After Demanding Repeal Of Stimulus, GOP Rep. Long Attends Ceremony For Stimulus-Funded Clinic

During his campaign for Congress last year, freshman Rep. Billy Long (R-MO) called for a complete repeal of President Obama’s stimulus program. “I hope that Congress will admit they made a mistake and vote to repeal the Stimulus Act in order to reduce our deficit,” he said confidently at the time. Once he got into office, Long’s opinion did not change. On the second annivsary of the bill’s signing, Long sent out a press release claiming that the stimulus had “failed.”

However, Long was singing a different tune last week when he stood with officials at a ceremony for a new health clinic in his district. On Friday, Long appeared with other community leaders to break ground for the new Access Family Care clinic in Cassville, Missouri. The construction was made possible with a $635,000 grant from the stimulus, secured in part by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), who unlike Long supported the stimulus. View a picture from Access Family Care’s website showing Long at a groundbreaking to spend stimulus money in his district:

According to the Cassville Democrat, the facility will eventually “house three medical providers, two dentists and two dental hygienists.” “This will be a great facility,” Long declared at the event. It is not clear if Long revealed to the audience that he had called for repealing the funds that made the clinic possible.

Long’s blatant hypocrisy places him in league with his congressional predecesor, now-Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO). As ThinkProgress has reported, when Blunt held Long’s seat in Congress, he also took credit for the successful stimulus by attending groundbreaking ceremonies for stimulus-funded projects.