Tea Party rally draws 3,000 - Congressman Issa surprises crowd

Dr. Gary Gonsalves speaks to 3,000+ at rally

Oceanside California couldn’t have been any more picturesque a warm breeze, serene sunset and a ruckus-Patriot crowd fired-up to let Washington D.C. know what’s really on their mind.

Local-legend, radio talk show host Rick Roberts got the party started with the Pledge of Allegiance. “One more time,” the crowd chanted. So they said it again - this time louder.

Up first on the docket was Congressman Darrell Issa-R-Calif. “Tort reform would save taxpayers a lot of money, but it’s not in HR3200,” he said. This comment got the crowd really going and it hit home with Dr. Gary Gonsalves, co-founder of the group Stop Taxing Us, who organized the rally.

“I didn’t want the politicians to talk at our first rally on April 15 because I wanted them to listen to 'we the people.' But now they need to talk and explain their actions to us,” Gonsalves said regarding the Congressman’s surprise address at the rally.

After Issa left the stage he talked to supporter Mercedes Garcia who was over the moon that Issa gave her a hug and posed for a photo. “I’m so happy to hear him speak because he gives people like me a voice.”

The Congressman hung around the event to listen, shake hands and pose for photos with his constituents.

Dr. Gonsalves, who is a practicing physician, spoke to the “mob” from a doctor’s perspective. “Government has cut prices and continues to promise more. Only $1 in $5 goes to the doctors and who do you think they cut funds to first? Doctors.”

He explained to the crowd that the Safeway Corporation figured out a way to provide a better delivery of care while bringing costs down. Gonsalves challenged the audience to look the Safeway group up online and examine what they were successful in doing in five years that the government has been unable to do in 50 years.

“Reward a healthy lifestyle, reward saving money. Safeway saved $550 billion in just five years,” Gonsalves said.

Other topics of concern for the rally goers was the hour-long speech President Obama is going to direct to our nations’ children in a couple of days, complete with lesson plans and topics of discussions before, during and after the speech.

“Stay away from my children,” one mother shouted so loud that Roberts had her come to the stage and repeat for the crowd. The Patriots went absolutely nuts.

Another gubernatorial candidate, Chelene Nightingale was asked to make a short speech. Nightingale who is a political rookie revved up the crowd with Patriot red-meat topics like; the President’s address to the school kids, Second Amendment rights, the White House using the National Endowment of the Arts for propaganda and illegal immigration.

“It’s up to us to take our government back. ‘We the people’ need to run for office. We can’t keep voting the lesser of two evils,” she said. “We need to be country loyal.”

Once the question portion of the rally commenced, attendees vied to get their questions asked. This portion would only last 20 minutes, due to time constraints by the city of Oceanside.

One of the first concerned participants had more of a warning story to tell. “I was in Shanghai, China in 1943 when the Japanese invasion began. I was 12-years old when they took me to a concentration camp,” she explained. “I lost my freedom and I feel like I’m losing my freedom again.” Again the crowd erupted in cheers.

The immigration invasion from the southern border is always a hot topic with Patriot groups and this rally was no different. Californians are looking to get the ‘California Taxpayer Protection Act of 2010 on the ballot for next year’s election.

There is such an outcry from Californian’s regarding illegal border crossers who come to the state to have children. This garners them a ticket to the promise land as California grants every birth in the state with automatic citizenship.

The ballot initiative would change all that and require parents to prove their legal status and cut the payments California provides for this problem that some say has caused the state to run in the red for years.

After the rally, organizer, Gonsalves said the event was hugely successful and felt the lawmakers needed to hear from the 3,000 or so voters before they head back to Washington D.C.

“I invited Congressman Issa to the event because at least he has been fiscally responsible and is consistent,” he said. “Our first event was a shut up and listen message to our politicians.”

Listening was definitely a theme for the rally, as the sun faded into the ocean; the message was clear to those in office ‘we the people are watching.’

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner