Nov08
Joseph Cao: the lone Republican to vote for ObamaCare
The House passed – although barely – a massive $1.8 trillion health care bill that would put the health care of millions of Americans who are currently in private insurance plans in the hands of the US government. Democrats like to complain about how awful it is to have to deal with an insurance company, but with a health insurance company you are a paying customer and are more likely to get satisfaction. The government, however, sees you as a liability to the well being of the collective. Try getting satisfaction from a government bureaucrat.
Nancy Pelosi needed 218 votes to pass this health care debacle and she got 220, two more than she needed. One of those votes was the sole Republican, Ahn “Joseph” Cao of Louisiana, who defeated Democrat William “Cold Cash” Jefferson. Representative Cao came into the House a small government Republican. Last night’s vote makes him the biggest of big government Republicans. The question is now, why did he vote for the bill?
President Obama, as Brian Faughnan noted, came into office by hitting George W. Bush for his handling of Katrina (the blame actually lies with the former Louisiana Governor and current New Orleans Mayor) but he has done absolutely nothing for New Orleans since becoming president. Nonetheless, Obama promised Rep. Cao that he would do more to help the people of New Orleans if he voted for the bill:
Today, I obtained a commitment from President Obama that he and I will work together to address the critical health care issues of Louisiana including the FMAP crisis and community disaster loan forgiveness, as well as issues related to Charity and Methodist Hospitals. And, I call on my constituents to support me as I work with him on these issues.
Sadly, Rep. Cao still hasn’t learned that every commitment from President Obama has an expiration date. On top of that, if the president hasn’t bothered to show any concern for the people of New Orleans almost a year into his presidency, he won’t in the future, no matter how many pro-Obama votes Cao casts.
Be sure to read Ralph Alter’s post at American Thinker How Now Blue Cao.
Also, NRO’s Critical Condition has much more about the coming health care fight in the Senate.
I watched him on Fox News and sadly, he looked totally convinced that Obama would help him–would stay true to that promise of helping the people in his district. What a crock. Obama will never do anything for them–unless he needs to make some token effort to squeeze another vote out of Cao for something. Cao will learn the hard way that he should have stayed the course.
Has anybody checked on his family lately? I suspect his arm is only now returning to full circulation after being held behind his back.