I'm not surprised Larry would keep his promise. I might not always agree with his fiscal conservatism, but I agree that we don't improve healthcare in this country by taking away almost $400 billion in benefits from senior citizens. What are octogenarians to do? Go get jobs for the benies?

Kissell's statement:

"From the day I announced my candidacy for this office, I promised to protect Medicare," Kissell said. "I gave my word I wouldn't cut it and I intend to keep that promise to the citizens of the Eighth District and the senior citizens of this nation. While I believe comprehensive health care and insurance reform is necessary, I cannot vote for H.R. 3962 in its current form, which cuts $399 billion from Medicare."

My goodness! He almost sounds like a liberal in that quote. I mean, literally a very well-known liberal.

Last night Larry Kissell got a little help raising money for his 2010 bid from Vice President Joe Biden. The fundraiser was held in the historic Cleveland Park home of Susie and William Taylor.

There were around 60 people in attendance including Charlotte Democrat Mel Watt, NC-12. Rep. Watt has been a supporter of Rep. Kissell since 2006 when Kissell narrowly lost to Robin Hayes. That year he hosted an event featuring Rep. Artur Davis in Charlotte. At the time both men were lobbying the DCCC to take notice of Kissell's upstart grassroots campaign.

When Larry introduced Vice President Biden, he said:

“There’s something magical about someone from a textiles background, and who was teaching high school civics a year ago, to be standing up here with the vice president. That’s a miracle. That’s what makes this country great.”

First, let's get this out of the way - Robin Hayes is not running for congress. I don't care how many times he says he plans to run if nobody steps up to challenge Larry. He raised $644, has about $18,000 on hand and carries $180,000 in campaign debts. Ignore him.

Quarterly FEC reports are in and Larry Kissell is in the top tier of North Carolina Congressional incumbents from both parties in money raised for the quarter. Only Etheridge and McIntyre outraised Kissell and only by about $10,000 each. He is in the middle tier for cash on hand.

That's big news for those of us used to the press and pols criticizing Larry's fundraising ability. Hopefully, he can line the war chest even more before a challenger files and starts raising money. Like his politics 100% or not, it's important to protect our incumbents and it's nice if they have a huge head start so we can put our energy and money into helping Democratic challengers.

Mike Minter must have dashed the NRCC's hopes of running a big name against freshman Larry Kissell. The National Journal has a piece up outlining the top Democratic congressional targets of the NRCC and Larry Kissell hasn't made the top tier. If you've seen him in-district you would know why. His constituents just love him.

I'm sure there are other reasons Larry isn't on the list. He absolutely mopped the floor with Robin Hayes. This wasn't a close race. Larry didn't ride Obama's coattails, however the race would have been closer if Obama hadn't been leading the ticket.

Larry is also working hard for the people in his district. He seems to be everywhere. Each time we've been upset with him, it was when he said or did something that many in his district support. I've often said he mirrors his district and he does.

Earlier this week the House Agriculture Committee met to hear testimony and discuss legislation to improve the transparency and accountability of the derivatives market. Rep. Larry Kissell, NC-08 proposed an amendment to this legislation that will help lend some good old fashioned common sense to the boards that oversee the commodities market. His proposal will require that farmers, ranchers and grain elevator operators - average Americans directly affected by commodities trading - have a seat on these boards. This will diversify the boards and take some power from the financial elite that have a grip on the financial services industry as a whole. The amendment was approved by the committee and included with the legislation.