SAN DIEGO -- Republican Lt Governor nominee Ron Nehring today issued the following statement in response to the humanitarian crisis resulting from the large number of Central American children crossing into the United States, some of whom will now be processed in California:

"The children who are being sent across dangerous terrain to enter America illegally are the victims of the failure of the federal government to create a safe, secure and modern border. Poor economic and security conditions in Central America, combined with the rumor mill and the existence of cartels engaged in human, weapons and drug trafficking have precipitated this crisis in which the children are the real victims.

"America needs a sound immigration system that serves our national and economic interests and respects our traditions of being a nation of immigrants. I strongly support improvements to our immigration system based on these principles.

"Today, we must look out for these children by treating those who have come here with care while preventing more children from being further victimized.   Those who have entered the country should be reunited with their families in their country of origin.

Republican LG nominee begins with three day swing through Inland Empire region where unemployment rates are more than 30% above national average

SAN DIEGO - Highlighting California's lagging and uneven economy, Republican Lieutenant Governor nominee Ron Nehring will focus on the state's most economically distressed areas beginning with a three day tour of the Inland Empire this week.

"Californians are struggling with high unemployment and a so-called 'recovery' that is leaving millions of people behind," said Nehring, who will visit with small businesses and workers in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties beginning tomorrow.  "In an election year we expect plenty of flowery spin coming out of Sacramento.  Our goal is to focus on the real life challenges people are facing in the real world, particularly in areas that continue to be hit hard."

A LAGGING RECOVERY.  California's 7.6% unemployment rate is the fourth worst nationally, and the state's labor force participation rate is the lowest since 1976.  The national unemployment rate, by contrast, is 6.3% and in Texas, the state's toughest economic competitor, it is is just 5.1%.

AN UNEVEN RECOVERY.  Claims that California is economically on the right track are being driven largely by lower unemployment in Silicon Valley, Orange County and to a lesser extent, San Diego County where unemployment is 6% or less.  Yet, in other parts of the state, rates are double or triple that.  In 44 of California's 58 counties, the local unemployment rate is above the national average. 

The unemployment rate in San Francisco is just 4.4%, the third lowest in the state.  Meanwhile, less than 100 miles away in Colusa County, unemployment is nearly 20%.  In Southern California, the rate in San Diego is 6%, while in neighboring Imperial County, it is 21.9%, one of the highest in the nation.  In Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, unemployment remains high at 8.3%.

By Ron Nehring, first published in the Sacramento Bee on June 23, 2014

When my father, Henry Nehring, became an American citizen in 1967, he joined the Republican Party. For him, it was an easy decision. He came to America in search of freedom and opportunity. Like many other immigrants he saw the GOP as the most committed to the principles that brought him here and that made America distinct from the “old country.”

To earn the support of California’s immigrant communities, the Republican Party must now reassert its position as, first and foremost, the party of freedom and opportunity.

As the son of immigrants, I have a special reason for believing that immigration is a positive force for America. That includes immigration from countries to our south.

People want to come here because the promise of our nation is opportunity, prosperity and personal security. By contrast, no one seems very interested in moving to Venezuela, Cuba or North Korea.

Most immigrants from Mexico and Central America come here to escape poverty, lack of opportunity and, often, violence and lawlessness – not to get on the public dole. It is human nature to look for ways to escape despair, whether it was people fleeing Eastern Europe during the Cold War, or those looking for a better life from elsewhere in our hemisphere.

Republican focus on restoring order to our borders is the right policy, but at times it’s come at the expense of treating immigration solely as a law enforcement issue, and it fails to articulate our own forward-looking steps to improve America’s immigration system. To restore the Republican Party as the first choice for immigrants, we must set out what we’re for, not just what we’re against.

California is one of only four states sharing a border with Mexico, and it’s in the interests of the U.S. and Mexico and the Central American countries that our border be safe and secure. As long as this is not so, it will victimize people on both sides of the border with human trafficking, drug trafficking and violence. Further, the most heavily traveled border crossing in the world is where San Diego meets Tijuana. The waiting times seem endless. A modern border means one where crossings are efficient, secure, and meet today’s economic realities for the movement of goods and people.

