Maverick freshman Republicans, including Billy Long, hit up special interests for campaign cash

In an article published this morning, the Washington Post notes that freshman Republicans, who rode into office on white chargers claiming that government is bad and it would not be business as usual under their watch, are raking in campaign cash from special interest PACS:

Many of the Republican freshmen in the House won election vowing to shake up Washington, so it’s a little surprising that many of them seem to be playing an old Washington game: raising much of their campaign money from corporate political action committees.

More than 50 members of the class of 87 GOP freshmen took in more than $50,000 from PACs during the first quarter of 2011, according to new campaign disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Eighteen of the lawmakers took in more than $100,000.

 Among the Republican freshman who fought business as usual all the way to Washington and then settled into that same familiar routine is Seventh District Congressman Billy Long.

As noted in the April 12 Turner Report:

It did not take Long much time to get acclimated to the pace of Washington, according to his quarterly report, filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.

Long received $78,517 during the last three months, with more than $40,000 of it that coming from either special interest PACS or lobbyists.

Among the contributions:

$1,000- Action Committee for Rural Electrification
$1,000- Allied Pilots Association
$1,000- Ameren Federal PAC
$1,000- American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
$1,000- American Airlines PAC
$1,000- American Bus Association PAC
$1,000- American Hospital Association PAC
$5,000- Anheuser-Busch PAC
$1,000- Arch Coal PAC
$3,000- Boeing Company PAC
$500- CoalPAC
$1,000- Dairy Farmers of America PAC
$2,000- Emerson Electric
$2,000- FedEx PAC
$2.000- Free and Strong America PAC
$2,000- Honeywell International PAC
$500- MinePAC
$1,000- National Air Traffic Controllers PAC
$2,000- National Association of Convenience Stores PAC
$1.000- National Association of Realtors PAC
$1,000- National Rural Letter Carriers PAC
$1,000- Outdoor Advertising Association of America
$2,000- PriceWaterhouseCoopers PAC
$2,000- Raytheon Company PAC
$2,000- Southwest Airlines Pilots Association
$1,000- United Technologies Corporation PAC

 Long's reliance on those special interests continues as noted in the April 17 Turner Report:

Four Washington lobbyists are serving as hosts for a May 31 dinner honoring the freshman legislator at Hill Country Barbecue in our nation's capital.

The group includes Gregg Hartley, former chief of staff to Roy Blunt, who represents AT&T, as well as numerous other clients, Tim McGivern, also an AT&T lobbyist, National Rifle Association lobbyist Liz Williams, and Jeffrey Hogg, who represents Reynolds American.

If you want to be one of those honoring Billy Long, be prepared to pay dearly for the privilege. The event has a "suggested contribution" of $1,000 per PAC or $500 per individual.

The Washington  fundraiser will be the ninth for Billy Long since he took office in January. Six of those, including one on March 30, were held at the exclusive Capitol Hill Club. As noted in the April 13 Turner Report, Long spent $1,133 from his campaign account to the club for initiation and dues to the club.