Larry Kissell is a first term Congressman representing North Carolina's eighth district, the district that includes Charlotte. So who is this man who is meant to keep Charlotte's interests at heart and represent us well this Congressional season?

Larry Kissell has lived in North Carolina for his entire life, spending all of his years in a town called Biscoe that sits between Greensboro and Charlotte. He obtained his economics degree from Wake Forest University in 1973. He spent twenty seven years working in a hosiery factory where he rose through the ranks to become a production manager. Production manager at a hosiery factory might seem like an odd profession for an economist but it allowed Larry to be able to pay attention to his community and the actions the government was (or wasn't) taking to make sure that he and his friends and neighbors were taken care of.

Kissell first ran for Congress in 2006 on the eighth district's democratic ticket and surprised everyone when he squared off evenly against the incumbent Congressperson. The race was a close one and eventually had to be decided in recounts (which caused him to eventually lose the seat).

So who is he? What does he stand for?

While he ran and was elected as a Democrat, he has been quick to jump the aisle and join House Republicans in voting down a bill, HR 270-155, which would allow Congress to spend the three hundred and fifty billion dollars that was approved as part of the Bailout package but has yet to be spent on anything. Kissell was not the only Democrat to cross the aisle for HR 270-155. Almost one hundred other Democratic representatives did the same thing.

In an article by Jim Morrill for the Charlotte Observer, Larry Kissell is quoted as saying "I think that a well intended desire to put America back on its feet has led some to make hasty decisions. There must be more oversight regarding our economic decisions. We can't sit back and watch as the same people who have squandered billions of dollars are given another blank check. Meanwhile Main Street America is in desperate need of our help. The American people deserve a deliberate, fair process before we spend billions more of their tax dollars." (this quote can be found at this URL: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/breaking/story/491411.html)

It looks like Larry Kissell has his district's best interests at heart. Charlotte is a hard working community. Its residents are on tight budgets and residents would prefer to spend their hard earned dollars on their own families and town-not on a corporate Chief Executive Officer who has already been given a bonus package worth millions of dollars before being offered the chance to retire early.

Larry Kissell wants to work hard for the people of his district and so far he is doing just that. He is working on introducing legislation and getting sponsors for his ideas even as this blog post is being written.