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When the House narrowly passed its health care reform bill on Saturday night, it received 219 votes from Democrats and one from a Republican. I mentioned already that I was at the hospital with my daughter when it passed so I was passing time following reporters and pundits on Twitter. Many of them expressed shock — or at least surprise — that any Republican would support the bill. And when it was revealed that the lone vote came from Louisiana Rep. Joseph Cao, people referred to him mostly in that “oh yeah, he’s the guy who beat the corrupt William...

Here is video of MSNBC's Ed Schultz interviewing Louisiana Rep. Joseph Cao, the only Republican to vote for the House Health Care Bill. Schultz asked Cao "do you think you went with the majority in your district?" Cao answered "absolutely my district is 75% democrat, 64% minority, and we have a very poor population." Cao called his vote "a vote of conscience, a vote to serve the needs of my people down here in this district." Cao said that he has had some fundraisers canceled on him and some donors have requested their money back. Schultz asked him "is this...

When “Joseph” Cao was elected to the 2nd Congressional District in Louisiana, House Minority Leader John Boehner hailed him as representing the GOP’s future. Cao was the only Republican to vote for the Pelosi healthcare reform bill Saturday evening. According to the POLITICO, in a memo dated December 7, 2008 and addressed to House Republicans, Boehner wrote: As House Republicans look ahead to the next two years, the Cao victory is a symbol of what can be achieved when we think big, present a positive alternative, and work aggressively to earn the trust of the American people. Joseph Cao is...

When Republican Anh "Joseph" Cao won a stunning victory in a heavily Democratic district in New Orleans last December, the GOP was so thrilled that House Minority Leader John A. Boehner sent a memo to his colleagues headlined "The Future is Cao." But on health care, Cao had for months considered bucking the party that embraced him, while the White House wooed his vote. And this weekend, as a group of Democrats gained momentum in an effort to limit abortion in the health-care reform bill, Cao, a staunch opponent of abortion, dialed up the White House. He said he might...

House Democrats passed the 2,032-page Pelosicare bill on a near party-line vote Saturday night 220-215 (roll call here). The only Republican voting in favor of the measure was New Orleans-based Joseph Cao who has long ago proven to be a tax and spend (and spend and spend) liberal. After a week of intense arm twisting, threats and promises from party leaders, more than half of the 52 so-called conservative Blue Dog Democrats voted in favor of the over $1.3 trillion measure. These are the 28 Blue Dogs voting in favor of Pelosicare (who apparently fear the wrath of House Speaker...

When “Joseph” Cao was elected to the 2nd Congressional District in Louisiana, House Minority Leader John Boehner hailed him as representing the GOP’s future. Cao was the only Republican to vote for the Pelosi healthcare reform bill Saturday evening. According to the POLITICO, in a memo dated December 7, 2008 and addressed to House Republicans, Boehner wrote: As House Republicans look ahead to the next two years, the Cao victory is a symbol of what can be achieved when we think big, present a positive alternative, and work aggressively to earn the trust of the American people. Joseph Cao is...

Rickkleinblogpic ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: The decision by Rep. Joseph Cao, R-La., to vote for the Democrats’ health care bill last night would put him directly in the Republican Party’s firing line, under the standard enunciated by RNC Chairman Michael Steele last week. On ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” last week, Steele said of Republicans who support President Obama on health care or the stimulus bill: “So candidates who live in moderate to slightly liberal districts have got to walk a little bit carefully here, because you do not want to put yourself in a position where you’re crossing that line...

Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA), the lone GOP vote for the House health reform bill that passed late last night, has responded to RNC Chairman Michael Steele's warnings about stepping outside of party lines. (WATCH Steele: "We'll come after you.") Cao told CNN that Steele retains "the right to come after those members who do not conform to party lines, but I would hope that he would work with us in order to adjust to the needs of the district and to hold a seat that the Republican party would need." He represents the second congressional district of Louisiana, a solidly...

