Charlie wants to keep them furriners off our highways!

From SN-L political reporter Roseann Moring:

Rep. Charlie Denison, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said he plans to hold another hearing for a controversial bill that would make driver’s license tests administered in English only.

Denison, R-Springfield, kept on the schedule a hearing for the bill that occurred during the blizzard, when most Missourians could not arrive to testify.

So he said he’ll hold another hour of testimony next Tuesday, and the committee will vote on the bill immediately afterward.

Ah jeez, Charlie, who's gonna drive our cabs?

Just what did we get for our $14,500? A trip to the Ronald Reagan Museum and drinks at a happy hour? Oh yeah, we got a new definition of rape too.

I'll let Bungalow Bill fill you in:

Shortly after Billy Long won his seat to Congress, he began crying about having to take a pay cut.

In his first month in Congress, Billy Long made $14,500 plus expenses and a per diem. Who knows what perks he got from lobbyists, after all, Congressman Long decided to skip the reading of the Constitution to meet with a lobbyist. Let's not forget the broken foot that was injured on the campaign trail was covered as a pre-existing condition with his new Congressional benefits package as well.

So let's take a look at what Long did in his first month that delivered this nice size check into his pocket at the expense of the taxpayers. In his first month of Congress Long voted 21 times. He was not present for one vote. This totals $690 per button push. He introduced no legislation to the floor based on records using the Congress Android and iPhone Ap, and co-sponsored a bill that will increase the size of government and give the Department of Homeland Security more freedom-killing power.

But wait, of those votes, many of them were procedural votes that directed the debate or brought a bill to the floor for a vote. In Long's first month, he only voted twice for the passage of a bill. Which produces an eye opening $7,250 per vote on passage votes. Do you think he broke a sweat? Remember, this was a man who wanted the job, and then began complaining about the pay cut he was going to have to take to serve Southwest Missouri.

By all accounts, it appears Long has returned to the district once in this time, which was last weekend. Long has dedicated himself to the forces he once claimed he was fed up with, spending time with lobbyists and special interest groups, even traveling to California with the establishment. Long still hasn't addressed the media's questions about who is responsible and why his office decided to use the FBI to intimidate his most vocal critic.

Something I noticed about Billy Long during the campaign; he liked to compare himself to the Founding Father's vision of the citizen legislator that came to Washington and represented his district for a short period of time and then came back home to a normal life. What Mr. Long didn't tell you in those speeches is the citizen legislators our Founding Fathers envisioned also went to Washington without the promise of any salary. That's right, there was no such thing as a Congressional salary.

From 1789 to 1855, a member of Congress was paid a $6 per diem. Now Congress has their salaries, their expense accounts, and per diem. Yup, Congressman Long left out that little bit of information about the Founding Fathers as he tried to label himself as the vision of the Founders, and then griped about his pay cut.

Here's something I also want you to consider. Billy Long never laced up combat boots, instead he went to frat parties immediately after school and avoided any military commitment. An E-1 enlisting in the United States military at a time of war in 2011, which means they know when they enlist they are putting their lives on the line, makes $17,611.20 per year. That's right Congress critters like Billy Long, who showed no bravery as a young man and only wanted to serve his country in a suit and not boots, makes almost in one month what a young soldier willing to put his life on the line for his country makes in a year. Long had the nerve enough to complain about taking a pay cut. Really those numbers don't improve much for E-2, E-3, and E-4 ranks in the military either.

Long pushes a button and gets paid the big bucks and complains about his pay cut from his real world existence, while soldiers dodge bullets for much less to fight for the liberty and freedom Long's office attacked in their first month in Congress. I bet Billy Long wouldn't even have run for Congress if Congress was paid a soldiers salary and was forced to live in the conditions a soldier must live in.

In defense to Billy, he did do something while he was in Washington. He co-sponsored a couple of bills.
But I don't think he read them before he signed on to them.

One of the bills Billy co-sponsored re-defines rape and another one called the "Let Women Die" bill.

These two bills are raising some eyebrows in the 7th district and not from the regular Billy watchers. This is a post written by one of the people Billy would let die:

There's a new saying now among the cynical:

"If a woman is raped when no one is around, is she still raped?"

In 1976, Congress passed the Hyde Amendment which prohibits the use of federal funds in cases of abortions. At the moment, under Medicaid, abortions are covered by federal funds in cases of rape, incest, or if the woman's life is endangered. So the debate at the present is the "definition" of rape and how it impacts the use of these funds.

First and foremost, what the public needs to know (and this needs to be reiterated) is the Hyde Amendment forbids federally funded abortions (except in special cases like the ones mentioned above). This means that the government is not footing the bill by giving out abortions like popsicles from an ice cream truck. Much like any amendment, there are restrictions - such as a definition of rape.

