Cao's conscience

Did it win or lose here? I can't decide.

WASHINGTON -- The House has passed a $787 billion plan to resuscitate the economy, handing President Barack Obama a big victory.

The measure was passed on a 246-183, with no Republican "yes" votes. It will now go to the Senate, where a vote is expected later today.

New Orleans Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao was the only Republican member who had signaled a willingness to support the bill, but he apparently reversed course.

Maybe he's just hewing to the strategy.

According to Vitter, the GOP is basically betting the farm that the stimulus package is going to fail, and the party wants Democrats to go down with it. “Our next goal is to make President Obama and liberal Democrats in Congress own it completely,” he said. Instead of coming up with serious measures to save the economy, the party intends to devote its time to an “we told you so” agenda that will include GOP-only hearings on the bill’s impact in the coming months to highlight the bill’s purportedly wasteful elements and shortcomings.