A "Rose" for Billy Long, really I mean it.

When the Springfield News-Leader endorsed Billy Long last Sunday, (complete with grammatically incorrect usage of verbs in the headline, correct usage: Long proves or Long has proven), Congressman Long has proved he deserves a second term almost 50 comments were posted disputing the endorsement.

One comment that really nailed it---

I noticed in the N-L's endorsement of Claire McCaskill that it labeled Todd Akin's views as "well outside the mainstream." Yet, when it's time to endorse Billy Long, who endorsed Akin when others backed away, who calls himself the most conservative congressman in Missouri, that suddenly Long is a "pragmatic conservative" because he told the N-L he was? The editorial does a terrible job describing Jim Evans and thereby does a disservice to the public in misrepresenting the general views of both candidates.

The N-L said that in their endorsement of Billy Long in 2010, the N-L asked Long "to bring common sense to Washington" Well, no. the 2010 article says "Long promises to bring common sense to Washington." This wasn't an objective viewpoint given by the N-L, this was something Billy Long told the N-L he was going to do. Here we are again in 2012. Looking at Billy Long's rhetoric, record, and lack of providing the public information it needs to make the best choice, the N-L endorses saying "Long was quick to emphasize an emerging role as a pragmatic conservative" Again, this is not an objective viewpoint given by the N-L, this was something Billy Long told the N-L he is going to do.

  From the News-Leader endorsement:

Reflecting the views of his constituents, Long has been a vocal opponent of the Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare, but he recognizes the value of key components, such as prohibiting denial of coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

The catch here in this discussion of 'pre-existing conditions' is in the definition of 'continuous coverage'.  Romney's plan (which Long supports) extends preexisting condition provisions only to those insured with continuous coverage,  to those without gaps in coverage.

After his last vote (of 30 plus) in July to repeal ACA, Long released a press release in which he or his staff said, "Today I voted to repeal this law because of these and many other bad provisions.  I will continue to work hard and ensure the president’s government takeover of health care is replaced with free market reforms that put patients first."

So, with that in mind, I sincerely present this "Rose" to Billy Long for his 30 plus unsuccessful attempts to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act, "Obamacare".  If Long had been successful in his attempts our daughter would have had no health insurance coverage for injuries sustained in a terrible horse accident. She was starting a new job and was between insurance coverage.  Thanks to "Obamacare" she had health insurance which is covering the injuries she received in her accident.