Johnny F. Luévano Jr.

Over the past few months, since I have returned back home after my retirement from the military, I have been fairly busy getting settled back into a new job, establishing a new home and just enjoying full-time family again. I have also been talking to regular folks around the state and getting their take on how they feel about the direction of our state and country. One common theme or sense has emerged from each conversation: Our regular, everyday folks have lost their hope and trust in our elected public leadership.

One couple I spoke with asked, “Why do today’s elected leaders seem so out of touch with basic everyday life?” Another couple stated, “We have lost our hope and trust in our elected officials.” One person told me a story about an experience he had with a state senator during a legislative session where the senator stated, “Son, politics isn’t always about doing what is right or wrong.”

This was particularly interesting since this person is a well-respected and influential member in the legislator’s voting community.

Many others expressed deep frustration with their inability to understand the issues because government has “gotten so darn complicated.” But one couple stood out to me because they were so worried about our future and they called me to the carpet. “Johnny, you claim to be an idea guy, so how do we rebuild the public’s trust in politics and get our country going again?”

I was taken back because it was such a great question. My immediate reply was to say there are no fancy, complicated solutions to this issue, and I truly believe that we have to return to simple, fundamental leadership again. Simply put, we must bring an end to the era of the career politician, because the American idea of a citizen legislature was never intended to be a career path.

How to put an end to the era of career politicians

I think many folks recognize that career politicians are at the root of the distrust in government, and the most common solution is to impose term limits on our legislators at both the state and federal levels. I would agree and support this idea, but I also believe there other ways to approach this issue. This is what I would do:

• First, I propose eliminating any and all retirement plans for our elected officials at all levels of government. This would include eliminating any form of public payroll contribution matches and completely doing away with any sort of seniority buy-ins for government retirement plans. Of course, our elected officials would be free to pursue private retirement plans of their own with their earned wages.
• Next, I propose that we restructure the health-care plans for our legislators by establishing a baseline of care through a local military hospital, VA hospital or a local public clinic. These should be the only three health-care options available for our elected officials if they choose a government-subsidized health-care plan. Again, elected officials would be free to pursue any health-care plan of their own with no government assistance if they decided either of these options weren’t up to par to their health-care needs.
• My third idea would be to add a signed contractual agreement for a lifetime ban on government lobbying for anyone who is elected to public office through all levels of government.
• Finally, at the state level, I propose that any legislator who legally receives any form of a publicly funded taxpayer salary while performing his or her duties during the legislative session or while fulfilling legislative duties outside of the session should be required to choose between receiving his or her normal working salary or the legislator daily per-diem rate. At no time should a legislator concurrently receive both a publicly funded taxpayer salary and the legislator daily per-diem rate.

The right thing to do

I call on our current New Mexico legislators to step up to the plate and get these simple, basic ideas done. It is the right thing to do.

Luévano, a renewed Republican, is a retired Marine Corps officer and an Artesia native who is currently working in the Albuquerque health-care sector. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2001 with bachelors in both political science and economics and from the University of Kansas in 2008 with a masters in public administration. You can reach Luévano at johnnyluevano.com or find him on Facebook.

Johnny F. Luévano Jr.

This is one of a handful of pieces written by NMPolitics.net columnists reflecting on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Ten years ago this week I reported for duty as a second lieutenant at The Basic School in Quantico, Virginia. On Sept. 10, 2001 we held routine formation for accountability, and the staff planned for us to visit the Pentagon the next day.

On the morning of Sept. 11, we were informed our trip to the Pentagon had been cancelled, so I began to head off base when I turned on the radio to hear that a plane crashed into one of the Twin Towers in New York City. My immediate thought was that it was a random accident, but by the time I reached my friend’s house, the television was broadcasting the second plane crash into the south tower.

My heart sunk with worry as I feared the very worst – is our nation under attack? My cell phone was going crazy and I was ordered back to the base, so I grabbed my “trash” and headed out as fast as I could.

When I arrived at the gate it was a surreal scene with a completely secured gate guarded by fully armed Marines. They were not allowing anyone on the base. So I was turned away and headed back to my friend’s house, where we both watched in horror as the rest of awful events unfolded.

The next day we were cleared to enter the base and, as I drove over an I-95 overpass, I noticed that there was absolutely no traffic going north into the D.C. area. At that point, the true impact of the moment hit me.

The officers of our training class continued on with our six-month training program. Everyone realized that we were no longer training for a hypothetical war – war was upon us, and the tone of the training was different from my previous 10 years of training during my enlisted service. All of us knew we would soon be leading our nation’s military men and women into battle with this new enemy who declared war on us with their cowardly actions on Sept. 11, 2001.