Immigration is also about meeting economic realities. For example, we should restore a guest worker program for agriculture. Ronald Reagan supported it. So do I. Shutting down the Bracero program in 1964 didn’t stop people from illegally entering the country. It stopped many from going home, and disrupted the lives of many Mexican families and American farmers alike. The Bracero program worked for more than 20 years. We should develop a 21st century version.

Arbitrary limits on visas for high-tech workers should be raised to match economic realities, recognizing the benefits of having technology companies expand here rather than being forced to expand overseas in search of workers.

Let us liberalize laws that currently require foreign students who obtain advanced degrees at U.S. universities to leave, thus putting their talent to use in foreign countries rather than here. Serving with honor in the U.S. military should make sense for many young immigrants to become citizens.

We want immigrants to not just become Americans, but also to succeed here. That means becoming proficient in English, and having schools with good teachers. California’s teacher tenure laws have just been struck down by a judge because of the difficulty they created in getting bad teachers out of the classroom and replacing them with good ones, with minority communities often having suffered the most.

Finally, reform must be a two-way street. As Mexico and the countries of Central America work to produce growth and opportunity at home, the U.S. should support those processes through trade opportunities and technical support.

The Republican Party has promoted the freedom and opportunity that led so many people to come to here. Our party should be the natural home for these immigrants. By leading on these issues, we can be. As a result, the United States will be an even more prosperous nation.

Ron Nehring, immediate past chairman of the California Republican Party, is the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor.


Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/23/6500129/viewpoints-republican-party-should.html#storylink=cpy

It’s the job of teachers union officials to ask for things. And, often, it is the job of school board members and government officials to say “no.”

This concept is too often lost on those we elect to, among other things, ensure that California’s children receive a strong education. The result is too many laws and rules that put the interests of adults ahead of those our schools are supposed to serve: children.

Such was the basis for the opinion handed down this week in Vergara v. California in which Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu found that the state’s teacher tenure laws “impose a real and appreciable impact on the students’ fundamental right to equality of education.”

Specifically, the court found that many of the worst teachers end up in schools serving African-American and Latino communities and, once there, are protected from being taken out of the classroom by some of the nation’s most extreme teacher tenure laws.

Read the complete op-ed in The Sun

As a former state Republican Party Chairman, Ron Nehring is determined to unite the party after the June 3 primary.  The San Francisco Chronicle's Carla Marinucci writes:

But even before Californians went to the polls Tuesday, some GOP candidates were already looking ahead in hopes that the party can marshal its forces and candidates and come up with a cohesive message that carries into the fall.

“We first have to recognize that, very often, these contests become divisive and a lot of hot rhetoric is thrown around — and people immediately wonder how we come back together again,’’ said Ron Nehring, the former state party chair who is running for lieutenant governor. “I’ve seen this all before.’’

...

Nehring says he’s already met with a group of statewide candidates — including controller candidate Ashley Swearengin, the Fresno mayor, secretary of state hopeful Pete Peterson and Ted Gaines, candidate for insurance commissioner, to plan for the next GOP move.

The group is assessing new ways to reach out to both sides and forge alliances that Nehring says would help Republicans in California find their footing in November.

“The Democrats would love for us to stay divided,” he said, “but we have to get past this.”

Read the complete story in the San Francisco Chronicle

from KFMB Radio...

Politicians in the Bay Area are discussing issues that are controlled by the Governor and Lt. Governor. Most economic issues are being avoided and are said to be just fine when there needs major repair.

Join AM 760's Mike Slater as he interviews Ron Nehring, who hopes to be your next Lieutenant Governor for the state of California.

AUDIO: Listen to the interview

by Ron Nehring in the Flashreport

Every election is an opportunity for people to decide whether we are on the right track, or if we can do better

The latest polling from the Wall Street Journal and NBC News finds the national mood to be remarkably similar to that which that produced a Republican House of Representatives and sent Nancy Pelosi back into the Minority Leader’s office in 2010.  By some measures, it’s even more favorable.

Is the nation headed in the right direction?  65% of Americans today say “no.”  This is 5% stronger than in October 2010.  Will the economy improve or worse in the next year? The public is split.  How is Barack Obama doing?  43% approve and 51% disapprove. About the same conditions as in 2010.

Read the complete column in the Flashreport