Daily Kos: GOP "Literally" Twisted Cao's Arm to Vote No

[Pirate Smile]

GOP "Literally" Twisted Cao's Arm to Vote No

by DanK Is Back
Sat Feb 14, 2009 at 02:17:04 PM PST

Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) had said he would break ranks with the GOP and vote for the final stimulus bill:

The U.S. House and Senate will vote Friday on a $789 billion economic stimulus bill, and all of Louisiana's lawmakers are planning to vote along party lines except for new U.S. Rep. Joseph Cao.

Cao plans to break away from his Republican colleagues and vote for the measure. WDSU (New Orleans) 12 Feb

But of course, he didn't. The GOP wanted a unanimous NO, and to make sure they got it, they got one of the leadership to physically stand next to him to keep him in line:

Beforehand, Cao acknowledged that Republican leaders had put "pressure" on him to oppose the package, and the party’s chief deputy whip, California Rep. Kevin O. McCarthy, stood near Cao during the entire vote. Politico

DanK Is Back's diary :: ::
This goes beyond party "discipline" - this is physical intimidation. What was McCarthy planning to do if Cao disobeyed? Put his hand over his mouth? A knife to his ribs? Grab him in a headlock?

Afterwards, GOP leaders tried to make light of it all.

"They encouraged me to vote ‘no,’ but they understand the needs of my district," Cao said.

"All of us have districts," Republican Leader John A. Boehner said after the vote. "I voted my vote, he voted his. Politico

Oh, so Cao voted his district, did he? Cao's district is so heavily Democratic that it hasn't elected a Republican since 1889 and he only won because his opponent, Rep. William Jefferson, was caught with $90,000 in his freezer and was indicted on corruption charges. And Cao only beat Jefferson 49.5% to 47%. The 2nd District is largely Orleans parish, and Obama beat McCain there by 117,000 to 28,000.

This is an overwhelmingly Democratic district, and the only way the Republicans can hold onto it in 2010 is if Cao, the incumbent, does what his district wants. Instead, they are willing to sacrifice that district just to show that they are unanimous in opposition to Obama.

The Republicans' ability to shoot themselves in the foot - which is in their mouth at the time - never ceases to amaze me. It's bad enough that they are not working for the good of the country; they're not even working for their own good. (OK, that's a good thing.)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/2/14/163622/453/76/697604

[PBS Poll-435]

1. I think they just screwed Cao when it comes to '10.

LA-02 is too blue for a Republican to hold it for too long. (Especially if he can't even appear to be a moderate or centrist Republican.)

[Hieronymus]

3. Good, Dems will get more seats in '10.

[PBS Poll-435]

4. I think '10 is going to be VERY good to us.

We aren't going to rest on our laurels.

We will get 3 or 4 more Senate seats and probably 8-12 House seats if we really go for it.

[FatDave]

9. We aren't going to rest on our laurels.

We never do. We're the hardcore political junkies. It's the rank and file democrats we need to worry about. Do the young Obama kids know the importance of midterms? I have a feeling they do, but we need to make sure.

[PBS Poll-435]

19. As much as I hate political cliches,

The '10 midterms are going to be a direct referendum on our President and our Congress.

I am grateful that we have smart and savvy people at the helm of the DSCC and the DCCC. :woohoo:

[MrScorpio]

2. I hope that he makes the most of his single term

I doubt that he'll have a second

[RepublicanElephant]

5. if he's smart, he'll change parties NOW! nt

:dem:

[City Lights]

6. Cutting off their noses to spite their faces.

Yeah, that'll work.

:rofl:

[chill_wind]

7. "The subversion of democracy." An ugly, ugly story told from 2004

by Sherrod Brown (D)-- who told of them bullying and threatening the future of one of their own sons.

cross-posting a partial excerpt from http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8196795&mesg_id=8197151

original piece: http://freepress.org/departments/display/20/2004/204/1/25

(...)

Always in the middle of the night. Always after the press had passed their deadlines. Always after the American people had turned off the news and gone to bed.

What did the public see? At best, Americans read a small story with a brief explanation of the bill and the vote count in Saturday's papers.

