Yes, I am calling a daily kos user and Congressman out. And I don't care if that is a violation of the rules. If it means I'm kicked off this site, then so be it. I donated $25 of my hard earned money to Congressman Kissell in his 2006 election, and although I didn't donate to him again in 2008 because of some borderline xenophobic anti-immigrant comments he made, I know a lot of others on this site who donated their hard-earned money to help him when they could have used that money to help themselves get by in an increasingly poor economy, or could have donated that money to worthy candidates who lost close races, like Darcy Burner.
Not only this, but Congressman Kissell returned again and again to this site, explaining how he was a progressive champion of the people. His diaries were frequently rec'd to the top of the list, even when other, extremely important stories went by the wayside. But it was ok, because hey, he was one of us, and would be someone in Congress we could trust to represent our values. Right?
WRONG
As Chris Bowers at Open Left just pointed out, Congressman Kissell along with 5 other Corporate Democrat hacks voted against taxing the AIG bonuses at 90%. Wow, who knew so many AIG executives voted in rural North Carolina?
If this were just an isolated incident, MAYBE (a very big maybe) it could be explained by circumstances Bowers and I are unaware of. Or MAYBE we could forgive him after an apology. But as Bowers points out:
It is worth noting that Larry Kissell is the only one of these six who also voted against the "Help Families Stay in Their Homes" Act. So let's sum up his economic position:
Bad: Money for homeowners about to be foreclosed upon.
Good: Taxpayer funded million dollar bonuses to Wall Street.
This is really really low. I mean, just dispicable. This is not a case of "trying not to be to liberal for a moderate district." As Bowers points out, this is a position which only 17% of Americans oppose. 17 PERCENT
Honestly, Congressman Kissell's behavior here is much worse than moderates like Evan Bayh, or Melissa Bean, who run as moderates and are elected as such by their voters and are supported by moderate donors. While I don't approve of their politics, at least they are not frauds.
Here is Larry's website, so you can go tell him what you think.
But Larry, don't bother coming back here to ask for support or money. We have plenty of other authentic progressives to support and raise money for. Kossacks do not have "sucker" written on their heads, and your con will not work again.
UPDATE: Here is then candidate Kissell, in a Daily Kos diary, talking about inequality of wealth and the influence of corporations. HA!
Here is another good one, titled"Betrayal Begins with trust." Hysterical.