Why Congressman Billy Long missing the reading of the US Constitution on the House floor yesterday is significant:

Bungalow Bill nails it

Fed Up with how things are done in Washington DC was noticeably absent from yesterday's reading of the Constitution in the House of Representatives. Running on the Tea Party label claiming to be Tea Party before the Tea Party was cool, Billy Long skipped the first major act of Congress that showed the relevance of the Tea Party. That's the significance of Long missing yesterday's reading.

There is another significance of yesterday's decision to miss the reading. All throughout the campaign, Long reminded voters he was fed up with how things are done in DC. While the reading represents the hope of change of how things are done in DC and the desire of the Tea Party to return to the basic foundation the Constitution establishes, Long's actions yesterday also suggest Long will maintain the status quo of what Washington DC is. Why you ask?

Well it turns out Billy Long skipped the Constitution reading to meet with Bill Phelps, which Long tweeted However, in his tweet, Long gave Phelps the title of lieutenant governor. That's misleading.

While it is true, Phelps is a former lieutenant governor, he is also a lobbyist. Phelps wasn't in Billy Long's office on a casual visit. He was there lobbying. While I admit Phelps lobbies for a good cause, it doesn't change the fact Long put a lobbyist and the status quo before this unique event in the history of our Republic.

Phelps, who doesn't even live in Missouri's Seventh District, is a lobbyist and spokesman for the Americans for Fair Tax. Surely Phelps should have realized the significance of yesterday's reading and allow Long to be on the House floor where he needed to be for the event. To really put this in perspective, even Nancy Pelosi participated in the reading of the Constitution yesterday, where as Billy Long decided to meet with an lobbyist and a career politician/political insider.

Repeal healthcare because it is the will of the people!

I received the following email from a bus rider:

A common refrain heard from Republicans is new health care reform law was passed without anyone reading the bill. They shout that "people don't know what is in it." Finally, they promise to repeal the law because it is "the will of the people." People who use logic like that belong in a straightjacket not congress. I have read the new health care reform law. It is a conservative's dream come true.

It lowers the deficit by over $200 billion, slaps freeloaders, encourages state-based action on tort reform, expands private industry medical coverage to million more people, prevents discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, increases the quality and supply of the medical workforce, helps small businesses build wellness programs, reduces waste and fraud, denies government funding of abortions, closes the Medicare doughnut hole, and improves Medicare's solvency.

Maybe the Republicans choose to keep their constituents ignorant to avoid the embarrassment of acting against the best interests of the people who voted them into office. Maybe the Republicans are just ignorant puppets. I wonder about Billy Long?

I wonder IF Billy or Vicki has read the bill.

Where was Billy Long during the reading of the US Constitution in the House Chamber?

I was watching C-Span and the reps reading the US Constitution on the house chamber floor.

I saw Vicki Hartzler read her sentence, I heard a lot of reps read their sentences. I also saw a lot of empty seats which led me to post this tweet on twitter at around 11:20 AM:

Billy has constantly told us folks down here in MO 7 how important the constitution is to him and how he carries his rode hard and put away wet copy in his hip pocket.

So, when I didn't see him in the chambers during the reading, I thought he might be in the restroom, or maybe taking a break in the house lounge or perhaps in the house cafeteria getting a quick sugar fix or even in the lobby outside John Boehner's office trolling for reporters.

WRONG!

HE WASN'T EVEN IN THE BUILDING!Eight minutes later after my tweet, my Congressman, Bill Long, tweeted this: HE WASN'T EVEN IN THE BUILDING!

Ah jeez.

I just called Billy Long's office to express my disapproval that he wasn't even in the building during the reading of the constitution. The person I spoke to told that Billy had a previous appointment with Mr. Phelps. Billy's tweet makes it appear that Phelps just dropped in to see Billy.

What gives Congressman Long?

On Day 2, House Republicans read the constitution, is Billy about to be unmasked?

from the AP Wire: On Day 2, House Republicans read the constitution --

WASHINGTON – And on the second day of Republican rule, the House reads the Constitution.

Those wondering whether the reading will be dramatic won't know until around 11 a.m. on Thursday, when volunteers will give voice to the seven articles and 27 amendments that make up the nation's governing document.

Republicans have made strict adherence to the Constitution a key tenet of their effort to reduce the size of the federal government.

Also on Thursday, the House is to take up its first spending cut measure, a proposed 5 percent trim in the budgets of leadership, rank-and-file member and committee offices. Republicans have estimated that this will save $35 million over the next nine months.

Notice that the Republicans, including Billy Long, have said that strict adherence to the Constitution is a key tenet of their effort to reduce the size of the federal government.

Now, either you are going to reduce the size of the deficit or you're not. Remember what Ben Franklin said about a penny saved is a penny earned?

