By Dana Matas

By now it should be no surprise that many of those driving the Tea Party movement are conservatives who've fled the Republican party in response to the party's abandonment of conservative values and principles.

Prior to this "great awakening," conservatives assumed that the Grand Old Party (GOP) was championing the tenants of smaller government, lower taxes, and greater personal freedom. In truth, the GOP was more concerned about winning elections than holding strong to its founding principles--so much so that they often elected candidates whose beliefs were more in line with the Democratic party than their own.

It's been well over a year since the first Tea Party signs started popping up all across the country; and of course, the GOP now says they too are in favor of smaller government, lower taxes, and greater personal freedom. But are they really?

In California, our first opportunity to answer this question will be during the Republican primary election for US Senate as it is the only high profile race that offers a real choice between a constitutional conservative, Chuck DeVore, and two so-called moderates, Tom Campbell and Carly Fiorina.

If the GOP plans to continue mimicking the Democratic party in hopes of drawing in more liberal voters, they will be well served by electing either Campbell or Fiorina. Both candidates have expressed their approval of the Wall Street Bailout, Cap-n-Trade, and the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor. Campbell is for gay marriage, abortion rights, and stricter gun control laws. Fiorina is for the stimulus package, taxation of the Internet, and limiting free speech. In many cases, Campbell and Fiorina's views are so in line with the incumbent Democratic candidate Barbara Boxer that at times it is difficult to tell the three of them apart.

If, on the other hand, the GOP has learned from its past mistakes in electing Republicans in name only (a.k.a. RINOs), they will be much better served nominating Chuck DeVore as their candidate for US Senate. DeVore's political views are in stark contrast to not only his opponents in the primary on the aforementioned issues but to Boxer as well. DeVore is the perfect candidate for those voters who know that the Republican primary election isn't about unseating Boxer or even the Democratic party so much as it's about unseating the political ideology that is drowning our country in massive debt, entitlements, and regulations.

The choice is clear. Come Tuesday, June 8th, we will know exactly where the priorities lie for Republican voters in California. So, don't forget to vote.

By Dr. Gonsalves

With California facing a European-style financial crisis, it's unfortunate that people continue to look at words like "conservative" or "liberal" and automatically associate them with the actions of political parties. This word association game has nothing to do with acting on sound fundamental principles and our continued reliance on it has delivered us to the threshold of financial collapse.

So let's analyze the breakdown in our system, identify the questions that lead to prosperity and address some challenges facing our state.

The unfortunate truth behind our dysfunctional labeling system is that a brief glance in the mirror will explain why word association games have not prevented California or the United States from becoming entitlement-based societies with unsustainable debts.

Lost in our individual ambition, we subcontracted the protection of the United States Constitution to political parties who decided to own, share and distort certain labels in an attempt to serve their own agendas. As demonstrated below, our failure to perform our own due diligence in evaluating politicians, has directly contributed to our present day catastrophe.

So how do we bypass the labeling/party system and identify virtuous, educated and moral people who will stand for the principles of our founding fathers? It is simple; first identify the fundamentals that took us from a fledgling nation to a world superpower in less than 200 years. Second, find the like-minded people who will appropriately address these fundamentals.

Here are a few basic questions that we must be able to answer in evaluating leaders:

-- Do we believe in fiscal responsibility? Is it permissible for government to consistently spend more than it has? Is it acceptable to pass this debt to future, yet unborn, generations? Should government be able to take our earnings and give them individuals and corporations who failed to act responsibly?

-- Where does charity start? Should government take from those who are productive and continually provide to those who refuse to produce? Should government make the "poor" comfortable or should we as individuals understand that we have a responsibility to help our friends and neighbors through times of temporary hardship?

-- Do we believe in personal responsibility or are we rather victims of the adverse outcomes that result from our own decisions.

-- Do we believe the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land, or is it a document to be skillfully circumvented when it presents a challenge?

Those who believe in fiscal accountability, personal charity, individual responsibility and the textual interpretation of the Constitution, are likely "Constitutional conservatives" and California has a great one in Chuck DeVore, a candidate for the Republican Party's U.S. Senate nomination.

