So far, the economic stimulus bill has been United States President Barack Obama first major domestic challenge. It has put him at odds against Republicans in both the US Hose of Representatives and the US Senate. So far with the help of three moderate Republican Senators: Susan Collins of Maine, Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the stimulus bill was slimmed down to $787 billion. “Middle ground” is considered to have been reached.
In the meantime, Obama has been having a difficult time filling in his cabinet. Democratic Governor Bill Richardson, a former 2008 Democratic Presidential hopeful, withdrew his nomination to be Secretary of Commerce. The next replacement would have been GOP Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire. However, Gregg had recently withdrawn his nomination.
Gregg cited strong disagreements with Obama on the stimulus.
Today, the stimulus bill is on the US Senate floor. Gregg said he would vote against the stimulus. Currently, the vote on the Senate will be open until 10:30 P.M. The bill passed through the US House. Once again, there was unanimous GOP opposition. In this respect, Sen. Gregg was not the only one that “flip-flopped.”
GOP Representative Joseph Cao of Louisiana also “flip-flopped.” Many outside of Louisiana may not know who Cao is. Cao is a person recently elected into the US House of Representatives. He assumed his office on January 3 of this year.
Cao is the first Vietnamese-American to serve in the United States Congress. He is also the first Vietnamese immigrant to serve as well. Cao ended up winning over Democratic rival and then incumbent William Jefferson by a difference of 3.1 percent in votes. Cao had 49.6 percent while Jefferson had 46.8 percent. Jefferson served as a U.S. Representative for about nine terms.
In that respect, it parallels GOP Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Jindal and Cao are both Roman Catholics. On top of that, Jindal is the first Indian-American governor. Cao is the first Vietnamese-American U.S. Representative.
With respect to the stimulus bill, Cao voted against it. However, that should not be surprising. There was once again unanimous opposition by House Republicans. But, Cao said he probably would support the stimulus bill. The kicker is that Cao said that a few hours before casting an opposing vote.
If he voted for it, Cao would have been the lone GOP vote in the House in support. But, Cao voted against it.
So far, Cao’s decision could have some interesting political fallout. One should ask: How will this affect Cao in the future?
Cao said: “At this point, I’m leaning ‘yes,’ but I’m not absolutely certain.” However, Cao does admit that he was pressured to vote “No” on the stimulus package. The one reason that Cao said he would highly likely vote “yes” hours earlier is because Louisiana needs the money.
They are still having problems rebuilding after getting hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It was a Category 5 hurricane that ravaged the Gulf Coast.
Cao said that GOP Representative Kevin O. McCarthy, the deputy whip of the GOP, was standing near him during the voting through the US House. Overall, this is a story of a GOP House Republican that may have wanted to vote “Yes” but voted “No.”
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