Posted on 11/07/2009 8:27:04 PM PST by Gordon Greene
Anh "Joseph" Cao was born in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam. His father, an officer with the South Vietnamese Army, was imprisoned by the Communists.
At the age of eight, Joseph escaped to America with two of his siblings. He learned English, thrived in school, and earned a physics degree from Baylor University before he began studying for the priesthood.
Joseph first arrived in New Orleans in 1992. He left to earn a Master's degree in philosophy from New York's Fordham University, returning to Loyola University to teach philosophy and ethics. As he prepared for priesthood, his faith was strong.
However, his confidence in government's ability to care for those in need weakened by the day. Before long, Joseph ended his quest for priesthood in a personal crusade for social justice.
In Washington, DC, he became an advocate for refugees, future Americans who embody a can-do spirit and strong work ethic. In pursuit of justice for all, he attained a law degree from Loyola Law School. He became the in-house legal counsel for Boat People S.O.S, Inc., an organization helping poor Vietnamese and other minorities. In 2002, he was chosen by Archbishop Alfred Hughes to become a member of the National Advisory Council of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, addressing women's rights in the Catholic Church, social justice, child abuse, and the Catholic response to Hurricane Katrina.
Joseph Cao lost both his home and law office to Katrina. With his wife and two daughters, he moved temporarily to Westwego and began rebuilding. Like so many others, Joseph battled insurance companies and government bureaucracy to restore his home and business.
He helped residents of New Orleans East stop plans for a landfill that would have devastated their community. He helped lead the fight to get electricity and telecommunications restored for returning residents.
In 2007, Governor Jindal appointed Joseph Cao to help ensure fair voting as a member of the Board of Elections for Orleans Parish. He was also elected to lead the Louisiana Republican Party both on the parish and state levels. And earlier this year Joseph Cao was elected delegate to the Republican National Convention.
Joseph Cao has lived through war and disaster, never surrendering his determination to make things better. A teacher of ethics, held in the highest regard for his dogged pursuit of truth and justice, he now serves as Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District Representative.
Governor Jindal didn’t show such good judgement here, did he? Oh well, no Republican is perfect.
I also once managed an office for a voluntary benefits insurance company in Silicon Valley and I wanted to recruit Vietnamese agents, since they were a big part of the workforce at that time. I ended up recruiting a wonderful Vietnamese Catholic lady who would introduce me to people but would not support me in public, saying that all Vietnamese just want to “copy Americans” because they know that the American way is successful and theirs was not.
Is this guy a copycat too?
He sold America down the toilet, He can go to hell for all I care. I hope the conservatives in his state throw him out.
Exactly right. In my view Cao is not the problem. The big concern is with the RINOs in the Senate. If Collins or Snowe flips, its all over.
NEVER send any politician money!!!!
While I have some measure of honor for Mr. Cao “representing” the wishes of his district, which is the job of a good Congressman-stand up for the folks no matter what. I consider him and the 219 Democrats who voted for this swill repulsive!! This bill will do the MOST harm to folks like those in Cao’s district as they are FORCED to buy health care before they can even buy food. Just because it’s cheap, worthless, government, illegal healthcare shouldn’t matter. Perfectly healthy 20-year olds trying to find a job in an economy with a real unemployment rate of 17 percent (and a government calculated unemployment of 10.2 percent) and climbing should not be forced to think about what kind of healthcare they are going to buy before they can get bus tokens to go to a job interview!!
There are numerous clinics in the state to of Louisiana and around the country (I know because my company provides their computer systems) that provide sliding fee-or basically free-healthcare to EVERYONE!! No worries about insurance, they don’t expect you to have it. There are also HUGE charity hospital in both New Orleans and Baton Rouge that provide level one trauma care for nothing.
These clinics and hospitals are put at risk by this bill because they will become even more overcrowded as every ear ache and stubbed toe requires a visit to the doctor and every papercut causes a rush to the ER. If you are forced to buy the stupid policy you might as well us it right? In addition with nearly 80%—EIGHTY PERCENT—of doctors saying they will quit practicing medicine or move out of the country if this thing goes all the way states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and even Texas will be very doctor poor. Louisiana already has a HUGE shortage of qualified doctors and nurses, they will suffer even greater losses. With surrounding states suffering as well what are they going to do, get on Greyhound with a gunshot wound and ride to Kansas?
This bill does not help Cao’s constituents or anyone else’s. It is going to cost jobs by forcing employers to buy insurance, it’s going to cost doctors who can’t afford to run a practice under these rules, and it’s going to cost patients by having the government (not even doctors working for the government—the decision-making committee is all political appointees) making decisions about what kinds of insurance and services they can recieve and may FORCING—do you understand this is like another income tax—FORCING them to buy insurance or be fined and put in jail. This is an unconstitutional nightmare.
Cao should have considered those things AND how this bill would affect those outside of his district before party line, constituent demands, or anything else. To be such a cowardly pussy and cast this vote AFTER the bill had already passed just shows he’s not thinking about ANYTHING but his re-election. He is the problem with our Congress and he and anyone else with that mindset need to be run out of town on a rail!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.