If you, as a newly elected representative from the MO 7, are serious about reducing frivolous spending, ending earmarks, reducing the size of the federal government and the deficit and are serious about a strict adherence to the constitution, where in the constitution does an art contest fit in?
I'm just saying either you're wanting to trim the deficit and reduce the size of government or you're not. In for a pound, in for an ounce?

Meanwhile, rules are made to be broken.

ps--will Billy make this scene?

Long slams Pelosi

Billy House, reporter for the National Journal, has these quotes from Congressman "Just call me Billy" Long about Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's speech yesterday in a post published this morning:

While Boehner and his office aren’t commenting (driver's note: about the length and tone of Pelosi's speech), others in the new House GOP majority—like freshman Rep. Billy Long of Missouri—suggest that Pelosi, as a departing speaker, was less than gracious with the length and braggadocio of her remarks.

“I think it’s rather apparent. I’d have handled it differently,” said Long, who complained that Pelosi’s speech—at least it seemed that way to him—was longer than Boehner’s speech after accepting the gavel.

Ah, jeez.

"Like a horse, it's rode hard and put away wet," quipped Mr. Long.

a freshman who boasts of never having previously held elected office.

Janet Adamy, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, has a story in the online edition about all the folks in DC who are carrying pocket sized copies of the US Constitution in their pockets.

Guess who ran to her?

Standing outside the House speaker's lobby, Rep. Billy Long (R., Mo.) reached into his back pocket and pulled out a worn-looking maroon edition with folded corners. "Like a horse, it's rode hard and put away wet," quipped Mr. Long, a freshman who boasts of never having previously held elected office.

At a Sarah Palin book signing in Springfield during the campaign, a man approached Mr. Long and asked whether he carried a copy. Mr. Long walked back to his truck and produced one. "I needed his vote," he said.

Mr. Long, for all his affection for cowboy costumes, apparently missed the nuance of his quip.

Real cowboys use the phrase "Rode hard and put away wet" to describe someone who doesn't take care of his horse.

Long's quip suggests the same thing about the constitution.

But wait, there's more, Daniel Newhauser, a reporter for Rollcall, the newspaper of Capital Hill since 1955 ledes off with this in his post, Outsiders choose Hill professionals:

A flashy Southern auctioneer with as much a penchant for cowboy hats as for telling voters that he’s “fed up,” Rep. Billy Long struck electoral gold with his campaign as a bona fide Capitol Hill outsider.

“I may not look the part,” the Missouri Republican said in a campaign ad, cracking a sly smile. “But if you’re fed up with politicians in Washington and their cronies, I would truly appreciate your vote.”

After the election was sealed, Long’s rhetoric didn’t cease. When he came to the Capitol in November for orientation, he announced in a press release, “Mr. Outsider Meets the Insiders.”

But Long not only met the insiders, he hired one of them as his chief of staff. Joe Lillis has been legislative director to Rep. Lynn Westmoreland since 2005, and before that, he worked for the Georgia Republican’s predecessor, Rep. Mac Collins (R), and former Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.).

Long declined to comment for this report, but Westmoreland recently recounted giving the inexperienced legislator the advice to hire someone who can guide him through Washington.

“I said, ‘Billy, you’re not a detail person are you?’ He said, ‘Nope,’” Westmoreland told Roll Call. “I said, ‘If you’re not detail-oriented, you better hire somebody who is detail-oriented.’ The ropes are going to be hard enough for a new Member of Congress to learn. If he has eight people or seven people there who are learning the ropes together, that’s going to be a long ride.”

In other news, Billy Long was sworn in as the people's representative from MO 7 And Boehner wept.

Read more about Billy Long and his desire to privatize the Postal Service.

Oh, where have you been, Billy boy, Billy boy? Oh where have you been Ozark Billy?

This old bus has been busy, really busy doing important things and hasn't been paying too much attention to Ozark Billy Long across the holidays.

I missed Ozark Billy telling the the people against the recently passed puppy mill legislation that if there's anything he can do for them, on a Federal level, he'll do it. (Is Ozark Billy advocating overthrowing the will of the people as expressed in the voting booth? If so, why stop with puppy mill legislation? Let's throw all the bums out!)

I missed Ozark Billy speaking to a group of 50 supporters of the fair tax plan--- a death blow to the middle class-- that he thought that plan made sense.

I missed Ozark Billy because, while he believes in constituent service, he has blocked me and several others from following him on Twitter. I've been blocked for over 55 days --- so much for keeping in touch with your constituents.

Meanwhile Billy (I don't run a microphone every time one is put in front of my face) has been busy too.

Duane Graham starts us off with Ozark Billy catch up day.

Bungalow Bill follows with this report of Ozark Billy disin' the speaker elect.

Randy Turner also reports on Ozark Billy being not sure of the wisdom of working with Republican leadership.