and 7 Democrats so yje count dropped to 48-38. Thus, neither party was helped. This is not a liberal move, it is a moderate move. You, as the resolution claims, need to prove how McCain is liberal. Proving he is moderate or proving that he can put partisan issues aside to do what was best for the country does not prove he is liberal. Notice, 6 other conservatives were on the Gang of 14. Free Speech/RTBA- Wow, McCain-Feingold? How much do you know about the McCain-Feingold or BCRA? It's a campaign reform act (hence the CRA). It was made to address two issues. First, it was enforcing a CURRENT law that people can not donate too much money to campaigns. There is a federal cap that was ignored and the BCRA tried to enforce it. The second thing it really did was force candidates to sponsor ads and not random corporations. He does nothing else to ban Free Speech. Actually, he supports many Bill of Rights rights. He supports the right to bear arms, a VERY conservative position. The support of the RTBA is very conservative and makes it almost impossible to make him liberal. Foreign Policy- Lets, see, what you are referring to here is the McCain Detainee Amendment. It does not work to close Guantanamo Bay. It does make torture illegal to some extent. It forces FM 34-52 Intelligence Interrogation to be the sole interrogator. This simply means the army has to follow its OWN manual. His stance against torture can be attributed to the fact that when a POW he was subjected to torture. Maybe this is personal, not political. What you exclude from foreign policy is the Detainee Amendment also denies Habeas Corpus to those in Guantanamo. That sounds conservative to me. You claim the majority of his views are not conservative. You give one. He supports Iraq, the troop surge. He supports sending troops to Afghanistan and other middle eastern countries. He supports aggressive foreign policy modeling that of Reagan. His foreign policy speaks volumes about how conservative he is. Record- Your last point has no real impact. He was ranked lowly on conservative scales. Does this make him not conservative? It means he isn't a perfect conservative. But no one. Reagan once was a democrat. I have already showed how his stance on Senate bills were not liberal. He cannot possible take ANYMORE conservative positions on the economy. If he is, as you said, simply taking conservative stances because he is from a red-state, then why would he be such a staunch fiscal conservative? It makes no sense. McCain is always conservative or moderate, but never liberal.