Two Early Tests for GOP in 2011: Two Key Votes Will Prove if Billy Long Was Really Tea Party Before Tea Party Was Cool

There are two key votes coming up in Congress for the new Congress. These votes will define the new Republican House and will either win Tea Party confidence or destroy it all together. I am eager to see how the new Republican leadership addresses these key votes, especially with the Tea Party watching.

The first vote is the vote to raise the debt ceiling. We are quickly approaching the $14 trillion debt ceiling. The Democrats have done an amazing job of setting the Republicans up. If Republicans vote to extend the debt ceiling, which is very likely, Democrats will be quick to discredit the Republicans--who were already ready to compromise with Obama with a $900 billion stimulus to extend the Bush tax cuts. Obviously, if this compromise happens, the Republicans will be forced to raise the debt limit to allow this compromise. I would just count on the GOP voting to extend the debt ceiling.

The second vote coming up is the extension of the Patriot Act in February. Make no doubt, the current trampling of the Fourth Amendment is the direct result of the Patriot Act. As the TSA gropes and takes naked body images of Americans before they get on airplanes, the Patriot Act lifted Constitutional restrictions for national security, and now we see it has gone too far. While Joe Biden is the father of the Patriot Act, the Republicans were quick to sell out the Constitution after 9/11 with its passage. If Republicans blindly pass the Patriot Act again, which allows federal power to bypass the Fourth Amendment, they will betray the Tea Party once again.

I will be paying close attention to how my new Representative, Billy Long, votes. He's been running around in Washington claiming he was Tea Party before Tea Party was cool; although, he didn't attend the first of the Tea Parties in Springfield, MO in February and April 2009. He has just been placed on the Homeland Security committee as well, a large committee with at least six sub-committees, which is interesting since he proved to be a national security dolt during the election claiming during one forum he would turn to fellow Republicans Jeff Wisdom and Michael Wardell to consult with on these matters. (This makes me think further that Roy Blunt will be pulling Billy Long's strings in Congress.)

If you want to know if Billy Long is truly Tea Party, then watch these two key votes closely. It will be interesting to watch how the Tea Party reacts if the Republicans push these two key pieces of legislation through Congress.