Headed to a 3 day event at Harvard end of Nov., then with Speaker-Designate Boehner in DC for 3 days early Dec. then Williamsburg 1/7/11
What Long is referring to is the Harvard University Institute of Politics' New Members of Congress Conference. Harvard describes the program as:
Founded in 1972 and hosted every two years by Harvard University's Institute of Politics, the Program for Newly-Elected Members of Congress is unlike any other training program for new legislators. It provides intensive seminars on major public policy issues such as foreign policy, health care and the Federal budget, led by prominent scholars and practitioners representing viewpoints from across the political spectrum. It also offers an unmatched set of workshops to help new Representatives make the most of their first weeks and months on Capitol Hill. These workshops focus on the "how" of getting things done in Washington, and are led by current and former senior officials from Congress, the White House, cabinet departments, regulatory agencies, and the national media.
I can't wait to hear Billy Long claim he completed a course study at Harvard. You know it's coming, but I am sitting here wondering how someone who is "fed up" with wasteful government spending can justify training at one of America's most expensive universities. Is there no other institution that can offer the same courses at a fraction of the costs Harvard charges? Do we really want the fed up auctioneer being influence by Harvard?
It appears I am not the only one to express concerns about why Harvard, and once again we see how little Billy Long cares about saving taxpayer money because he seems to be looking forward to this trip rather than questioning its cost to taxpayers. So much for being fed up again, huh Billy?
In 1992, Tom Delay questioned why the United States Congress is spending money for this conference at Harvard when the resources are available to conduct it for free.
On April 29, 1992, Tom DeLay stood up on the House floor and decried a 'tax-funded boondoggle' that sent freshman members of Congress to Harvard for a seminar. 'Yes,' DeLay asserted, 'the congressional freshman orientation at Harvard doesn't cost millions of dollars. But even the thousands of dollars of tax money used for this congressional boondoggle sets a bad example for new Members of Congress.' Instead, DeLay urged, 'grass-roots organizations' should conduct orientations at no cost to the American taxpayer. The organizations DeLay named were" the Coalition for America, the Council for National Policy, Free Congress Foundation, and Free the Eagle, "all radical conservative groups with ties to the right-wing Christian evangelical movement," Sarah Posner wrote February 21, 2005, for The Gadflyer.