Conservatives need to take a deep breath, relax, and stop bashing Joseph Cao. The man never claimed to be a fully committed economic conservative. He represents a district that is about 75 percent Democrat and 62 percent black (or thereabouts). He SAID ALL ALONG, FOR MONTHS, that he would probably vote for health care reform if it included strong pro-life language such as the Stupak Amendment. He stuck to his guns, even though his district is not majority pro-life. He is a traditionalist Catholic, former Jesuit seminarian, and he stands up for the principles he holds dear, one of which...

One Republican Votes For Healthcare Bill Anh 'Joseph' Cao of Louisiana was elected last year to replace Rep. William J. Jefferson, who faced corruption charges. "My vote tonight was based on my priority of doing what is best for my constituents," Anh "Joseph" Cao said of his lone Republican vote for healthcare reform. (For The Times) By Steve Padilla November 8, 2009 Anh "Joseph" Cao, a Vietnamese-born former ethics teacher and Catholic seminarian, last winter surprised and delighted Republicans by defeating a longtime incumbent in a heavily Democratic congressional district in Louisiana. He provided another surprise -- but probably no...

In the end, satisfied that the House health care reform bill would not subsidize abortions, Rep. Anh "Joseph'' Cao, R-New Orleans, voted "yes" late Saturday night, making him the only Republican in the House to vote for a bill that passed 220-215. U.S. Rep. Ahn 'Joseph' Cao was the only member of Louisiana's seven-member House delegation to support the Democratic plan. Cao also was the only member of Louisiana's seven-member House delegation to support the Democratic plan.

You apologize for what Rush says. You publicly grovel for some sign somebody you didn't know was carrying at a demonstration. You tell us no Republican will vote for Pelosi's monstrosity. You tell us that Rep Cao is the "face of Republican future." You support a Marxist for NY23. I'm a Conservative who votes for Republicans and donates to them. Apologize to ME.

Washington (CNN) - Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao was the only Republican to vote in favor of the Democratic health care bill that passed the House late Saturday, a vote that came after President Obama called to personally to ask for his support, Cao told CNN. The president dialed the freshman congressman from Louisiana around noon on Saturday, hours before a vote on an amendment offered by anti-abortion Democrats that banned most abortion coverage from the public option and other insurance providers in the insurance "exchange" the legislation would create. That measure passed later in the evening. Cao said he explained...

The One Republican Vote For Socialized Medicine Was Rep. Anh (Joseph) Cao of Louisiana One Republican voted for Pelosicare: GOP Rep. Anh (Joseph) Cao of Louisiana. And from the time he was elected, Cao has backed the S-CHIP expansion, the $108 billion IMF bailout, and the omni-waste spending bill. And he voted to rebuke GOP Rep. Joe Wilson for calling out President Obama on his health care lies. His remarks: "Louisiana Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao on Sunday morning released a statement after he voted as the only Republican in favor of the Democratic health care reform bill.

Washington (CNN) - Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao said Sunday he put the needs of his district over the desire of his party in being the lone House Republican to vote for a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health care system. Cao's "yes" vote ended up being unnecessary for House Democrats in the 220-215 tally, but as the only GOP member to support the bill, he gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi license to tout bipartisan support for the controversial measure. "I felt last night's decision was the proper decision for my district even though it was not the popular decision for...

Louisiana Republican Congressman Cao releases statement after voting in favor of Democratic health care reform bill WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- Louisiana Congressman Anh "Joseph" Cao on Sunday morning released a statement after he voted as the only Republican in favor of the Democratic health care reform bill. The health care reform bill, dubbed the "Affordable Health Care for America Act" (H.R. 3962), passed the U.S. House of Representatives in a 220 - 215 vote. "Tonight, I voted to keep taxpayer dollars from funding abortion and to deliver access to affordable health care to the people of Louisiana," Cao said...

Tonight, Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao (LA-2) voted in favor of the comprehensive health reform bill, H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Of his vote, Cao said: “Tonight, I voted to keep taxpayer dollars from funding abortion and to deliver access to affordable health care to the people of Louisiana. Cao said: “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,...

