Not in Schenectady County. In fact, the Dems on the board say that it's an attack on the County Head of DMV when the Republicans ask him to follow the law instead of an illgal request by the Governor. They want to see how it comes out in court first.
This was actually said at the meeting last night by someone. I don't remember exactly who.
Quoted Text
"It hasn't been adjudicated to show that it's illegal. If we don't want to do it, we'd have to do the same as Rensselaer County and sue the Governor, take him to court, and get a decision there on it. Until then, we should be following it."
States must require documentary evidence that an applicant is a citizen or national of the U.S. or is a non-citizen who is lawfully admitted for permanent or temporary residence; has conditional permanent resident status; is an asylee or refugee; has a valid, unexpired nonimmigrant visas or nonimmigrant visa status; has a pending asylum application; has a pending or approved application for temporary protected status (TPS); has deferred action status; or has a pending application for adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence.
Again..this is a federal mandate. So let's follow the federal law and sue NYS! I don't think this is a political thing. IT'S THE LAW!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
People of Faith and Labor Groups Support Drivers Licenses for Immigrants
When: Friday, October 12, 2007 10:30a.m. Where: Rensselaer County Courthouse, Troy, (Congress and Second Streets)
Advocates of workers rights and members of religious congregations will express their support of Governor Eliot Spitzer's executive order to grant New York State driver's licenses to persons without social security numbers. A public vigil will take place in front of the Rensselaer County Courthouse, where County Clerk Frank Merola has publicly defied Governor Spitzer.
"Governor Spitzer's policy of encouraging the undocumented to come out of the shadows, identify themselves, and provide valid proof of their residency will make all of us safer," says Guillermo Perez, president of the Capital District Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, a Latino trade union group affiliated with the AFL-CIO. "The governor's policy properly focuses on what will enhance the safety of all New Yorkers, while the approach of officials like Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola will actually undermine our safety."
For more information, please contact Fred Boehrer at Emmaus House: (51 482-4966 or fred.acw@gmail.com
New Drivers Licenses Announced (Updated) October 27, 2007 at 12:27 pm by Rick Karlin
Gov. Eliot Spitzer, as expected, and US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, has announced what is essentially a compromise in the governor’s mushrooming illegal alien drivers license debate.
Basically, the plan calls for a two, or really a three-track drivers license program in New York: one for illegal immigrants or others who simply don’t want the other licenses which will cost a bit more; and another that will let citizens cross the Canadian border without a passport (that will soon be a requirement).
Thirdly drivers can choose to get a federally-approved Real ID license that will let them board airplanes and enter federal buildings without presenting a passport or other proof of citizenship.
At first blush, Spitzer’s move is both a defeat and a smart tactical move.
He’s backing down on the concept to give illegal immigrants equal status; but is also defusing what has been the biggest controversy of his 10-month tenure. Additionally he’s acknowledging members of his own party who’ve been in open revolt.
The decision comes three days 11 days before local and county elections, in which Republicans have been hammering Democrats on the issue and local Dems have in turn been distancing themselves from the governor.
In light of this decision, local Republicans have lost a big part of their anti-Spitzer hammer.
The move also comes as the Erie County Clerk Kathleen Hochul, herself a Spitzer appointee who is serving in a Democratic stronghold, had said she’d carry out the governor’s edict but would also work to have illegals arrested and deported — one of the strongest repudiations yet of the governor’s policy.
Republicans aren’t convinced, however, Sen Majority Leader Joe Bruno just put out a statement that notes the governor is still “arrogantly insisting'’ on giving licenses to illegals and Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco termed it a “flip flop'’ and claimed the govenor “cried ‘uncle’ ‘’
GOP responds to Spitzer's change of plans Updated: 10/27/2007 8:15 PM By: Web Staff
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Republican leaders are already responding to the new licensing plan.
Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno says Governor Spitzer made a u-turn in his plan because the federal government did not support the move.
He says by Homeland Security rejecting the initial proposal, they agree that giving licenses to illegal immigrants would jeopardize the security of New Yorkers.
Bruno says the problem still exists.
"The flip by the Governor today does not change the fact that he is arrogantly insisting on giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens, licenses that could still be used as breeder documents to obtain other valid forms of identification. The federal Department of Homeland Security has made it very clear that it does not support giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens."
Another local lawmaker whose been very vocal in his criticism of Spitzer's licensing plan is Assembly minority leader Jim Tedisco.
Tedisco failed to get his chamber to vote on the issue during last week's Special Session. He tells us there are still a lot of questions in the Governor's latest licensing plan.
"What you're doing Governor - is for people who are breaking the law, and are illegal - you're giving them a special privilege. On November first, if he can't answer these questions, we are going to have to sue the Governor for the protection and security of our constituents."
Welcome to our new bondage......we did well didn't we.......just a matter of time before our ball and chains get thicker and heavier.......it doesn't matter what happens with the 'illegal immigrants' they are the 'whipping post' for our demise just like the 'sex offenders'........pay attention.......... > > > > > > > >
What is the most important foundation of American culture?????
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Gov. Eliot Spitzer, as expected, and US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, has announced what is essentially a compromise in the governor’s mushrooming illegal alien drivers license debate.
Basically, the plan calls for a two, or really a three-track drivers license program in New York: one for illegal immigrants or others who simply don’t want the other licenses which will cost a bit more; and another that will let citizens cross the Canadian border without a passport (that will soon be a requirement).
Thirdly drivers can choose to get a federally-approved Real ID license that will let them board airplanes and enter federal buildings without presenting a passport or other proof of citizenship.
