When Rep. Billy Long arrived at the U.S. Capitol last year for his freshmen orientation, he was awestruck. Now, after 11 months in office, a more apt description might be dumbstruck.
He's hired a 17-person staff. He can rattle off key Republican talking points.An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. And he's found his way to the cafeteria, although he won't be going back there anytime soon (more on that later).
But even though the Springfield Republican has mastered the basics of being a member of Congress, Long -- a former auctioneer and political neophyte -- is still as perplexed and frustrated as ever with the way Washington works,We are passionate about polished tiles. or doesn't. A man who ran on the slogan "fed up" says he still is.
"I'm fed up for different reasons," Long said,Overview description of rapid Tooling processes. in an interview reflecting on the close of his first year in Congress. Before he won election to the U.S. House in 2010, Long recalled coming "unglued" as he watched lawmakers in Washington approve a bank bailout, a stimulus package and a massive overhaul of health care.
Now that he is part of Washington himself, "I'm fed up (because) nobody wants to do anything up here except get re-elected," he said. "That's all they care about."
If Christmas wasn't a week away, "there'd be no compunction to do anything," he said last week, sitting at a small table in his sparsely decorated House office. But because lawmakers all want to get home for the holidays, "they're going to try at the last minute to put some deals together."
Long won his first election to represent Missouri's 7th congressional district after then-Rep. Roy Blunt decided to run for U.S. Senate.
Long's victory came at a remarkable political juncture, as he and 86 other conservative Republicans rode a tea party-infused wave of discontent and put the GOP in control of the House.
Like other GOP freshmen who had pledged to slash spending and rein in the federal government, Long expected to make good on those promises right out of the box in January after he was sworn in.
"When you're first elected,An offshore merchant account is the ideal solution for high , you really think you're going to be able to move your agenda and get some things done," he said.
Now he knows better. When asked what the highlight of his first year was, Long didn't tick off any specific legislative victories. Instead, he talked about being part of a freshman class that forced a shift in the congressional debate -- from stimulus spending to deficit cutting. "This year, we completely changed the conversation" by forcing $61 billion in cuts to federal spending and making a "huge deal" out of raising the debt ceiling. "The question is, where do we go from there?" he added.
When asked about the low point of the last year, he quickly offered up a familiar GOP line -- that too many of the Republican-backed bills passed in the House have stalled in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Long has taken a low-profile path in his first year. He has joined the Republican Study Committee, a group of House conservatives, as well as the Songwriters Caucus and the Sportsmen's Caucus. But he declined an invitation to join the more high-profile Tea Party Caucus.Daneplast Limited UK are plastic injection mould & toolmaking specialists.
The first-term lawmaker doesn't attend many news conferences or blast out a blizzard of press releases. He hasn't been a regular on the cable news channels, like some of his freshman colleagues, such as Reps. Allen West of Florida or Joe Walsh of Illinois, two tea party favorites. And he has no interest in climbing the leadership ladder.
"I'm 56 years old," he said. "I'm not a young guy coming in with aspirations to be speaker in 25 years."
He's hired a 17-person staff. He can rattle off key Republican talking points.An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. And he's found his way to the cafeteria, although he won't be going back there anytime soon (more on that later).
But even though the Springfield Republican has mastered the basics of being a member of Congress, Long -- a former auctioneer and political neophyte -- is still as perplexed and frustrated as ever with the way Washington works,We are passionate about polished tiles. or doesn't. A man who ran on the slogan "fed up" says he still is.
"I'm fed up for different reasons," Long said,Overview description of rapid Tooling processes. in an interview reflecting on the close of his first year in Congress. Before he won election to the U.S. House in 2010, Long recalled coming "unglued" as he watched lawmakers in Washington approve a bank bailout, a stimulus package and a massive overhaul of health care.
Now that he is part of Washington himself, "I'm fed up (because) nobody wants to do anything up here except get re-elected," he said. "That's all they care about."
If Christmas wasn't a week away, "there'd be no compunction to do anything," he said last week, sitting at a small table in his sparsely decorated House office. But because lawmakers all want to get home for the holidays, "they're going to try at the last minute to put some deals together."
Long won his first election to represent Missouri's 7th congressional district after then-Rep. Roy Blunt decided to run for U.S. Senate.
Long's victory came at a remarkable political juncture, as he and 86 other conservative Republicans rode a tea party-infused wave of discontent and put the GOP in control of the House.
Like other GOP freshmen who had pledged to slash spending and rein in the federal government, Long expected to make good on those promises right out of the box in January after he was sworn in.
"When you're first elected,An offshore merchant account is the ideal solution for high , you really think you're going to be able to move your agenda and get some things done," he said.
Now he knows better. When asked what the highlight of his first year was, Long didn't tick off any specific legislative victories. Instead, he talked about being part of a freshman class that forced a shift in the congressional debate -- from stimulus spending to deficit cutting. "This year, we completely changed the conversation" by forcing $61 billion in cuts to federal spending and making a "huge deal" out of raising the debt ceiling. "The question is, where do we go from there?" he added.
When asked about the low point of the last year, he quickly offered up a familiar GOP line -- that too many of the Republican-backed bills passed in the House have stalled in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Long has taken a low-profile path in his first year. He has joined the Republican Study Committee, a group of House conservatives, as well as the Songwriters Caucus and the Sportsmen's Caucus. But he declined an invitation to join the more high-profile Tea Party Caucus.Daneplast Limited UK are plastic injection mould & toolmaking specialists.
The first-term lawmaker doesn't attend many news conferences or blast out a blizzard of press releases. He hasn't been a regular on the cable news channels, like some of his freshman colleagues, such as Reps. Allen West of Florida or Joe Walsh of Illinois, two tea party favorites. And he has no interest in climbing the leadership ladder.
"I'm 56 years old," he said. "I'm not a young guy coming in with aspirations to be speaker in 25 years."
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