Tell me it ain’t so. Not only did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) eked out passage on the health care bill, but she did it with one lone Republican help: Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-LA). The vote was 220-215.
Remember Cao? The first Vietnamese American to be elected to Congress and one of the few Asian representatives, too. He made headlines in December 2008 by unseating scandal ridden incumbent Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) — now facing possible 27-33 years in prison — in a heavily Democratic district. In fact, many political analysts have already decided that Cao’s going to be a one term wonder as any Republican will find it difficult to win there.
So was Cao’s lone Republican aye vote for Pelosi’s health care bill a cry for survival (and attention)? Cao, a devout Catholic, had openly opposed any bill which supports abortion. But when an amendment to limit federally subsidized abortion passed, Cao was on board with the Democrat majority in approving the bill. Additionally, he had been the target of White House lobbying and shares a rapport with President Obama which stemmed from rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
His vote compromised the impregnable GOP no-voting wall and embarrassed the Republican leadership, especially Rep. John Boehner (D-OH) who had penned the famous “The Future is Cao” memo soon after Cao’s election victory last year. Now people are seriously asking, Is Cao a RINO? He did joke about it recently (we think it’s a joke):
Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, a Republican in a deeply Democratic Louisiana district, was welcomed on Tuesday night into the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
Addressing the group at a ceremony in the Capitol Visitors Center, Cao did a little bipartisan outreach.
“Don’t tell the Republicans, but I might be a closet Democrat,” said Cao to a round of laughter.
All right, so the Congressman has a sense of humor, albeit somewhat unnerving considering the circumstances. But if he truly believes in bigger government and nationalized health care, he ought to just switch parties now and be a man about it. After all, he did cowardly wait until Pelosi had her 218 votes before casting his aye.
Being an Asian conservative, I am utterly disappointed with Rep. Cao’s recorded position on health care.