THE REPUBLICAN THAT VOTED WITH OBAMA-PELOSI-REID AND THE REST OF THE DEMOCRAT COMMUNIST PARTY * Posted by gary on November 8, 2009 at 1:44am in General, Uncategorized Town Hall * Add as Friend View Discussions JUST LIKE COMMUNIST VIETNAM HE CAST HIS VOTE WITH THE AMERICAN COMMUNIST A Prized Republican on the Ropes Joseph Cao was hailed six months ago as the future of the GOP. Yesterday, he voted to rebuke Joe Wilson. Can the most endangered Republican in the House survive? By Benjamin Sarlin. As he made his way to the podium to give his health-care speech last Wednesday—a...

The American people need to send a stronger message to Washington...we are not paying any more tax money until you stop passing laws we do not want. We need to get everyone who has withholding tax to change it to zero NOW! Stop paying any federal taxes until Congress starts listening to us. We can bankrupt them in a month if we act fast and furious.

Contact information: Washington, D.C. Office: 2113 Rayburn House Office Building, District of Columbia 20515-1802 Phone: (202) 225-6636 Fax: (202) 225-1988 New Orleans Office: (more district offices) 4640 South Carrollton Avenue, Suite 120 New Orleans, Louisiana 70119 Phone: (504) 483-2325 Fax: (504) 483-7944 New Orleans Office: 4640 South Carrollton Avenue, Suite 120 New Orleans, Louisiana 70119 Phone: (504) 483-2325Fax: (504) 483-7944 web contact formIt would be appropriate to let him know how much we appreciate his vote. Not for the value of the vote, but because he gave the Dhims cover to say that it was "bipartisan."

While some claim that Conservative Republicans want to purge the party of all moderates & liberals who are present in the party, which is 100% incorrect, as we want a party which is overwhelmingly Conservative, however, in some areas of the country we will accept our moderate Republican counterparts with open arms. Those same idiots forget to mention that we do like some "moderate" Republicans.

WASHINGTON -- The day after President Barack Obama urged Congress to quit bickering and enact health-care reform, Republicans on Capitol Hill said his trillion-dollar plan would be enacted on the back of Medicare recipients and sound the death knell of Medicare Advantage. "That program will be killed off," Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, one of three doctors in the Louisiana delegation, said on the House floor Thursday. Medicare Advantage is an option utilized by one in five Medicare beneficiaries. More than 145,000 Louisianians are enrolled in the program, which provides additional benefits, from glasses and hearing aids to preventive care services,...

U.S. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao faced a tough crowd at the Westwego Community Center on Tuesday night, with skeptics of President Barack Obama's efforts to overhaul the health care system cheering for the least amount of government involvement in the health insurance sector. Cao, R-New Orleans, spent the first 20 minutes of the hourlong town hall forum explaining the basics of the various bills, trying to dispel confusion and anger about "death panels," mandated health plans and other issues that have been raised at similar town hall meetings across the country. "It is controversial because right now, with respect to...

In a public forum defined as much by passionate declarations on abortion as by statements about health care policy intricacies, U.S. Rep. Ahn "Joseph" Cao, R-New Orleans, said Thursday that he "leans" toward supporting the House Democrats' vision of a medical system overhaul provided it won't pay for procedures to end pregnancy. "The word is 'leaning,' " he repeated to about 150 people gathered at an Irish Channel Neighborhood Association meeting, the first of four planned public forums for Cao during the August recess. Besides the abortion caveat, Cao further tempered his statement with his concerns about how major policy...

Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao New Orleans, La., Aug 3, 2009 / 02:06 pm (CNA).- Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, (R-New Orleans), the first Vietnamese-American congressman and a Catholic,  announced this past weekend that, because of the “stealth mandate” for abortion still present in the Health Care bill, he prefers to “save his soul” rather than  vote in favor of it.Cao, the only member of the Louisiana House delegation who had not weighed in on where he stands on the health reform bill, told the Times-Picayune on Saturday that he cannot support any bill that permits public money to be spent...