But what did the public miss? They didn't see the House votes, which normally take no more than 20 minutes, dragging on for as long as an hour as members of the Republican leadership trolled for enough votes to cobble together a majority.

They didn't see GOP leaders stalking the floor for whoever was not in line. They didn't see Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Tom DeLay coerce enough Republican members into switching their votes to produce the desired result.

In other words, they didn't see the subversion of democracy.

And late last month, they did it again. The most sweeping changes to Medicare in its 38-year history were forced through the House at 5:55 on a Saturday morning.

The debate started at midnight. The roll call began at 3:00 a.m. Most of us voted within the typical 20 minutes. Normally, the speaker would have gaveled the vote closed. But not this time; the Republican-driven bill was losing.

By 4 a.m., the bill had been defeated 216-218, with only one member, Democrat David Wu, not voting. Still, the speaker refused to gavel the vote closed.

Then the assault began.

Hastert, DeLay, Republican Whip Roy Blount, Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas, Energy and Commerce Chairman Billy Tauzin - all searched the floor for stray Republicans to bully.

I watched them surround Cincinnati's Steve Chabot, trying first a carrot, then a stick; but he remained defiant. Next, they aimed at retiring Michigan congressman Nick Smith, whose son is running to succeed him. They promised support if he changed his vote to yes and threatened his son's future if he refused. He stood his ground.

Many of the two dozen Republicans who voted against the bill had fled the floor. One Republican hid in the Democratic cloakroom.

By 4:30, the browbeating had moved into the Republican cloakroom, out of sight of C-SPAN cameras and the insomniac public. Republican leaders woke President George W. Bush, and a White House aide passed a cell phone from one recalcitrant member to another in the cloakroom.

At 5:55, two hours and 55 minutes after the roll call had begun - twice as long as any previous vote in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives - two obscure western Republicans emerged from the cloakroom. They walked, ashen and cowed, down the aisle to the front of the chamber, scrawled their names and district numbers on green cards to change their votes and surrendered the cards to the clerk.

The speaker gaveled the vote closed; Medicare privatization had passed.

This is who and what we will always be fighting against. K & R.

[PM Martin]

8. Too bad for Mr. Cao!

Is he opted to vote against the stimulus, then he should be ousted in the next election.
I have no sympathy for these people. The Republican party is of course setting itself up as a hard-line right wing party which should ensure their minority status for many years.

[KharmaTrain]

10. Enjoy Your One Term, Mr. Cao...Reminds Me Of IL-5

In 1994 Dan Rostenkowski had been indicted and even though he had held the seat for 30 years, he lost to a repugnican. While this dude, I think it was Flanagan stayed low profile and even voted with the Democrats most of the time, he got his butt handed to him in '96...and the guy who beat him? Rod Blagojevich. Who took over Blago's seat? Rahm Emmanuel. And now there's a special election coming up. The only repugnican voting said he'll be sick that day.

[pansypoo53219]

11. not like the teevee gnews

will tell us. hey, have they missed any octamom story?

[Thrill]

12. He was likely going to lose that seat any way. Now its a sure thing

[Occam Bandage]

13. Literally? Isn't that battery? nt

[AtomicKitten]

14. That's unsettling. n/t

[OwnedByFerrets]

15. Dont forget, they have been wiretapping THEM too.

[Jennicut]

16. Mr. Cao does not seem like a bad guy, he needs to change parties

or he will be voted out in 2010. This is getting ridiculous, wtf is wrong with these Rethugs? They are cruel and sadistic, at least mentally, to their own. *Shudders*

[firedupdem]

17. What a wuss! He should have voted in the best interests of his

constituents. He's done in 2010.

[Danger Mouse]

18. I hate them.

[DFW]

20. Republican "persuasion" tactics are taken from Stalin

Forget all that "anti-kommanist" talk. If it were up to guys like Boehner, we'd
already have a one-party (his) state and our own KGB to enforce its rule. Stalin's
children, also known as the Republican Party.

[radfringe]

21. send 'em the New GOP logo