A Lone Voice of Reason

The house passed their version, with all its warts, of their Health Care Reform offering. The GOP vowed to stand in solidarity throughout the voting, but they missed one lone voice of reason, Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA)

His reason for being the lone GOP nod? "I have always said that I would put aside partisan wrangling to do the business of the people. My vote tonight was based on my priority of doing what is best for my constituents," he said in a statement quickly released by his office.

Minority leadership must be a bit ticked at one of their own actually doing the job they were elected to do:

It's unclear whether Republican leaders will discipline Cao for breaking ranks and allowing Democrats to claim the bill had "bipartisan support." But what Cao can look forward to is the instant catapult into the national spotlight that his fellow Republican Rep. Joe Wilson received after calling President Obama a liar back in September. That and some new friends on Capitol Hill. On such a close vote, Cao is a hero to Democrats. But to Republicans, he's the one that got away.

Conference will eventually wrangle all the various portions of the many versions out there, only then will we know exactly what Reform will actually look like. But one thing is certain, this huge step forward virtually assured some form of common sense legislation will become law.

Flash