I also remember when I first heard the news of the first combat death of a lieutenant in our training company, and that moment had the same impact on me as the moments of 9/11.

A job well done

As we go forward, I can reflect upon 10 years of military service during this post-9/11 period, and I know the true sacrifices of the military and intelligence agencies that have kept us safe during this time. Behind every glory moment of an Al-Qaeda member captured or killed lays a military member or intelligence operative who has paid the ultimate sacrifice.

There are also family members who struggle to single-handedly keep a household afloat, and children go to bed in tears as they unbearably miss their loved ones who are deployed overseas.

These are the sacrifices that our service members voluntarily and unselfishly agree to do on behalf of our country. So on the 10th anniversary of the attacks on 9/11, I salute the true heroes who have killed Osama Bin Laden and the countless other leaders of his cowardly crew who were responsible for thousands of U.S. civilian deaths.

A job well done, my friends.

Luévano, a renewed Republican, is a retired Marine Corps officer and an Artesia native who is currently working in the Albuquerque health-care sector. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2001 with bachelors in both political science and economics and from the University of Kansas in 2008 with a masters in public administration. You can reach Luévano at johnnyluevano.com or find him on Facebook.

The proof is in the pudding. Hispanic Republicans like Gov. Susana Martinez – Hispanic Business Magazine’s 2011 Woman of the Year – are making inroads in politics across the nation.

Just over a year ago, I wrote a column that praised the New Mexico Republican Party for its efforts in fielding highly qualified Hispanic candidates. Well the article didn’t go over very well with many folks; I was chastised for not mentioning other GOP Hispanic candidates and for basing my argument on select tidbits of New Mexico political history.

All valid points, but the intention of my argument was merely to give the GOP credit for making a concerted improvement in reaching out to Hispanics both locally and nationally.

As the sayings go, the proof is in the pudding and results don’t lie. The 112th Congress has a record number of Hispanic Republicans including Senator Marco Rubio from Florida and Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler from the State of Washington (Yes, I did say Washington). Of course our own Susana Martinez became the first female governor of New Mexico and Republican Brian Sandoval became the governor of Nevada.

Republican Hispanics made other great gains in many state-level elections as well, which includes our own history-making Secretary of State Dianna Duran and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez.

But the trend doesn’t end with GOP Hispanic candidates. Improvements are being made with women and African-American Republican candidates as well. This isn’t to say that the GOP is outperforming the Democratic Party in these demographics, but the facts point to a marked improvement as we begin to shift to the 2012 election cycle.

How a Hispanic can be a Republican

Rather than bicker over the history and the numbers of elected officials, the biggest question to be answered is, why are Hispanics beginning to side with the Republican Party? This isn’t an argument that I enthusiastically bring forward; it is the Democrats who eagerly inject racial warfare into the political debate and argue that they don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage can be a Republican.

Johnny F. Luévano Jr.

A Hispanic can be a Republican because we are very patriotic Americans who take great pride in working hard to provide for our families. The Hispanic community is naturally a faith-based, conservative culture with an overwhelming love and respect for the old-school, fundamental values that make America exceptionally great. We strongly believe in putting family first and family often.

Hispanics eagerly serve in our military and we proudly support veterans in our communities. We have a prestigious wartime military legacy, having earned over 40 Medals of Honor dating back to the Civil War.

Simply put, Hispanics have always answered our nation’s call to serve, and our current political fight to save America from the brink of economic ruin is no different. The fight against runaway government spending is today’s call to service, and the Hispanic community will not allow our country to lose the battle without joining those who lead from the front on this issue.

The distasteful Democratic rhetoric of class and racial warfare is an out-of-date argument that will not divide a community that has always proudly stood by the idea that we are all Americans. In fact, the 2010 election results prove the opposite; we will fight against those who attempt to divide our country through the ole’ Democratic playbook of economic class and racial warfare.

Self-sacrificing American values

Now make no mistake, I am not here to pronounce the GOP the new home for Hispanics, nor am I advocating voting for candidates simply based on race or ethnicity. My argument is that, overall, the GOP is doing better in putting forward highly qualified Hispanic candidates, and supporting any Republican based on the merit of the candidate is a viable option for all Hispanics to consider.

Hispanics can rid themselves of the guilt to blindly support Democrats solely on the idea of family tradition. My mother strongly believes that John F. Kennedy was the best president in American history, so who I am to argue? I embrace the JFK values of “a hand-up, not a hand-out” and “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Rest assured folks, the current Democratic Party resembles nothing close to those self-sacrificing American values that JFK promoted when your mother and father were growing up.

Luévano, a Renewed Republican, is a lifelong New Mexico resident and an Artesia native who will be moving back to Albuquerque this August. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2001 with a bachelor’s in political science and economics and from the University of Kansas in 2008 with a master’s in public administration. You can reach Luévano at johnnyluevano.com or find him on Facebook.