... Cao was one of 18 Republicans to vote for the bill and was one of eight Republicans who co-sponsored the legislation, which is intended to extend hate-crime protections to people who are victims of crimes based on their gender, sexual identity or handicap. Cao was joined in his support by Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, who cited the strong support of law enforcement groups for the legislation, even as the rest of Louisiana's seven-member congressional delegation, including the lone Democrat, Rep. Charlie Melancon of Napoleonville, voted no. Melancon was one of 17 Democrats to vote no. To its opponents,...

Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La.) may buck his party when the House votes on President Obama’s budget proposal later this week. The freshman lawmaker told The Hill that his constituents are split, adding that he wants more information before deciding whether to stick with his party or side with the president, who carried his district overwhelmingly in November. “At this point, I’m not sure which is approach is better,” Cao said Tuesday morning. If he votes yes, Cao would be the first Republican in recent memory to support a Democratic budget resolution. Every House Republican voted against the 2007 and 2008...

New Orleans ministers say Louisiana Attorney General has ruled that state law does not allow recall of federal officials Wednesday, March 4, 2009 The New Orleans ministers who launched a recall effort against 2nd District Congressman Joseph Cao last month say they've now been told by Louisiana's Attorney General that state law does not allow the recall of federal officials. The advisory opinion had been sought by Secretary of State Jay Dardenne who presides over elections. The campaign was launched after the newly elected Congressman who succeeded Bill Jefferson, voted twice with his fellow Republicans in the House against an...

NEW ORLEANS – Legal roadblocks will likely doom an effort launched this week to recall U.S. Rep. Ahn "Joseph" Cao, the Vietnamese Republican who scored a surprise December victory in a predominantly black, mostly Democratic New Orleans congressional district. Still, the petition drive, started by two black ministers only weeks after Cao took office, demonstrates the challenges he'll face if he seeks a second term in 2010. "At this point it's going to be more symbolic than substantive," pollster and political consultant Silas Lee said Friday of the recall effort, ostensibly launched to protest Cao's vote against the federal stimulus...

Ministers in New Orleans kick off recall campaign Wednesday, February 18, 2009 A group of black ministers in New Orleans is kicking off a campaign to recall newly elected 2nd District Congressman Joseph Cao. An organization called the Louisiana Ministerial Alliance of Churches says it will file papers with the Secretary of State to begin the process of seeking the signatures needed to force a recall election. The group is upset over Cao's two votes against an economic stimulus package which Cao said would mean little in terms of job creation to his district. Cao joined fellow GOP members of...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao, R-New Orleans, said Wednesday he is likely to vote for the economic stimulus bill when it comes to a vote, probably today or Friday, even if he is the only Republican member of the House to do so.

WASHINGTON -- Beginning drive time this morning, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will be running an ad on New Orleans radio stations criticizing Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao for voting against President Barack Obama's stimulus package. "Did you know Congressman Joseph Cao voted against economic recovery to immediately create and save over 32,000 Louisiana jobs? Times are tough, tell Joseph Cao to put families before politics, " reads the script for the ad, which will run for a week. Cao said Monday that he voted against the massive spending bill because it was rife with waste and failed to provide his...

Sunday, February 1, 2009 First Vietnamese congressman leads Tet parade The O.C. community celebrated the lunar New Year with a vibrant parade in Little Saigon. By DEEPA BHARATH THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER WESTMINSTER – Anh "Joseph" Cao, the first Vietnamese American to be elected to the U.S. Congress, was one of the highlights of the annual Tet Parade in Little Saigon on Saturday morning. Local politicians and community organized a fundraiser for Cao, who represents Louisiana's Second Congressional District. "The Vietnamese communities in the rest of the country look to this community in California for leadership and guidance," Cao said.

