Yesterday, a lone Republican, Representative Ahn Cao, voted for the (very weak) House health care reform bill.
I read the versions of the House [health reform] bill. I listened to the countless stories of Orleans and Jefferson Parish citizens whose health care costs are exploding – if they are able to obtain health care at all. Louisianans needs real options for primary care, for mental health care, and for expanded health care for seniors and children. …
I have always said that I would put aside partisan wrangling to do the business of the people. My vote tonight was based on my priority of doing what is best for my constituents.
Representative Cao spoke to and, more importantly, listened to his constituents and absorbed what he said. And, his vote reflected that.
Across the nation, the vast majority of people support the creation of a public option and for stronger oversight of the (abusive) health “insurance” industry. Yet, Ahn Cao was the sole House Republican willing to vote his constituent’s interests.
It is worth recalling that Ahn Cao is something of hero to Republican Party leadership. Minority leader John Boehner put out a memo last year entitled The Future is Cao.
The Cao victory is a symbol of our future. In the two years ahead, House Republicans will demonstrate our commitment to reform by holding ourselves to the highest possible ethical standard – and, with new faces like Joseph Cao and John Fleming and the rest of the incoming GOP freshman class in our ranks, by presenting principled, superior solutions to the challenges facing our country.
Actually, a paragraph above almost certainly has an error. “Cao is something of a hero” is no longer true, it should read “he was” …
Cao’s vote for HCR broke the unanimous wall of opposition (as some are, accurately, referring to it: RepublicaNOism or the belief system of simply saying no and hoping for America’s failure to regain political power). Voting for citizen and national interests over political partisanship is simply unacceptable to today’s Republican Party ethos.
Cao looked at evidence, listened to his constituents, and made a judgment about what was the better option moving forward based on his reality-based decision process.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Cao is already getting the same overheated response given those few (eight) Republican House members who rejected anti-science syndrome tantrums in voting for the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy & Security (ACES) Act earlier this year. Conservatives have (repeatedly) threatened to purge from the Republican party those who supported science-based policy making. For example, global-warming denier Chairman of the RNC Michael Steele withdrew his support in the GOP primary for the Illinois Senate seat from Representative Mark Kirk (R-IL) over this vote.
Let’s face facts, neither the Health Care Reform bill passed yesterday or 
the ACES Act are what they should be. Neither are as effective as they could (should be) in structure or likely outcome, neither fully embraces the opportunities that sensible action could create, neither is what we need. But, both at least represents steps forward in the national conversation that could create an improved situation for America and Americans toward a stronger, more cost effective, and more sensible society in the future.
We can hope that these conversations and solutions can find a bipartisan space. More important than bipartisanship should be sensible policy and good solutions.
Sadly, before we even get near what is possible and worthwhile, even such half-hearted measures and weakened-down efforts toward strengthening America are anathema to doctrinaire RepublicaNOism.
See: Joe Romm, Climate Progress, House passes landmark health-care bill with one GOP vote — 7 fewer than climate bill. Conservatives still channel Groucho Marx, “Whatever it is, I’m against it.”