The very purple United States of America – created from averaging presidential election votes from 1960-2004. (bradley_newman/flickr.com)

Many folks would like to blame polarized partisan politics or the new partisan media for today’s heated politics in our country. The harsh reality is that it is our obsession with “interest-group politics,” combined with scare-tactic rhetoric on both sides of the aisle, that has led to the makings of a divided country well on the way to a financial day of reckoning.

This “Great American Divide” in our country is breeding public leaders who are more concerned about clinging onto their own political power than stepping out front and leading on the merit of the issues. Today’s public leader is a professionally trained politician well-engrained in the tactics of “foolproof” political management, which is to string along voters through a series of entitlement offerings and play up wedge issues that have conditioned our new interest-group mindset.

Very rarely in public debate do we exercise the fundamental American principle of judging our leaders on the content of their ideas. As such, very few of today’s public leaders have the courage to offer any original or innovative public-policy ideas to reinvent government and put the brakes on the big public spending in America today.

Johnny F. Luévano Jr.

Divide and manage

The beginnings of the Great American Divide can be traced back to the days of FDR’s New Deal of politics, in which he strategically separated American values through class warfare combined with the implementation of politically appealing public programs. This political management tactic proved to be smart politics, and ultimately this strategy has become the go-to political playbook for both parties.

Democrats use divisive interest-group words such as the “middle-class,” “racists,” “bigots,” “the rich,” “big oil,” “wall street fat cats,” and the infamous “la tejana.” Republicans tend to use social wedge issues to control the primary process with interest-group words such as “amnesty,” “gay marriage,” “gun rights,” “pro-life,” and “religion.” Both approaches net the same effect – divide and manage through high-dollar media campaigns aimed at playing on the fears of everyday voters.

One boneheaded argument that I am fed up with is the idea of the “middle-class.” Who doesn’t think they are part of middle-class America? I can remember growing up in a poor public housing complex where most families received food stamps or some other form of government assistance. Despite our circumstances most in our neighborhood felt we were part of middle-class America.

In fact most in the ole’ barrio just considered ourselves to be patriotic Americans with little to no excuses about our future opportunities. My mother, who has scrubbed toilets all of her life, would proudly say, “There are no excuses for failure in this country; success is a direct result of hard work.”

In hindsight, this statement is the very essence of the American dream. This fundamental old-school belief in the opportunity to “earn the dream” is what unites us all as Americans.

Time to get back to fundamentals

Somewhere along our path, we as Americans have begun to lose that hard-nosed patriotic mindset that has made us exceptionally great. We are becoming an interest-group nation of squabbling weaklings. We have turned upside down our founding principles of limited government and low taxes in favor of becoming a nation with a dependence on big government and hidden high taxes.

If we are to recapture that hard-nosed American spirit and bridge the Great American Divide, we must get back to the basic fundamentals of public leadership, or what I call “leadership 101.” Just cutting government spending is not the end-all solution; we must begin to elect leaders who understand the realities of government execution with the substantive know-how to reinvent our government in the innovative image of 21st Century technology.

The days of the Charlie Brown “wonk wonk”* politician are over, and the day has come for us to begin electing officials on the substantive basis of leadership and innovative ideas. The key for us regular folks is to recognize the interest-group pandering politics and demand that all candidates for elected office offer solutions to problems rather than merely complaining.

The key to good leadership is to identify problems and to provide solutions most folks can understand.

*Luéva-nition: Charlie Brown “Wonk Wonk” – Smooth politicians who can speak for an hour while saying nothing at all and never directly answering one question.

Luévano, a Renewed Republican, is a lifelong New Mexico resident and an Artesia native who will be moving back to Albuquerque this August. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2001 with a bachelor’s in political science and economics and from the University of Kansas in 2008 with a master’s in public administration. You can reach Luévano at johnnyluevano.com or find him on Facebook.

Captain Alan Solis USMC with his two children.

The time has come to set aside politics for just one day and reflect upon the many sacrifices of our military veterans across the nation and world. Our veterans, past and present, provide the very freedom that allows our political process to function. Veterans Day is a time to pause the political rhetoric for just a moment in order to say thank you to our military veterans.

Johnny F. Luévano Jr.

So as I pass along my thanks to my fellow brothers and sisters in arms, I would like to shift gears a bit and also focus on the families of our nation’s veterans.

Pictured is my good friend, Captain Alan Solis USMC, who is returning from Afghanistan and reuniting with his two children. This was his third deployment of seven months or longer – two deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan. I appreciate Alan allowing me to use the photo, and a special thanks to his wife, Emily, for holding down the fort with the two kiddos while Alan was serving our great country overseas.