Anh "Joseph" Cao - the hot new property in Congress, Mr. Upset, the first Vietnamese American elected to the U.S. House or Senate, the first Republican to win Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District since before Louis Armstrong was born - is driving across this Gothic American bayou. He's relating how, as a Jesuit seminarian in the slums of Mexico nearly 20 years ago, he experienced a crisis of faith. He was dispirited by how God could let such human misery exist, he says and then stops himself. "Do you ever read Kierkegaard?" he asks. Um, the 19th century Danish philosopher is...

WASHINGTON -- The 111th Congress was sworn into office Tuesday, including Anh "Joseph" Cao of New Orleans, who took the oath on the House floor to become the first Vietnamese-American member of Congress. snip Moments earlier, Pelosi asked the members to thank their families, and Cao, 41, could be seen tilting his head back and gazing up to scan the House gallery to find his wife, Hieu "Kate" Hoang, like him a refugee from Vietnam, and his elderly parents who, as Saigon was about to fall to the Communists in 1975, sent the 8-year-old Cao, his brother and a sister...

WASHINGTON -- Anh "Joseph" Cao beat long odds when he defeated Rep. William Jefferson to win a seat in Congress. His bid to join the Congressional Black Caucus might be even more difficult. -snip-Since its founding in 1971 by 13 black members of Congress, the caucus has never had a member who was not African-American. And the caucus has had only one Republican member -- Gary Franks, a former representative from Connecticut -- and that ended in acrimony. Another former black Republican in Congress, J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, chose not to join the caucus.-snip-"If the purpose of the caucus is...

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- If his recent whirlwind tour of Capitol Hill was any indication, Anh "Joseph" Cao knows he will be in for the ride of his life over the next two years. Little known in early December except to those in his close-knit Vietnamese community in New Orleans, the Republican attorney who once studied to become a Jesuit priest rocked the national political landscape Dec. 6. He upset nine-term U.S. Rep. William Jefferson in the state's heavily Democratic and African-American 2nd Congressional District to become the first Vietnamese-American member of Congress. Cao's victory certainly was aided by the...

There could be another clash in the offing about who should be able to join the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Anh “Joseph” Cao, the Republican who upset indicted Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) in a delayed election earlier this month, has expressed interest in joining the caucus, presumably because he represents a minority district. Cao, the first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress, told his hometown paper, the Times-Picayune of New Orleans, that he’s interested in joining the CBC. He also said he’s seeking a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Appropriations Committee. If history is any guide,...

Politics: The election of a Republican as the first-ever Vietnamese-American congressman is not an "odd news" item. Joseph Cao represents the future of the GOP — if it wants success.The latest Republican standard-bearer was a Navy pilot who was tortured as a POW in North Vietnam. How ironic that in the wake of John McCain's loss, the most exciting victory for Republicans is that of one of the hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese boat people who fled their country's communist regime. Anh "Joseph" Quang Cao over the weekend won Louisiana's gerrymandered 2nd Congressional District over Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who...

The Jesuits Produce A Great Political Candidate by Deal W. Hudson 11/19/08 Joseph Cao is a Catholic lawyer and former Jesuit scholastic from New Orleans. He is running as a Republican for the Congressional 2nd district seat in Louisiana presently held by Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), who is best known for the $90,000 found in his freezer. The election will be held December 6. Few candidates for public office are as forthright as Cao when asked about their position on abortion. “I am very anti-abortion,” he told me without hesitation. Cao would like to overturn Roe, but in the meantime,...

NEW ORLEANS -- Voters in Louisiana ousted indicted Democratic Rep. William Jefferson on Saturday, instead electing a Republican attorney who will be the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. Unofficial results showed Anh "Joseph" Cao denying Jefferson a 10th term. Republicans made an aggressive push to take the seat from the 61-year-old incumbent, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, laundering money and misusing his congressional office. Cao, 41, won a predominantly black and heavily Democratic district that covers most of New Orleans.