As Californians, our failure to elect true "Constitutional conservatives" has left us with a number of spendaholic politicians. Most recently, on May 23, union-owned legislative Democrats in Sacramento introduced a $4.9 billion package of tax hikes on cars, alcohol, income and corporate profits. Why do they want this money? In short, government entitlements and government charity.

Apparently, these union representatives (aka Democrats) failed to read Chief Executive Magazine. For the second year in a row, California ranked the worst state in the nation for conducting business. Being referred to as "the Venzuela of North America," 650 private CEOs rated California according to taxation policy, regulation, workforce quality and living environment.

Regarding workforce quality, the survey noted that contrary to the national trend, union membership in California is on the rise. In the public sector, these labor unions have become a platform for continual government expansion, which in part explains California's $500 billion unfunded pension liability that if left unchecked, will ultimately come from the taxpayer's pocket.

Regarding taxation policy and regulation, the survey noted the unsustainable tax burden faced by California businesses, which is illustrated by seven of California's metropolitan areas making up the top 15 cities (nationwide) in commercial bankruptcy.

Unfortunately for California this is just the tip of the iceberg and it's why we need people like Chuck DeVore in the U.S. Senate. Chuck has served in our military and the California Assembly. Chuck understands the corruption associated with big government and he will work to restore the guiding principles of our founders. And we should support him for his fundamental beliefs, not an arbitrary labeling system.

Yes, Mr. DeVore is running as a Republican, but he has been defined by his character and actions, not by a party.

Dr. GARY GONSALVES is a North County physician and co-founder of Stop Taxing Us. Contact him at www.StopTaxingUs.com.

By Gary Gonsalves

Last year we witnessed a historic event in Oceanside, California. A quickly assembled event with no celebrity, no speakers, and no advertising budget, drew over 5000 peaceful, participants and scores of their young children. These participants came to express their frustration with a government that fails to represent any interest other than its own unsustainable growth at the expense of the taxpayers. A year later, it is ...

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By Dana Matas

In 1773, our ancestors stood up against the autocratic British government at the Boston Tea Party, declaring their independence and inciting the American Revolution. 237 years later, we find our country drifting towards an oppression similar to what our founding fathers fled; except this time the threat of tyranny isn't from some distant land but from our very own ... << MORE >>

By Dana Matas

Allow me to get a few things off my chest about Governor Palin, the GOP, and the future of the Tea Party Movement.

First of all, Governor Sarah Palin was asked to speak at a Tea Party Convention in Nashville on February 6--not the Tea Party Convention. She nor Tea Party Nation, the group that organized the event, speak for the millions of individuals and ... << MORE >>

By Dana Matas

Today I received in the mail a "Power Plant Update" from the City of Carlsbad regarding its opposition to the proposed NRG Energy Power Plant along the Carlsbad coast and highway 5. In the mailer, the City highlights the multiple reasons why it opposes this project, which include safety, air pollution, and reduced home values among other things. Yet given these concerns, the City is still "willing to locate a new plant in its industrial area east of El ... << MORE >>

By Dr. Gary Gonsalves

This article is for everybody who believes it’s time to reign in the political corruption of California’s public employee labor unions.   Over the decades, the public unions have built a political machine that has given us unsustainable public employee pensions, benefits unmatched by the private sector, costly protected overtime pay, and the list goes on.   Today I will give you the plug to the machine.   What you ...

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By Leslie Eastman

October 10, 2009

(Repost from Temple of Mut blog)

Dear Readers: I wanted to give you an update on today’s event, which was initiated by the Southern California Tax Revolt Coalition. We held a Whole Foods Buy-cott at the La Jolla store. The background for the event is that WholeFoods CEO John Mackey laid out the most articulate argument for realhealth care reform, based on sound free market principles, in a WallStreet Journal article. As Mackey’s stance is counter to the Obamaadministration’s big government proposals, he and Whole Foods have comeunder attack and boycott. Subsequent to the publication of the Mackeyeditorial, the Local UFCW 135 protested outside the La Jolla locationagainst Mackey’s statements on Aug. 20, 2009...


Read full story at Temple of Mut by Leslie Eastman.

By Dana Matas, Oct. 4, 2009

Since the very first handmade protest signs surfaced back in February, many have been wondering, "Who is leading the Tea Party Movement?" Is it the Republicans or the Independents? Is it Sarah Palin or Ron Paul? Is it this group or that group?

 

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