During my time in Iraq I got to know a few Iraqi soldiers, and each one was in disbelief that strangers would leave their families behind to defend the freedom of another country. Each would ask how our families get by without us around for long periods of time, and each admitted they couldn’t make that same sacrifice for their own country, let alone another country.

I think too often the sacrifice that our military families make is overlooked. Today is also an appreciation for the sacrifices of the military parent, military spouse and the military children who are the most vulnerable to the tough military lifestyle.

Right now there are military spouses struggling to single-handily manage the day-to-day routines of the household with little to no family support to lean upon. One family in particular that I know is facing a harsh situation.

Recently I met a couple that just arrived in Tucson and, upon arrival, the husband was notified he would be deploying within days. The wife was forced to familiarize herself with the new area without any support from family or friends. To top it off, she is pregnant with their second child.

Her son and my son have become friends during this tough period, and it is evident the family separation is weighing heavily upon this little boy as he struggles to internally deal with the absence of his father. I am sure this same storyline is nothing new to the history of the military family, and it continues to play out all over our country today.

So today I ask each of you to not only say thank you to our veterans, but extend a well-deserved thank you to the military families that have earned their stripes with each sacrifice they make to support the military veteran.

I pass along my own thank you to my daughter, who I dragged from coast to coast for 18 years, including an untimely military move during the all-important high school years. Happy Veterans Day kiddo. You earned it, and Applebee’s is on me tonight.

Luévano, a newly registered Republican, is a lifelong New Mexico resident and an Artesia native who currently lives in Tucson, Ariz. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2001 with a bachelor’s in political science and economics and from the University of Kansas in 2008 with a master’s in public administration. You can reach Luévano at www.johnnyluevano.com or find him on Facebook.

Johnny F. Luévano Jr.

The GOP is often referred to as the “party of no ideas” by the party of “the cool uncle” due to the perceived lack of substantive idea proposals on behalf of the Republican Party. The truth is that there are many substantive idea proposals within the GOP on a variety of different public policy issues.

The Susana Martinez for governor team has put together some very solid public policy proposals, and their no ‘corruption’ ideas have deeply resonated within New Mexico.

I think many folks, including myself, have underestimated the public’s frustration with the Democratic “corruption gone wild” style of governing.

If New Mexico is going to get better, we must return to the basic fundamentals of good government in order to further weed out the years of engrained public corruption that has plagued all-levels of our government. The problem is that government corruption has become the cultural norm in our state, and those who are traditionally in power will not yield to good-government ideas without a fight.

One good-government step forward has been that both candidates for governor agree to downsize the number of political appointees. Susana is taking a bolder step forward by pledging that all of her incoming political appointees will be hired on the merit. This is good stuff, and the horse has been beaten on these issues, so let’s move onto more of the renewed GOP’s ‘no ideas’ on corruption.

Professional qualifications

This is a recycled idea from an earlier column, but I propose putting forward an amendment to the state Constitution requiring professional financial qualifications and experience to become eligible candidates for the offices of state auditor and treasurer. Article V Section 3 of the state Constitution requires the office of the attorney general to be a licensed attorney, and the office of the superintendent of public instruction is required to be a trained and experienced educator.

Both requirements are very good. Why wouldn’t we also require the state auditor and treasurer of New Mexico to be a trained and experienced financial manager?

Money has been at the root of all public corruption, and if we want to begin to improve the government of New Mexico we must do better in auditing and managing our public finances. Our state auditor and treasurer should be highly trained, educated and experienced in financial management if we are to take a true, bold step forward in substantively curtailing public corruption.

I am sure there will be many who disagree; the counter-argument of those in the traditional power seat is that the auditor and treasurer are managers or leaders, and technical acumen is not a necessity.

That sounds like fancy political speak to me. Leadership 101 tells me don’t expect your people to do something that you are not willing or can’t do yourself. Politics 101 makes it OK to do as I say and not as I do, which only encourages the ‘corruption’ gone wild culture.

Fundamental, old-fashioned leadership isn’t rocket science, and neither is getting back to the basics of good-government.

A hiring and training partnership

I also propose establishing a formal hiring and training partnership with the public administration departments of our two major universities in order to provide a frontline leadership pipeline to tap our highly qualified in-state government personnel. Government by its very nature is an inefficient beast, but these engrained inefficiencies can be minimized by highly trained and educated public leaders who strive to be true professional public servants.

These public leaders are trained to act in the best interest of good-government to root out ethical and monetary corruption without regard to political affiliation. As part of the formal partnership, maybe the departments could offer cross-training classes with our current government employees in the areas of public finances and overall good-government services.

The reality of our future is that government must learn to do more with less or we will face public bankruptcy. This means our government workers must become more proficient if the quality of life in New Mexico is going to improve.