Why is this issue arising? The "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion" aims to "redefine" rape ("forcible" rape vs. "non-forcible" such as statutory rape and incest). In fact, its aim is to eliminate ANY federal funding to cover abortions, even in cases of "non-forcible" rape. So how does this bill promote any sort of woman's right?

It doesn't.

What it does do is take away a woman's right, her voice, her ability to overcome a trauma. The definition of rape is this: if a man forces himself on a woman by shoving his penis inside her vagina without consent, it is rape. If a woman is raped and wants an abortion, she should be able to have one without having to answer questions about the validity of her experience. That is insulting. If a woman becomes pregnant and wants to terminate her pregnancy, she should be able to exercise her Constitutional right. The Speaker Boehner isn't focusing on the real issues here. Furthermore, no one is "pro-abortion" - this is why activists are referred to as "pro-choice."

Rape is a horrific, life altering event. As such, "pro-lifers" are not necessarily pro-life if they are willing to dimish the quality of life for rape victims.

ps-- I thought Billy was out of the real estate/auction business.

The Busplunge says "Happy Birthday, Ronald Reagan!"

Who is Jan Fisk and why is she saying all those nasty things about Cindy Rushefky?

On Friday a form letter from Jan Fisk was delivered to selected homes across Springfield.

Fisk was pleading for help and money in her zone 2 council race against the incumbent Cindy Rushefsky.

Among other things, Fisk had this to say: "My opponent has a track record of job-killing votes and has demonstrated little understanding about the 'nuts and bolts' planning and decision-making it takes to support job growth and development."

It gets nastier, as she hammers Cindy for her opposition to the Magers development scam: "Unlike my opponent, I will be a council person that works to establish an operational culture that welcomes entrepreneurs and job-creating projects -- instead of making them feel they are standing in front of a firing squad."

One might reasonably guess that the emergence of J. Howard's wife into the electoral world is an attempt to get him voice in two elected positions at the same time. Fisk is the president of the OTC board of trustees, so why not put his proxy on City Council?

What's next Howard? The state legislature?

Jeff Layman, a republican fundraiser and financial consultant is another OTC board rumored to have political aspirations. Recently Layman, who spent in excess of $20,000 for his seat, attended, with Billy Long, a reception at the White House hosted by President Obama for freshman legislators.

Sally Hargis, of Ozarks Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper bottling company, is the treasurer of Fisk's campaign.

These are the people who want you to die

From Violet Socks:

If you’re a pregnant woman, that is. You’ve probably read about the “Let Women Die” Act currently in the House; the bill would allow hospitals to simply refuse to provide emergency life-saving medical care to a pregnant woman if such care involves aborting the fetus. I was fascinated to see that the bill, which was introduced by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Andromeda Galaxy), has 100 co-sponsors. One hundred! That’s almost one-fourth of the entire House of Representatives. Here they are:

Robert Aderholt [R-AL4]
Todd Akin [R-MO2]
Steve Austria [R-OH7]
Michele Bachmann [R-MN6]
Spencer Bachus [R-AL6]
Joe Barton [R-TX6]

Gus Bilirakis [R-FL9]
Diane Black [R-TN6]
Marsha Blackburn [R-TN7]
Kevin Brady [R-TX8]
Paul Broun [R-GA10]
Vern Buchanan [R-FL13]

Ann Marie Buerkle [R-NY25]
Michael Burgess [R-TX26]
Francisco Canseco [R-TX23]
John Carter [R-TX31]
Bill Cassidy [R-LA6]
Jason Chaffetz [R-UT3]

Mike Coffman [R-CO6]
Michael Conaway [R-TX11]
Jerry Costello [D-IL12]
Eric Crawford [R-AR1]
Mark Critz [D-PA12]
Geoff Davis [R-KY4]

Renee Ellmers [R-NC2]
Jeff Flake [R-AZ6]
John Fleming [R-LA4]
Bill Flores [R-TX17]
Jeffrey Fortenberry [R-NE1]
Scott Garrett [R-NJ5]

Bob Gibbs [R-OH18]
John Gingrey [R-GA11]
Louis Gohmert [R-TX1]
Samuel Graves [R-MO6]
Brett Guthrie [R-KY2]
Ralph Hall [R-TX4]

Gregg Harper [R-MS3]
Andy Harris [R-MD1]
Vicky Hartzler [R-MO4]
Tim Huelskamp [R-KS1]
Bill Huizenga [R-MI2]
Lynn Jenkins [R-KS2]

