Grading Congressman Billy Long on Joplin Tornado Relief Efforts

Billy Long looks disinterested in what these tornado victims have to say.

Billy Long should be back in Washington today taking care of the business of our district. Long spent last week in Joplin missing important votes like the PATRIOT Act extension. In fact, over 45 votes were missed last week. So the Joplin tornado stands to become political capital or a political liability for Long.

Let's take a look at many of the things the local media and national press failed to report on Long's pre and post tornado involvement in Joplin.

First, Long told the Springfield News-Leader he doesn't run to every microphone when one is offered during the campaign. That changed in Joplin when Long was put on the national stage.

Billy never missed a chance for a photo op or a chance to run to the microphone. He tweeted every appearance and interview he was scheduled for. Were these interviews genuine or were they a "look at me?" Given the tweets, I tend to think the latter, but I will let you decide for yourself.

The media also failed to report about how Congressman Long's actions taken prior to this tornado would have risked the lives of more people. On twitter, Long made fun of tornado drills. He cosponsored HR 607, which would have taken frequencies away from the HAM radio operators that work with the National Weather Service to spot these storms to give people the most time to take shelter. He cut funds to the National Weather Service's early warning systems while ensuring federal funding went to NASCAR teams. The truth is his actions could have put more people in danger.

One thing is for sure, Billy Long is not longer "fed up" with big government. Long quickly embraced the federal government for aid, but there is another story with that the news failed to report, which I will address later.

Perhaps these views come across as cynical, but it's a fact that politicians exploit tragedies for their own political gain. To truly help the people of Joplin doesn't require photo ops, interviews in which the same words are repeated, and endless tweets. It requires getting your hands dirty to lift the people of Joplin up. Obviously, in a post Katrina world, people believe that unless politicians are micro managing these disasters nothing will get done. That simply isn't the case. The people I helped throughout last week were doing it on their own with the contributions of places like Applebee's bringing free meals around and volunteers delivering simple things like water. It's the generosity of Americans that matter most in these events, and politicians are often a distraction.

Even on Sunday, as traffic in Joplin from gawkers taking pictures of destroyed homes and businesses got worse, residents all over Joplin begged people to help or stay at home. Long was encouraging people to drive down Rangeline to see the spirit of America--which obviously slows the efforts of volunteers and other people in the community working to clean Joplin up. Like I said, politicians become a distraction as it appears to me they need the spotlight.

Finally, while I am no fan of FEMA or big government, Billy Long failed miserably when it came to standing up for the people of Joplin.

Billy Long showed no courage when he decided not to publicly address House Leader Eric Cantor who made aid for Joplin a political issue. All it would have taken Long is a few simple words in a public statement. "This is not the time or place for politics Mr. Cantor." In Long choosing not to side with the people of Joplin to protect his relationship with the establishment cronies, he played politics to protect his own personal political ambitions.

We are spending billions in foreign aid to countries like Pakistan that harbor terrorists. There's your budget cuts. Billy Long missed the chance to be a real working-class hero. He should have called Cantor out in support of the people of Joplin.

I am not going to assign Mr. Long a grade. Rather, I will let you assign him a grade for his efforts, because they weren't all totally bad either. These are instances the mainstream media failed to report, and I think they are important instances that the residents of Southwest Missouri need to consider seriously before November 2012.