Long Beach Tea Party AAR

Yesterday's Tea Party, held in Bixby Park, Long Beach, California at noon, was very enjoyable and peaceful. The numbers were nothing remarkable at first glance, but it was only advertized for a week. The pitfall happened because I have never done anything like this before. As I tried to do everything legally, I was told not to advertize until the 'i's were dotted and the 't's were crossed. It wasn't until a week ago I gave up and just had a free speech gathering.

There were two ACORN people that did show up, a couple, but they stayed in there area and we in ours. They had some radical bumper stickers on the back of the car. Most of them were against President Bush which is quite odd when you realize the only reason they were protesting this so-called protest is because they disagreed with what we were saying. They actually stated they thought that we should pay more taxes. I disagree. However they were peaceful. That was appreciated by all.

Some people said there were 70 to 80 people there, others like the Long Beach Report stated there were 45. My sign-in sheet counted 34. Sometimes we miss a few and that could be the case here. However many showed up, everyone was polite, they cleaned up after themselves, there was no shouting except for me maybe when I spoke passionately about why I decided to have the Tea Party.

The diversity of people was amazing. There were two former Military/Intelligence men, an economist who used to work in the US Treasury Department, a former INS agent, and so many more. There was a man there who had started the Long Beach Taxpayers (group?), and he spoke about organizing toward a set goal. His goal, of course, was lowering taxes and prevent more from coming into being. A good cause indeed.

Another person was interested in trying to get all of the people who are elected and have been in office for more than two terms out of office. Well, I can't say that anyone disagreed with him. There was a lot of clapping. Another discussion was the rip off and the lies surrounding 1A-F. These are propositions to higher taxes.

They want us to vote yes on 1A so that they will not spend more money, yet they want us to give them more money to do this. It was suggested that if they did not have the money in the first place, maybe they shouldn't ought to spend it! That is one way to save money.

The reason I decided to have a Tea Party, first and foremost, is because I do not recognize my government. It started with the housing bubble and President Bush. He apparently believed that destroying the free market was the best way to save it. Not so.

Then when President Obama came into office, he was faced with a mess. He had an opportunity to actually show us that he meant what he said on the campaign trail by allowing us 5 days to review any and all legislation before he signed it. The stimulus package which no one read was handed to the Congress and voted on that same day. I have never seen 1300 pages of legislation move so quickly. It went from Congress to the Senate and then President Obama in less than 5 days before he signed it without any of us being able to read it. It has failed to help anyone except his friends.

Don't get me wrong. I understand that whomever is in power helps their friends. I do not fault him for that. I just wish he had some friends that were hiring real people! His friends seem to live on Wall Street and in the banking community. Also, he was quite friendly with the housing committees and brokers, if that is what they're called. Which brings me back to my point.

I have been waiting all my adult life to own my own home, but I could not afford one. I was counting on the housing bubble to burst. I was not counting on President Bush stating that no one should have to go through default. WHAT? I have always been under the impression that in a country where we are responsible for our own actions and contracts mean what they say, then that's all there is to it. I was going to buy one of those foreclosed houses. What bad debts?

Then we had President Obama spending money so fast that the Fed had to print another $1,000,000,000. My, that looks like a lot of money to me, and I'm one of the ones who has to pay it back. I do not think this is fair. Especially since I will never see any of the benefits from it.

Many of the other people who also came to the Tea Party were worried about the direction this country is going. How much money is Congress and President Obama going to spend? How much higher is Governor Arnold and our State Legislatures going to raise our taxes on anything that moves? We simply cannot afford to live in these times. So why should we pay for others to stay in a business we will not be able to participate in, and why should we pay for you to stay in your house when we cannot afford one for ourselves?

This is not partisan. This is not against government. We want the Declaration of Independence our Constitution and the Bill of Rights with all its Amendments strickly adhered to as they swore on oath they would do. We do not want lawyers interpreting what was meant, we don't want you to read in/out things are not or are written in it. Simply put, follow the same laws you create for us, and keep you word. Remember, you swore that oath on a Bible! Otherwise, we cannot not trust (less than we do not), and I sincerely do not want chaos.

Maybe some of the people who showed up at these rallies will think about running for office? I know I am fed-up enough to think about it.

There are going to be many more Tea Parties on July 4th, and I intend to have annother one. This time the information shall be posted far ahead of schedule. The nice people I met are normal, working class people who care deeply about our country, both economically and national security wise. They have never been to a protest, and I do not even like that word. It was more like an outdoor townhall meeting where we shared ideas. Yes, it may have been small, but it was a success. Even a police office came over to show his support and when he left, he was wearing a tea bag underneath his badge. Yes, it was a good day indeed. I hope to see you in July.

Hat tip: Pictures provided by Steve M.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ TCU, SGP and Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!