Timothy Johnson [R-IL15]
Walter Jones [R-NC3]
Jim Jordan [R-OH4]
Mike Kelly [R-PA3]
Jack Kingston [R-GA1]
Adam Kinzinger [R-IL11]

John Kline [R-MN2]
Doug Lamborn [R-CO5]
Leonard Lance [R-NJ7]
Thomas Latham [R-IA4]
Robert Latta [R-OH5]
Christopher Lee [R-NY26]

Daniel Lipinski [D-IL3]
Billy Long [R-MO7]
Blaine Luetkemeyer [R-MO9]
Daniel Lungren [R-CA3]
Donald Manzullo [R-IL16]
Kenny Marchant [R-TX24]

Michael McCaul [R-TX10]
Tom McClintock [R-CA4]
Thaddeus McCotter [R-MI11]
David McKinley [R-WV1]
Cathy McMorris Rodgers [R-WA5]
Candice Miller [R-MI10]

Jeff Miller [R-FL1]
Tim Murphy [R-PA18]
Randy Neugebauer [R-TX19]
Alan Nunnelee [R-MS1]
Pete Olson [R-TX22]
Ronald Paul [R-TX14]

Mike Pence [R-IN6]
Thomas Petri [R-WI6]
Ted Poe [R-TX2]
Mike Pompeo [R-KS4]
Phil Roe [R-TN1]
Harold Rogers [R-KY5]

Michael Rogers [R-AL3]
Michael Rogers [R-MI8]
Peter Roskam [R-IL6]
Dennis Ross [R-FL12]
Mike Ross [D-AR4]
Paul Ryan [R-WI1]

Steve Scalise [R-LA1]
Jean Schmidt [R-OH2]
Peter Sessions [R-TX32]
John Shimkus [R-IL19]
Heath Shuler [D-NC11]
William Shuster [R-PA9]

Christopher Smith [R-NJ4]
Lamar Smith [R-TX21]
Marlin Stutzman [R-IN3]
John Sullivan [R-OK1]
Lee Terry [R-NE2]
Glenn Thompson [R-PA5]

Frederick Upton [R-MI6]
Timothy Walberg [R-MI7]
Edward Whitfield [R-KY1]
Bill Young [R-FL10]

I mean to tell you, even Blake knows enough not to co-sponsor this bill!

Billy: Put your money where your mouth is.

"Cowboy boots are often chosen for what they say about their wearer rather than for comfort." Washington Post, May 8, 2007.

The Springfield News-Leader's Sarah Okeson has the story:

Rep. Billy Long is hobbling around these days.

The new congressman, who met Friday afternoon in Springfield with parents and other relatives of people with juvenile diabetes, was quizzed on the walking cast on his right foot.

"I'm styling," Long said. "I went skiing, and I forgot to take my boots off."

It turns out Long has been walking around for months with fractured bones in his foot. X-rays didn't show anything, but he had an MRI which revealed the broken bones. Long said he injured his foot during a parade.

Jessica Hickok, who has type 1 diabetes, and others from the local chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation told Long they want his support for funding for research about diabetes. Foundation officials are meeting with new members of Congress

Billy Long fractured his foot in a parade during the campaign. It wasn't until three months later, when he got on the government healthcare plan that he gets it fixed. Hmm, is this a pre-existing condition? Didn't he vote to repeal that law? He told us during the debates he had health insurance. It looks like the gov't health insurance is better than the plan he had.

Then Billy passes out autographed copies of the constitution (did he get them from the heritage foundation?) Is this to be his 'gimmick', his 'hook', I am reminded of Ralph Manley passing out Eisenhower dollar coins.

Long passed business cards around to the group and suggested that they have the Washington, D.C.-based chapter of the foundation call on him in Washington.

"Just call my scheduler up there," he said. Sort of like "let's do lunch sometime" and "I'm Fed up and no earmarks!"

If Billy really was sincere in assisting these people, he would have pulled out his checkbook right then, and signed the front of a hefty check made out to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

His first weeks in Congress show him to be a media hound who seeks publicity. This is is his first 'public appearance' in Springfield since he's been in congress and it is a soft-ball appearance.

I hate to say this, but I think Billy just used this meeting as an excuse for a photo op. The HCR bill Billy voted to repeal should have told you he was just going through the motions

Long campaigned to cut government spending. He wasted this groups by giving false hope. He didn't waste his time because he got another story about him to add to his scrapbook.

BTW, I am a retired public school teacher on a fixed income. I just made a donation to JDRF via the internet in tribute to Billy Long.

Billy, put your money where your mouth is.

A blind bunny meets a blind snake

Seems the Lee boys are in a fable telling mood this week. Must be the snow.

Anyhow, hop on the old bus and take a ride down to the Haven Lee Farm!