Political corruption has infiltrated all levels of our government and we need more professional frontline leaders who put the pursuit of good-government in New Mexico above politics.

Who’s counting?

These are two ‘more of the same – no ideas’ submitted on behalf of the renewed GOP, but who’s counting?

Luévano, a newly registered Republican, is a lifelong New Mexico resident and an Artesia native who currently lives in Tucson, Ariz. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2001 with a bachelor’s in political science and economics and from the University of Kansas in 2008 with a master’s in public administration. You can reach Luévano at www.johnnyluevano.com or find him on Facebook.

Luévano with his daughter at UNM.

In my last article I proclaimed that the renewed GOP’s brand of social program self-responsibility is the future of American politics. Time to walk the talk.

The current state of the economy and the rampant public budget shortfalls are now making it necessary that our public leaders develop policies that are smarter, more innovative and ultimately realistically attainable. Again, the days of throwing “dumb dollars” at bloated ineffective government programs are over, and we must begin to look at different ideas to public problem-solving in today’s tough economy.

(Dumb Dollars – Luéva-nition: The money that EVERY public entity forces itself to spend each year in the fear of losing those dollars the following fiscal year.)

Issue number one is jobs. How do we hold onto our existing job markets and how do we create new job markets?  This is a very tough question and, as someone who has never created a job, I am not sure I have the answer.

Here is what I do know: The current global economy has raised the level of job market competition higher than we have ever experienced in our history. Our manufacturing and industrial bases have almost been wiped out in favor of cheaper and less regulated labor markets overseas. What we are left with are jobs that require higher educational levels and more technical training.

This is the reality that we are facing, and our public school system is not producing students who are prepared to compete in the new global economy.

The ‘second-chance’ proposal

In New Mexico, our high-school graduation rates are unacceptable, and there doesn’t seem to be an end-all solution to the systemic problems in public education. I don’t claim to be a PhD educational expert, nor do I claim to have any experience with teaching in the classroom. I know these jobs are tough and our public school teachers put forward an outstanding effort in teaching our children.

But I do believe in considering the student’s perspective, and I offer my ideas from my experiences as a student who grew up in a poor Hispanic neighborhood who struggled to graduate high school. Statistically speaking, I was very close to being part of the problem, and my “second-chance” college education has put me in a position to put forward a possible solution.

I propose providing an alternative “second-chance” qualifying path to the current lottery scholarship, with the goal of raising the educational levels of more New Mexicans in order to better compete in the global economy. The key to attracting jobs to New Mexico is our ability to provide quality workers and educational levels have a huge impact on these efforts. So while we continue the debate on how to fix our public educational system, here is a simple suggestion that can be put forward during the next 60-day legislative session:

The “second-chance” scholarship will require a student to earn back eligibility in the lottery scholarship program through some form of public community service, i.e. teacher aide or any existing community service programs such as Big Brothers/Sisters or AmeriCorps.

Second-chance will be more flexible and realistic to each need of the student, i.e. the student doesn’t have to immediately enroll into college after graduating high school and will also not be required to attend eight consecutive semesters or face disqualification.

Second-chance participants will be eligible for eight full-time semesters at any of the lottery eligible New Mexico schools and can be used at any time or in any form regardless of a restrictive timeline as long as they maintain the required 2.5 GPA.

That is my three-line policy suggestion. Too often we tend to over-complicate public policy, and that is why government is often inefficient and ineffective. Politicos always take a good idea like the lottery scholarship and turn it into another control mechanism in order to affect public behavior.

More New Mexicans experiencing the value of a solid education

The simple fact is that most college students do not complete their bachelor’s degrees within four years and most of us regular folks do not immediately attend college after high school. I definitely would not have graduated college if the Marine Corps did not provide me with a “second-chance” opportunity to attend college, and I believe many more New Mexicans would make their way onto a college campus if we provided more financial support to get another start on life.

I truly believe this second-chance opportunity could make a positive long-term impact on our high school graduation levels as more and more New Mexicans begin to experience the value of a solid education.

Recently, I was blessed to accompany my daughter to college orientation this summer at the University of New Mexico. This surreal, generational experience was a direct result of a program that provided me a second-chance at a college education. I would encourage all readers to push this idea to your local elected representative in the hope that more and more New Mexicans can have the same “second-chance” college opportunity. Together, we regular folks can make New Mexico better.

Luévano, a newly registered Republican, is a lifelong New Mexico resident and an Artesia native who currently lives in Tucson, Ariz. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2001 with a bachelor’s in political science and economics and from the University of Kansas in 2008 with a master’s in public administration. You can reach Luévano at www.johnnyluevano.com or find him on Facebook.

