It’s already big news: The House of Representatives passed their version of health care reform in Washington DC last weekend, clearing the bill’s first hurdle to become law. The final count just barely cleared the required number of votes needed for passage, a surprisingly close count given the easy majority of Democrats in the House, post-Obama. 39 Democrats opposed the bill, and yet one lone Republican cast his vote for reform.
Representative Ahn “Joseph” Cao is a freshman rep covering Louisiana’s second congressional district, including New Orleans, and has taken a brave leap into muddy waters by supporting health care reform when even 39 Democrats couldn’t do it. However, he has also supported the anti-abortion language in the bill that Democrats hope to slip out of the text before final passage by the Senate. His vote alone suggests that more Republicans (and hopefully, Democrats) are on the fence about this bill than we’ve seen thus far, and perhaps may be emboldened by Cao’s vote to do the same in the Senate. He is certainly one brave politician.
