In a Congress of millionaires, Republican Anh Cao voted for poor New Orleans

The single House Republican who voted for the Democrats' health-care legislation is a first-term congressman from a strongly Democratic -- and very poor -- district comprising most of New Orleans. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao's vote is significant, not because it was politically motivated -- and it was -- but because it highlights the disparity between lower- and middle-class people throughout the country and many of their representatives in Washington, D.C.

Among the 535 elected representatives deciding the future shape of the American health care system, some 44% are millionaires, according to a new study by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), a nonpartisan reseach group that tracks the effect of money in U.S. politics and policy. Rep. Cao is not among them. Neither are his constituents.

"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," Cao, the first Vietnamese-American to be elected to Congress, said in a statement after the legislation passed the House with a 220-215 vote.

"Louisianans need real options for primary care, for mental health care, and for expanded health care for seniors and children," he added. Cao fled Saigon with two siblings three days before the city fell when he was 8 years old and came to America. Last year he defeated William J. Jefferson -- the Democratic lawmaker busted with $90,000 in his fridge -- who ran while under indictment on federal corruption charges and has since been convicted.

A City on the Margins

Cao's father, an officer with the South Vietnamese Army, was imprisoned by Communists. Cao almost became a priest, spending six years in the Society of Jesus, the Jesuit order. In a C-Span interview, Cao said during that time he was asking "a lot of questions about human existence, human life, what is the meaning of life," adding that Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher, "was involved in my life."

The average annual income in Cao's district is about $25,000 -- well below the national average. Thoughout the parishes near the French Quarter, entire blocks of dilapidated NoLa-style houses are for sale. The city's grand boulevards are the scenes of idle. Tourist traffic is the only real sign of bustle.

In short, while New Orleans has made strides since being devastated by Hurricane Katrina, it remains very much a city on the margins of American political power. (Having inveterately corrupt officials doesn't help, either.) Cao, who went to Baylor University and later earned masters and law degrees from Fordham in New York and Loyola University in New Orleans, where he and taught philosophy and ethics, decided to embark on "a personal crusade for social justice," according to his website.

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Comments

[LADawson]

It's kind of sad the flack he's taking for voting the way he should be, and the way ALL congressmen should be voting: In the best interests of their district - not on party lines, or to obstruct just for obstruction's sake. In the end, I hope the people of Rep. Cao's district get the health care they need.

[freelyb]

This is the kind of Republican I would support if Congressional Dems can't pull their heads out.

[Hawkman4]

In Chris Weigant's Friday Talking Points, he should be this week's Most Impressive Democrat (Republican).

[S1m0n]

I'll second that.