Billy Long's bad week continues....

Billy Long recently told a group of constituents that he had received 1300 emails prior to his vote on the the debt ceiling and everyone one of them said don't raise the debt ceiling.

Billy Long was the subject of an article by Tom Appelbaum in the St. Louis Examiner: Joplin tragedy speaks to the role of government in safety and education:

Arguably, the primary functions of government should include educating the children and keeping people safe, as well as responding to emergencies. This concept would be challenged, however, with some of the recent actions by some members of congress. Congressman Billy Long from Missouri’s 7th district, Joplin’s congressional district, based his election campaign on the reduction of the role of government, saying that he was “FED-up” with the government.

He even went so far as to belittle the role of the tornado warning system and voted to cut funding for the National Weather Service, which could put the nation’s early warning weather alert system at risk. The irony that these statements and actions have, coming from that area’s Congressional Representative, is only matched by the callousness of House Speaker Eric Cantor’s insistence that federal disaster relief be tied to federal spending cuts.

Rick Ungar, writing for Forbes Magazine: Deadly Tornados Reveal The Failure Of Today’s Perverse GOP Ideology

Setting aside what most of us may feel about Congressman Cantor’s rather heartless engagement with this heartbreaking situation, it turns out that Joplin is represented in Congress by a Tea Party backed Republican named Billy Long – one of the angry freshmen elected to Congress on a platform of being ‘fed up’ with career politicians and who ran on the motto that he was “Tea Party before Tea Party was cool.”

So, what is a Tea Party Congressman – dedicated to smaller government and individual responsibility – to do when the very people who are hurt and in serious need of federal assistance are the same people who sent him to Congress in support of his uber-conservative beliefs?

In Long’s case, the answer -so far- has been to do nothing as he weighs his ideological commitment against the dramatic needs of his constituents and the political damage that might follow whatever decision he makes.

Oklahoma publication, Tulsa World, first reported that Long told them upon his arrival in his district following the disaster, that his first priority was ensuring that Joplin received speedy assistance from the federal government. However, upon learning of Cantor’s position on the subject, Long has clammed-up, refusing to say where he stands.

The Springfield News Leader, May 25, 2011: House majority leader: Don't let disaster funds add to growing deficit:

"Our deficit is not because we are taxed too little but because Washington spends too much," Long said. "I was sent to Washington to rein in wasteful government spending. While we need to look everywhere to make spending cuts, making sure our first responder, disaster relief, and national defense communities have the tools they need will always be a priority while I am in Congress."

In February 2011, Billy Long voted "Yea" on H.R. 1 (which passed) which CUT first responder funding, disaster relief funding, National Weather Service funding, advance natural disaster warning funding and on April 15, Billy Long voted "Yea" on the Paul Ryan budget bill which, along with killing medicare, also cut funding in the aforementioned areas.

Billy Long also is in support of extending the Bush tax cuts for the top % of our population.

Frequent bus riders know that Billy Long, the master of hyperbole and self promotion, know that Long's words ring hollow and don't match his votes.

Even as I write this piece, word is spreading across the internet that Long voted, again, to kill Medicare. Developing