Johnny F. Luévano Jr.

I have written how the GOP has been successful in reaching out to more Hispanics locally; slate.com has also highlighted this Hispanic trend nationally. I would include that younger GOP candidates as a whole and more women will also be successful candidates.

The big question is why the recent leadership shifts of younger candidates, which includes more Hispanics and women, to the Republican Party?

One of the answers is that the GOP has become more engaged on social issues that typically resonate with younger voters, Hispanics and women. Say what you will about President George W. Bush, but the facts reveal that he led an effort to become more engaged within domestic social issues and attempted to put the GOP brand of self-responsibility on these policies.

I will argue that this courageous and consequential leadership approach is the renewed way forward in the Republican Party, and the renewed GOP brand is the future of American politics (Rove, Courage and Consequence).

The party of no ideas vs. the party of the cool uncle

The current and future voting demographics in our country provide no alternative for the GOP to stay politically relevant. So the big question for the GOP is, does the party remain quietly on the domestic social sidelines and allow the Democratic Party to brand us as the “party of no ideas?” It is tough to compete with a Democratic Party that is the equivalent of the family’s “cool uncle” and will bend with the wind to achieve popularity or be well-liked on almost any issue regardless of its feasibility or the best interest in long-term results.

A great example of this type of popular rhetoric was a primary campaign commercial by Brian Colón, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, in which he stated that he will “work to increase teacher pay and reduce class sizes and as lieutenant governor he will fight to stop the Republicans who are hurting our public schools.” The rhetoric sounds great, and he would probably base his argument on the idea of school vouchers. Someone might want to tap this guy on the shoulder and provide him with an “FYI” on our current budget shortfall.

I would also suggest taking a drive around the state to count the number of classroom trailers currently placed on our school campuses due to a lack of classroom availability. Only a Democrat can work this sort of budget magic and promote an educational policy that currently isn’t financially feasible. Sounds great though.

This is an example of the Democratic “cool uncle” mentality that competes against the GOP when confronting domestic social issues, and we must take a more principled, substantive approach against these empty public policy promises.

Senator Domenici sets the tone

At this year’s annual Pete Domenici Public Policy Conference, Senator Domenici stated that “we need to go on a literal budget diet for 5-10 years on federal expenditures in order to save our country, and innovation ought to make us go.” I agree, and it will have to be the renewed GOP brand leading the way with courageous outside-the-box innovative ideas to solving problems. The renewed Republican must become more innovative and have the courage to put forward long-term domestic social policies with specific, substantive, realistic, attainable and responsible policy ideas.

We must resist the urge to fall in line with the Democratic Party’s determined effort to keep Americans separated, with interest-group pandering politics that result in the status-quo policy failures and, consequently, keep us on a path to public bankruptcy.

The lesson learned from the past 10 years is that the GOP cannot outspend Democrats. We have tried, and the result has led us to the edge of a budget cliff. Spending is a game plan of the Democratic Party.

The days of just throwing money at a problem are long gone, and it will be the responsibility of the renewed GOP brand to fall back onto old-fashioned principled ideas mixed with 21st Century innovative ideas to put forward “Smart solutions.” This effort will take a little more brain power and creativity, but our country is counting on bold leadership; the renewed GOP will lead the way. Courage, substance, innovation and intelligence – this is a Republican game plan that the renewed GOP can execute.

Luévano, a newly registered Republican, is a lifelong New Mexico resident and an Artesia native who currently lives in Tucson, Ariz. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2001 with a bachelor’s in political science and economics and from the University of Kansas in 2008 with a master’s in public administration. You can reach Luévano at www.johnnyluevano.com.

Johnny F. Luévano Jr.

On May 6th, the Albuquerque Journal published an op-ed from the chairman of the New Mexico Democratic Party, Javier Gonzales, concerning Arizona’s controversial immigration stance. Mr. Gonzales states that “we’ve all heard” about this law, agrees that we need to implement comprehensive immigration reform and ends his article with admitting that “immigration reform is a conversation we need to have in New Mexico.”

So at the risk of getting stoned to death for having an opinion, let’s get the conversation started. One thing that stood out to me about the chairman’s opinion was that he did not propose any ideas on how to solve this problem.

Leadership 101: A leader doesn’t merely complain. He or she provides solutions to problems that are substantive, specific, realistic and attainable. Politicians attempt to drive the debate with wedge rhetoric based on partial truths and providing vague “catch phrase solutions.”

Mr. Gonzales’ solution is “comprehensive immigration reform,” so what does this entail Mr. Chairman?

We all agree that illegal immigration in our country is a problem and, contrary to democratic opinion, we all agree, including Republicans, that racial profiling is not part of the solution. The bottom line with the final Arizona bill is that it specifically prohibits racial profiling and only occurs during an illegal infraction.

