During the final weeks of the 2016 campaign for the Missouri Seventh Congressional District the incumbent, Republican Billy Long, spent little time campaigning in his district, even though Congress was not in session.
Long held a “Weekend in Vegas” fundraiser September 30 to October 3 at the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel. His October quarterly report with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) shows he incurred expenses as early as September 27 in Las Vegas, and Long’s Twitter account showed that he introduced President Donald Trump during the his campaign stop in Henderson, Nevada, on October 5.
Henderson #Nevada's finest helping out at the @realDonaldTrump rally including Bobby Long on my left. 2nd Cousin maybe? #HappeningNow pic.twitter.com/GnVEBmvMqv
— Billy Long (@auctnr1) October 5, 2016
The #BasketOfDeplorables goes wild as the next President of the United States @realDonaldTrump takes the stage. #HappeningNow pic.twitter.com/neaWPxPcap
— Billy Long (@auctnr1) October 5, 2016
The trip to Vegas was far from the first for Long, an auctioneer and former radio talk show host who upset a large field of experienced candidates to win the GOP primary in 2010 by catching the voters’ fancy with advertising emphasizing he was “fed up” with Washington.
In this area of Missouri, winning the Republican primary was a guarantee he would be successful in November, so Long easily won the seat, and vowed he would take “southwest Missouri values” to Washington.
From the time he arrived in the nation’s capital, Long began showing more signs of being well fed than fed up. The self-proclaimed fiscal conservative’s FEC reports showed that while he was raising hundreds of thousands, he often spent more than he was taking in.
He has spent so much that in the six years since his election, his contributors have paid well into six figures for meals and drinks for Long, oftentimes paying for expensive meals in some of the finest restaurants in D. C., as well as meals in Florida, where Long performed a standup comedy routine at the Tampa Improv nightclub in August 2012, and in Las Vegas, where the congressman has recorded approximately two dozen visits, mostly paid through his campaign account.
As the years have passed, Long has become even more brazen in financing his opulent lifestyle through his campaign funds.
In an FEC report filed July 15, 2016, Long reported spending $50,061.39 for food and drinks. During the three-month period covered by the report, he raised $201,315.56 and spent $308,620.26.
Expenses were recorded for stays in Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco, Charleston, South Carolina, Dallas, and Louisville, where he attended the Kentucky Derby.
During a time when Republican members of Congress are facing hordes of angry taxpayers at town hall meetings, Billy Long is not concerned.
Long, who is just returning from a visit to Japan and who last week pitched the name of television star Fran Drescher of The Nanny, to President Trump during a White House visit for a position on a cancer board, has let it be known that he will not have any town meetings. His staff has relayed the message to constituents that Long is far too busy
There is too much going on in Washington, those who were asking for a town hall were told.
That response came as no surprise. In the six years and one month since Billy Long became Seventh District Congressman, he has never held a town hall meeting.
Being a congressman is so much easier when you don’t have to deal with pesky irritations like voters.
Check out his campaign ad from 2016:
Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.
