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 travelling 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.