I do agree with the chairman on one point: The language “reasonable suspicion” does not sit well with most folks, and I am not here to defend the final Arizona bill. I would advocate for something that is more specific for us regular folks to understand in order to remove all doubt or grey area of the law.

My ideas for reform

Here are some of my ideas for “comprehensive immigration reform.” I would note that these are ideas, not concrete, cumulative final solutions. I do this in my limited spare time, so I am sure those in office and our political candidates can surely come up with something better in their full-time pursuit of public leadership.

Let’s begin with things most of us can agree upon. There are approximately 12-14 million illegal immigrants in our country today and they are a financial burden on all aspects of our society. The majority of Americans – including Republicans – do not want to tear apart families in a forced deportation process, and no one wants to reward illegal behavior. This is the problem we face today and there are no easy solutions.

But I see an opportunity for us to develop smart, outside-the-box policies that can help reform two major problems that confront us in the 21st century – illegal immigration and our mounting budget shortfalls.

Border Security

First we must recognize our realistic limitations on physically securing the southern border by admitting that a big ole’ fence combined with smarter technology and more manpower isn’t the end all solution. I do agree these tools will help, but securing the border needs to become a more collaborative approach with the federal government taking the lead and partnering with local city, county and state agencies.

This is an idea that the Arizona bill has stumbled upon and I would call this a “layered border security approach.”  The idea behind illegal immigration seems focused on crossing the border and, once across, an illegal immigrant is home free. We need to eliminate this thought process by utilizing all of our public safety resources in a never-ending, layered approach to border security.

Currently we have border checkpoints posted throughout our country. Officers there ask everyone if they are U.S. citizens. Is it unreasonable to eliminate the “reasonable suspicion” clause and make it standard operating procedure to ask everyone for driver’s license, insurance and whether they are U.S. citizens during every illegal infraction at all levels of government?

Surely opinions will vary, but a realistic policy will admit the federal government cannot attain “comprehensive illegal immigration reform” without the assistance of local governments.

Jobs, jobs, jobs

As a novice economist, I believe the most efficient and effective solution is to develop an instant work verification system that will enable employers to easily verify citizenship status of prospective applicants. If we are able to produce a system that can reliably assist employers in this verification process, then we can begin to discuss employer penalties for hiring illegal immigrants.

The bottom line is to cut off employment to illegal immigrants by minimizing the hoops an employer must jump through in order to stem the main motivation of an illegal immigrants’ desire to come to the United States.

If there are no jobs available to illegal immigrants, there will be fewer illegal immigrants willing to come to the United States, and we can begin concentrating most of our resources on those who continue to cross our borders for illegal purposes.

Pathway to citizenship

Providing a pathway to citizenship for the 12-14 million illegal immigrants currently in the United States is probably the most complicated portion of “comprehensive immigration reform.”  This policy needs to be balanced with empathy and toughness in order to respect an individual’s human civil rights and the respect of law that governs our country. So here are my ideas on this issue:

• Provide a set timeline for every illegal immigrant to voluntary come out of hiding and register in a new “guest workers permit program.”

• Establish a minimum timeline and certain criteria that need to be accomplished before a newly registered illegal immigrant can be eligible for citizenship. I suggest at minimum 10-20 years.

• Pass a background investigation that is paid for by the new guest worker.

• An illegal immigrant can be eligible for employment in the United States after enrolling in the “guest workers program” and providing some form of proof to the hiring employer.

• All federal taxes collected through the new guest workers program will be earmarked to offset the increased funding of securing the border and paying down the national debt.

• No guest worker will be eligible for any tax credit or tax refund for a set period of time – again I recommend at least 10-20 years. This means if a new guest worker pays $1,000 in taxes, he or she doesn’t receive any refund whatsoever. Absolutely nothing, nada…. zip, zilch, zero refund, no pay due, do not pass go or collect $200.

• No guest worker will be eligible for any tax credits or tax refund at the state level as well. Again, these funds should be earmarked to fund the additional burdens placed upon education, health care and public safety.

• No guest worker will be eligible for any tax breaks or credits.

• Any committed illegal infraction, outside of a routine traffic ticket, will be a breach of contract and the path to citizenship will be eliminated.

• Guest workers will not be eligible to vote, and any attempt at voter fraud will violate the pathway to citizenship and the possibility of deportation will commence.

• Require guest workers to learn English, with no additional government funding.

• If an illegal immigrant comes into contact with the law through our new “layers of border security approach,” he or she must provide proof of enrollment in the new guest workers program.

• After honoring and providing proof of all set criteria, an illegal immigrant can apply for but is not guaranteed citizenship. The burden of proof will be on the guest worker to provide all qualifying documentation.

