A Child's Treasury of Health Care Hijinks from This Weekend's House Debate

Congratulations, America, your House of Representatives stopped dithering and passed a health care reform bill — final tally, 220-215. Yay/boo. Now the focus shifts to the Senate, but they'll have a tough time surpassing the amount of crazy that went down in the House during Saturday's interminable debate.

Here is a child's treasury of health care debate hijinks, starting with an actual child courtesy of Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ). See, Maddie wants patient choice. Maddie does not want her mom's taxes to go up. Maddie/Trig '44!

Oh, there's more.

Read More »

Tags: Anh "Joseph" Cao, Babies, Conservatives, Hawaii, Health Care, House of Representatives, John Shadegg, Michele Bachmann, Racism, Republicans, Twitter

Cao Gives GOP a Big Excited Boehner

Over the weekend, Louisianans voted out scandal-ridden Democrat William Jefferson, making GOP challenger Anh "Joseph" Cao the first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress.

[House Minority Leader] Boehner touted Cao as a symbol of the party’s future in a memo Sunday night.

In a release titled “The Future is Cao,” Boehner wrote that “the Cao victory is a symbol of what can be achieved when we think big, present a positive alternative and win the trust of the American people.”

So where did this guy come from anyway?

Cao came to the United States as an 8-year-old Vietnam War refugee, after his mother bundled him in a military transport plane with his siblings as Saigon fell during the spring of 1975.

Raised in Houston by an uncle, he earned degrees from Baylor University, Fordham University and Loyola University New Orleans. The converted Jesuit and onetime seminarian settled in New Orleans, setting up a law practice advocating for the city’s Vietnamese community.

After Hurricane Katrina, Cao’s rebuilt law office became a hub for community organizing and assistance to hurricane victims.

Reached for comment, fellow Republican Sarah Palin said, "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities."

Tags: Anh "Joseph" Cao, House of Representatives, John Boehner, Louisiana, William Jefferson