I admire U.S. Congressman Joseph
Cao (R-New Orleans) and have enjoyed interviewing him on my TV and radio shows.
He is cordial, intelligent and an extremely hard worker. He has a great
personal story of persistence, survival and triumph in the face of tremendous
obstacles.
There is no doubt that Cao is a man of integrity and is a great contrast to
the man he replaced in Congress, convicted felon “Dollar” Bill Jefferson. Cao
is a former Jesuit seminarian and ethics professor, so his constituents can
feel assured that he will serve as an honorable public
servant. No one will ever suspect that Cao will imitate Jefferson and
stash cash in his freezer or put personal business dealings over the needs of
his district.
As the first Vietnamese American in Congress, Cao is an historic
figure on Capitol Hill. He is also a unique politician because he actually
reads the bills and studies them before casting a vote. I am sure he is one of
the only politicians in Congress to read the 1990 page healthcare bill before
voting on the issue.
Despite his outstanding personal
qualities, Cao made a horrible mistake in voting for a piece of legislation
that, if enacted, will wreck our healthcare system and do terrible damage to
our economy. Cao said that he was voting on behalf of his constituents who
support the bill; however, he should have put the interests of his country first.
This bill will harm his congressional district and the nation. It will add to
our deficit, increase taxes and inevitably will lead to healthcare rationing.
Bureaucrats will be placed in charge of decisions which should be made by
patients and their doctors. The bill will force insurance companies out of
business and make more people dependent on government.
What does the government do well?
Is it a good operator of Amtrak, the post office
or Medicare? Of course not, it has a horrible track record and every program
that the government controls runs a deficit, is mismanaged and is inefficiently
operated. If the federal government manages our healthcare system, the poor
results will be magnified because it will involve 16% of our entire economy.
By casting the lone Republican
vote for this monstrosity, Cao has given President Obama and Speaker Pelosi the
cover of a “bi-partisan” bill. In the process, Cao betrayed his party and the
many Republican donors who supported his campaign. He will be unable to send
out fundraising appeals to Republican donors and activists touting his
conservative credentials. Currently, he is being embraced by Rachel Maddow, Barack Obama
and Nancy Pelosi, not exactly good credentials
for a Republican.
Since his vote is so unpopular
with Republicans and will lead to fewer contributions and less support from the
party, Congressman Cao should consider switching to the Democratic Party. On
many votes, he is the lone Republican or one of the only a few Republicans to
support legislation sponsored by the White House.
Besides this health care bill, Cao voted for the pork
barrel laden omnibus spending bill and the hate crimes legislation.
Yet, nothing compares with his vote on Saturday night as the healthcare
bill is one of the most disastrous pieces of legislation that has ever been
debated in Congress.
By standing up to his party, Cao
has become a favorite of President Obama, who lobbied the Congressman for many
months. Even if Cao receives some token Democratic donations or even has the
President campaign on his behalf, it will not sway the opinion of the voters in
the 2nd Congressional District who
will likely vote on racial and political lines.
Cao already is facing several
serious and well funded Democratic challengers in his 2010 re-election
campaign. They will not withdraw because of the healthcare vote. In fact, there
is also a chance that other Democrats may enter the race. After this vote, Cao
might even have to worry about a Republican challenger in the GOP primary.
As a congressman for a Democratic
dominated district, Cao had a chance to educate his constituents about the
fallacy of liberal “solutions” such as this healthcare bill. Instead, he
decided to “represent” them by supporting a flawed, expensive and harmful bill.
For decades, the people of the 2nd Congressional
District have been dependent on the federal government assistance programs and
the result is that the district is still one of the poorest in America .
Government does not solve problems, it only makes them worse. For healthcare, a
much better solution involves tort reform, more competition, portability of
policies, and removing government interference, not inviting government to ruin
the best healthcare system in the world. A congressman as intelligent as Joseph
Cao should know that this healthcare bill will not work. It is sad that he was
unable or unwilling to see this reality.
Might it be, horror of horrors, that Congressman Cao is follwoing the dictates of his conscience rather than the usual pander to the bassest elements of the voters?
