Spitzer heels


November 15, 2007


New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's decision to abandon his plan to grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens is just the latest reminder that elected officials court political disaster by pandering to the open-borders crowd. The governor learned a tough political lesson: Even in one of the bluest states in the Union, the public has enough common sense to understand that handing out licenses to illegals is a bad idea.

Sounding a bit like a youngster who had been taken to the woodshed, Mr. Spitzer admitted he had underestimated the extent of opposition, but blamed his problems on Washington's failure to pass "comprehensive immigration reform" (code for mass amnesty.) After briefing some Democratic members of New York's congressional delegation on his decision to jettison the license scheme, Mr. Spitzer sounded peeved and petulant at a Capitol Hill press conference, complaining that critics had sought to portray "law-abiding" illegal aliens as terrorists.

But in reality, the governor has no one but himself to blame for his latest political misstep. Mr. Spitzer's original proposal unveiled six weeks ago would have granted driver's licenses to illegal aliens — increasing the risks of identity theft and of terrorists obtaining driver's licenses. These points were driven home by legions of state and local officials, including motor vehicle department (DMV) employees who refused to carry out the governor's order, as well as county clerks and other local officials who descended on Albany en masse to tell the General Assembly how dangerous and irresponsible the governor's plan was. On Oct. 22, the New York Senate, with the support of a number of key Democrats, voted 39-19 to overturn the governor's decision.

Five days later, Mr. Spitzer announced after a meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that the state had come up with a three-tier plan for issuing driver's licenses — including a low-security tier of licenses that would go to illegal aliens. This third tier rightly drew fire from the Coalition For A Secure Driver's License and New York state DMV clerks, who, among other things, objected to the fact that licenses would be issued to illegals on the basis of easily counterfeited documents. In the end, Americans forced Mr. Spitzer and other New York politicians to back down. Is Hillary Clinton really listening?

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