Not the end-all solution

Of course these ideas are not the end-all solution, but hopefully one or two will be helpful to those in a decision-making position.

Again I believe most Americans do not want to implement a forced deportation process, and most Americans do not want to reward illegal behavior through an easy path to citizenship. I also believe most illegal immigrants will be anxious to “pull their own weight” and to self-sacrifice if given the opportunity to earn their citizenship.

The increase in tax revenues can help to alleviate our mounting debt and offset the financial burden of illegal immigration at all levels of government.

“And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” – John F. Kennedy

Luévano, a newly registered Republican, is a life-long New Mexico resident and an Artesia native who currently lives in Tucson, Arizona. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2001 with a bachelor’s in political science and economics and from the University of Kansas in 2008 with a master’s in public administration. You can reach Luévano at jfluevano@gmail.com or on Facebook.

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Republican congressional candidate Jon Barela, left, and gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez are evidence that the GOP is reaching out to Hispanics. (Courtesy photos)

“The Republican Larrazoloites of the 21st century are homeless.”

The above line in Monahan’s blog caught my attention and I began to wonder if this statement holds any truth.

Next summer I will be retiring from the military and I would like to get more involved in the political scene back home. So I am in the process of doing research to see for myself if a Hispanic from the poor north-side barrio of Artesia can find a home in New Mexico’s Grande ‘Ole Party.

Growing up and going through college I was always led to believe that the political home for me was without question the Democratic Party. This was the working-people’s party that stood up for minority rights and was best suited to represent Hispanic values at all levels of government.

So if this is in fact truth, I can’t help but wonder why currently only one of our five federally elected representatives is of Hispanic background.

Johnny F. Luévano Jr.

All of our current U.S. congressman and senators are Democrats, so if the Democratic Party is indeed the big tent home for Hispanics, why don’t we have more than one U.S. congressional representative from New Mexico? I am sure when the 2010 census is complete Hispanics will remain the majority population of our state, so why the disparity?

Several GOP Hispanic candidates this year

If we include our territory days, the facts give the GOP a historical slight edge in terms of successfully electing Hispanics from New Mexico to represent us at the federal level. This contradicts the wedge rhetoric that constantly attempts to divide the two major parties on race.

To be fair, the Republicans haven’t done a very good job courting more Hispanic candidates since our early days, but the same could be said of the Democratic Party, because we haven’t had a Hispanic U.S. senator since 1977 and there was a 12-year U.S. congressman gap before Ben Ray Luján was elected to Congress.

But politics is a “What have you done for me lately?” arena, and we must give GOP Chairman Yates a tremendous amount of credit for fielding several Hispanics on this year’s ballot that include Hispanic congressional and gubernatorial candidates.

Where are the Democratic Party Hispanic candidates for governor? How much success did Hispanic candidates have in the 2008 U.S. congressional Democratic primaries? Mayor Chávez was bullied out of the U.S. Senate Democratic primary race, and no other Democrats dare challenge Diane Denish.

Meanwhile, Susana Martinez was able to garner the majority of Republican delegates at the GOP preprimary convention and Jon Barela is set for a general-election challenge against our congressman from Missouri who represents NM CD1.

I know the biggest question remains how a Hispanic woman will do in a Republican Primary. I am not sure, but we as Hispanics can only ask for the opportunity to compete within both parties with the results based on hard work and merit. These are American ideas, and I am sure Susana Martinez is up for the task as she has already demonstrated through her winning the GOP preprimary convention.

Don’t ‘dumb-stamp’ the voting ballot

So if we look at the recent facts, it is clear that Chairman Yates is beginning to reach out to Hispanics and the GOP is providing leadership opportunities on the same pace or even more than the Democratic Party. As Hispanics, I think it is important that we consider both parties to represent our interests because our elected representatives should be selected on the merit of their ideas and not solely the stereotypical wedge-based rhetoric of race.

Until we are able to get beyond associating race with a particular party, those who traditionally hold the keys to political power will continue to manipulate the growing Hispanic voting base in favor of a one-sided argument.

So my hat is off to Chairman Yates and his staff for a job well done. I as a Hispanic appreciate the effort to re-open “The Republican Larrazoloites Home.”

My challenge to all New Mexican Hispanics is to not “dumb-stamp” the voting ballot (straight-party voting). Let us begin making these politicos earn our votes based on the merit and execution of their ideas.

Luévano, a registered independent, is a Marine Corps officer with 18 years of active-duty service and an Artesia native. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2001 with a bachelor’s in political science and economics and from the University of Kansas in 2008 with a master’s in public administration. The views expressed are those of the individual only and not those of the Department of Defense. You can reach him at jfluevano@gmail.com.

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