NEW ORLEANS -- Voters in Louisiana sent two Republicans to Congress Saturday, ousting indicted Democratic U.S. Rep. William Jefferson in one race and narrowly keeping a seat vacated by a retiring incumbent in the other. In the 2nd Congressional District, which includes most of New Orleans, Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao won 50% of the vote to Rep. Jefferson's 47% and will become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. His only previous political experience was an unsuccessful 2007 bid for a seat in the state legislature.

Cao wins!

Sit down and make yourself comfortable, because this one of those stories you just won't want to miss. It's the kind of story for which this poor pen might not do justice. And it's the kind of story of which the world of politics needs more examples. It's a story that effectively starts three days before the fall of Saigon in 1975, when eight-year-old Joseph Cao escaped South Vietnam with a brother and sister and eventually made his way to the United States, where he settled with an uncle. As the story continues today, Cao is the Republican nominee for...

In a shocker, there will be a GOP Rep. in New Orleans. In a surprising twist, GOPers won a sweep in LA tonight in two general elections, picking up embattled Rep. Bill Jefferson's (D-LA 02) seat in New Orleans, and holding retiring Rep. Jim McCrery's (R) seat in the Shreveport-based Fourth District. But the surprise of the night, and possibly the cycle, was in the Big Easy. Atty Ahn “Joseph” Cao (R) defeated Jefferson 50-47%. Dems outnumber GOPers here 6-1, and African Americans make up 61% of the vote. But the NRCC must've had an inkling that something was up...

In a stunning upset, Republican Ahn “Joseph” Cao, a Vietnamese immigrant with no political experience, has defeated Democratic incumbent William Jefferson for the U.S. House of Representative’s seat of the 2nd District of Lousiana. Ahn Joseph Cao Ahn “Joseph” Cao will represent the 2nd District of Lousiana in the new Congressional term after defeating William Jefferson. Cao, an immigration attorney, is a newcomer to politics and will be the first person of Vietnamese descent to become a representative in Congress. His opponent William Jefferson was plagued by allegations of corruption throughout his campaign and is currently facing federal indictments related...

LA-2 , Orleans, Jefferson Parish: In a huge upset win, little known Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao beat nine term and criminally indicted William Jefferson(D). Jefferson had been expected to easily win. Cao becomes the first Vietnamese member of U.S. Congress. LA-4, Shreveport-Bossier City, Sabine Parish, et. al., Western LA, TX/AR border: Republican Dr. John Fleming wins. Fleming was trailing by about 3% early in the election results but came on strong in the end to beat Carmouche(D) by 356 votes. Carmouche has not conceded election – recount probably pending. With these results, the 111th U.S. House of Representatives...

Unofficial results showed Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao denying Jefferson a 10th term. Republicans made an aggressive push to get rid of the 61-year-old incumbent, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, laundering money and misusing his congressional office. Cao won a predominantly black and heavily Democratic district that covers most of New Orleans. He will become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. He came to the U.S. as a child after the fall of Saigon in 1975. He went on to earn degrees in philosophy, physics and law.

Political newcomer Anh "Joseph" Cao, a Republican, holds an early lead over nine-term incumbent William Jefferson, a Democrat, in the 2nd Congressional District. With 139 of 492 precincts reporting around 9:15 p.m., Cao, a Venetian Isles attorney who has enjoyed strong backing from local and national GOP organizations, is leading 58 percent to 39 percent over Jefferson. Green Party candidate Malik Rahim has 2 percent, while Libertarian Gregory Kahn is trailing with 1 percent. The district, which was drawn to give African Americans an electoral advantage, covers most of New Orleans, most of Jefferson Parish's West Bank and parts of...

On paper, Anh "Joseph" Cao has an ideal life story for a political candidate. Born in war-ravaged Vietnam, Cao fled to the United States when he was 8, learned English, earned degrees in physics and philosophy, and joined the Catholic seminary. When his views on how best to serve the poor changed, Cao went to law school, began a practice specializing in immigration, settled in Venetian Isles and started a family. In his bid to unseat Rep. William Jefferson in the 2nd Congressional District, however, Cao must try to overcome three tall hurdles: He's not a Democrat, he's not black...