NY Governor Does 180 On Licenses To Illegals
pO157.
Posted to Politics on Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 02:42:21 AM EST (promoted by 1fastdog). RSS.
New York Governor Elliot Spitzer has rescinded his plan to give illegal aliens a drivers license, in the face of excruciating grass roots pressure which has seen his popularity drop to near President Bush levels.
Months earlier, Governor Spitzer (D-NY) was swept into office in a massive landslide victory - returning a Democrat to Albany for the first time in 12 years. Mr. Spitzer ran on a reform platform promising cuts from the high NY taxes and an end to the ubiquitous governmental bureaucracy.
His plans, however, apparently were placed on the back burner behind a new idea to give licenses to the 1 million illegal aliens in New York State by allowing foreign ID (such as a passport) to be sufficient to obtain a license for those who cannot provide a legal social security number. A revolt quickly took hold in the state, as lawmakers, citizens, homeland security officals and politicians (including almost the entire NY congressional delegation with the exception of Senator Clinton and Rep. Rangel) went on record opposing the plan. One 9/11 family member, Bruce DeCell, and a local lawmaker (Assemblyman James Conte) referenced a similar idea in Tennessee back in 2001 which had severe unintended effects:
"Road accidents went up, illegals dropped their insurance after obtaining their auto registrations, accidents involving uninsured drivers went up, and hit and runs increased," he said.
"The governor put this out ... with no public input, hearings or legislative roundtable discussion on how this would affect public safety," Conte said. "As legislators, we're being asked by constituents what all of this means, and what we are doing now is looking for more information, and if he does not put this on hold, we will file court papers by October 31."
As he became more entrenched, the Governor fought back, giving more speeches and pleading with lawmakers and the public to allow illegals a license. This lead to a rapid drop in his approval ratings to levels generally associated with Presidents Nixon or Bush, and widespread disgust amongst the electorate. Anger intensified when it was learned Mr. Spitzer's plan could put the entire state in jeopardy of meeting the provision of the REAL ID act, thus requiring residents to get a passport for a myriad of internal domestic purposes. Mr. Spitzer announced a compromise, by stating the state would instead issue a confusing mix of three types of licenses, one for illegals, another compliant with REAL ID, and a third form for residents who frequently travel to Canada and who want an alternative to a $97 passport.
Mr. Spitzer finally caved Wednesday and announced his idea would be put on hold. The abrupt reversal came after presidential contender Hillary Clinton (D-NY) was seen as evading questions about her support for the plan.
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