Billy Long in a Tea Party Twister

U.S. Representative Billy Long (R-MS 07) has found himself in the middle of a split among Tea Partiers and conservatives over federal spending. Long rode the wave of Tea Party discontent into office this past January claiming he was “Tea Party before Tea Party was Cool.” Of course much of his campaign rhetoric focused on Government spending and the evils of D.C. bureaucracy. Then the Joplin tornadoes hit. In the destructive wake of nature’s fury, FEMA doled out over 100 million dollars for disaster aid. Understandably, the Presbyterian and former auctioneer welcomed the aid and had nothing but positive comments for Washington, giving FEMA a “12” on a scale of 1 to 10. No one could fault Long for embracing the federal aid, right? But he’s actually come under fire from some of his fellow Tea Partiers (even in Joplin) for accepting federal money and softening his anti-government rhetoric in the aftermath of the storms. Long has said that spending is simply a matter of priority, and in an emergency such as this, it is appropriate for the government to make disaster relief a priority. This makes sense to me, but clearly some in the Tea Party believe that not even an act of God should temper one’s political disposition. For more, see NPR’s “A Foe of Big Government seeks aid for Joplin.”