The Buzz

Here’s the official response from the national organization TeaPartyPatriots.org: “Tea Party Patriots welcomes the selection of Paul Ryan as the Vice-Presidential running mate for Governor Mitt Romney. With this selection, Governor Romney and the Republican Party make it clear that they have accepted the Tea Party Patriots values of fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets as the best course of action for economic recovery and restoring personal freedom and individual responsibility to our national values.”

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Response of Mission Viejo Tea Party Patriots to Romney selecting Ryan: excellent choice.

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Conservative activist Kevin Jackson weighs in: “Biden may not want to ever get out of his cage knowing that he will have to debate Paul Ryan. I think Romney's choice of Ryan shows that he is not running from Ryan's budget, and he will focus on Obama's wrecking of the economy. Ryan is a fiscal hawk, and he is a grass roots favorite for his boldness in confronting Obama and his destruction of America. This choice says that Romney is ready to fight! Are you?” http://theblacksphere.net/

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Tea Party groups are independent, but they also network with each other and work together. An exception is a faction of Orange County Tea Parties, which are strictly Ron Paul supporters. The odd thing is that they don’t present themselves as a Ron Paul club. While they say they are “conservatives,” they are often secretive about their agenda. Some observers hope the Ron Paul campaign nationwide will support Romney and Ryan. Others have doubts. Locally, Ron Paul supporters have worked for three years to infiltrate Republican circles. Before becoming optimistic, watch what they do at the national convention.

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The 2012 Republican National Convention will be held in Tampa, Aug. 27-30, when 2,286 delegates and 2,125 alternate delegates will assemble. A new program this year, “Convention Without Walls,” provides worldwide access to viewers. Get started at GOPConvention2012.com\

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A comment written by city activist Larry Gilbert was forwarded to this blog: “A tale of two cities. This post is about Mission Viejo and our northern neighbor the city of Lake Forest, each of whom were incorporated within a few years of each other. MV was incorporated on 3/31/1988. The city of Lake Forest was incorporated on December 20, 1991. While they have a lot in common, one area of their differences is about to be celebrated. Conserving taxpayer money.

“On Saturday September 15th the city of Lake Forest will celebrate its 20th anniversary by having a dinner party at Oakley with a no host bar and dancing. The ticket cost is $50 each. In my follow up, I was told that unlike Mission Viejo they will not have a float in the Tournament of Roses parade. As I reflect back on our 20th Anniversary we spent over $300,000 for a float. I wrote numerous articles that can be found in the archives of the Orange Juice blog in which I argued against this expenditure during the recession.

“Sadly we may call ourselves conservatives but at times ‘we don't walk the talk.’

“When I addressed the city council in opposition to this project the council majority justified this expenditure by pointing out that the funds were budgeted in a prior year. In my council comments l challenged that council expenditure during the recession as well as pointing out that we are not a destination city, and at that time had no housing tracts up for sale. The destination city of Anaheim won an award in that same parade while spending half of what Mission Viejo spent using taxpayer funds. Prior to his becoming mayor of Anaheim I spoke to Tom Tait who said he does not want his city to spend taxpayer money for Rose Parade floats.

“I carry a Nov 27, 2011 NY Times article that addresses participation in the Rose Parade in which they write that Rick Jackson, president of the Tournament of Roses Association, stated that he would be ‘hard pressed to tell a city that paying upward of $200,000 for a float is a wise use of money.’ They go on to quote him stating ‘A long time ago it was less about selling something and more about participating in something.’ It continues ‘now people are looking for a return on their investment. They want to know what they are getting out of it. That's just the way of the world now.’

“Compare and contrast. Mission Viejo has two council seats up in this election cycle. Cathy Schlicht opposed this project as a local watchdog while councilmember Frank Ury had no concerns over this expenditure.

“‘Trust, but verify’ is in order. Simply check our MV city council archives.”