Anyone like tattoos.....the up and coming generation does.....they would be fine accepting their # on their forearm(like in a concentration camp).......the illegal immigrants are NOT THE ISSUE.....the issue is personal freedom and privacy......if we want smaller government and less UN involvement in our lives then we better watch our back door and our back door is not at our physical borders....remember the battle field is our minds........
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
N.Y. to have 3 tiers of licenses State and feds reach deal over illegals driving BY DEVLIN BARRETT The Associated Press with a staff report
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration and New York cut a deal Saturday to create a new generation of super-secure driver’s licenses for U.S. citizens but also allow illegal immigrants to get a version. New York is the fourth state to reach an agreement on federally approved secure licenses, after Arizona, Vermont and Washington. The issue is pressing for border states, where new and tighter rules are soon to go into effect for crossings. Saturday’s agreement with the Homeland Security Department will create a three-tier license system in New York. It is the largest state to sign on so far to the government’s post-9/11 effort to make identification cards more secure. The New York deal comes about one month after Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced a plan whereby illegal immigrants with a valid foreign passport could obtain a license. Spitzer, who has faced much criticism on the issue, said the deal means New York “will usher in the most secure licensing system in the nation.” CRITICS UNSATISFIED State Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, a leading opponent of the original Spitzer policy, said Saturday that the governor’s new plan “really changes very little” by still planning to allow illegal immigrants to obtain licenses. Although he called the modifi - cations “a step toward common sense,” Tedisco said many unanswered questions remain about the technology and procedures to verify documents, as well as dealing with a current state law requiring a Social Security card before obtaining a license. “What the governor has done is he has tried to use smoke and mirrors” with the three-tier plan, Tedisco said. “We don’t concede this makes us more secure,” Tedisco, R-Schenectady said. Tedisco said he is continuing with scheduled hearings in Rochester and Buffalo this week to address the plans. Unless questions are resolved and Spitzer agrees to send the plan to the state Legislature for approval, Tedisco said he expects a coalition of opponents to file preliminary actions Thursday to sue the governor. “He’s not a dictator,” Tedisco said. “But he has shown a talent for pedaling backwards.” In a statement Saturday, state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said Spitzer’s announcement “does not change the fact that he is arrogantly insisting on giving driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.” Bruno said Spitzer’s “U-turn” confirms that the original plan does not comply with the federal Real ID Act. Bruno also said the multi-license plan “would create a nightmare for county clerks to administer, at a significant new expense to taxpayers.” At the federal level, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he was not happy that New York intended to issue IDs to illegal immigrants. But he said there was nothing he could do to stop it. “I don’t endorse giving licenses to people who are not here legally, but federal law does allow states to make that choice,” Chertoff said. The governor made clear he is going forward with his plan allowing licenses for illegal immigrants. But advocates on both sides of the debate said Spitzer had caved to pressure by adopting the administration’s stance on tighter security standards for most driver’s licenses. GOP Rep. Thomas Reynolds, who represents the Buffalo suburbs, said he was glad Washington had heeded his concerns about border identification. But he said he feared that Spitzer “is taking this state down a risky path” by giving any kind of license to illegal immigrants. THREE TYPES OF ID Under the compromise, New York will produce an “enhanced driver’s license” that will be as secure as a passport. It is intended for people who soon will need to meet such ID requirements, even for a short drive to Canada. A second version of the license will meet new federal standards of the Real ID Act. That law is designed to make it much harder for illegal immigrants or would-be terrorists to obtain licenses. A third type of license will be available to illegal immigrants. Spitzer has said this ID will make the state more secure by bringing those people “out of the shadows” and into American society and will lower auto insurance rates. Those licenses will be clearly marked to show they are not valid federal ID. Officials, however, would not say whether that meant local law enforcement could use such a license as probable cause to detain someone they suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. “Besides being a massive defeat for the governor, I can’t imagine many — if any — illegal immigrants coming forward to get the driver’s licenses because they’d basically be labeled as illegal,” said New York Rep. Peter King, the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee. Meanwhile, The New York Immigration Coalition, a group of immigrant, labor and religious activists which supported Spitzer’s original plan, stated they were “outraged” by Spitzer’s new embrace of the federal Real ID Act Saturday that downgrades the license undocumented immigrants could obtain. The coalition plans a noon rally today outside Spitzer’s New York City office. New York has between 500,000 and 1 million illegal immigrants, many of whom are driving without a license and car insurance or with fake driver’s licenses, Spitzer said in September when he announced his executive order. KEVIN WOLF/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer speaks at a news conference at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington on Saturday. Homeland Security officials struck a deal with New York to create new driver’s licenses that will be more secure for U.S. citizens but also still allow illegal immigrants to get state licenses.
http://www.dailygazette.com [img]CAPITAL REGION Illegals are pleased by Spitzer plan Loopholes may not be needed by alien drivers BY SARA FOSS Gazette Reporter
He’s tried to get a New York driver’s license before, but each time he’s been turned away. He brings his birth certificate, an old driver’s license from Texas and the identification number he uses to pay taxes. But he doesn’t have the one thing he really needs: a Social Security card. That’s because the man, who is 33 and asked that only his first name, Arturo, be used in this article, has lived in the United States illegally for the past 13 years. On his trips to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, he said he’s viewed with suspicion as soon as he walks in the door. “As soon as I come in, I can feel the racism,” said Arturo, who is originally from Mexico. “They look at me like, ‘What do you want?’ ... Back in the day, they didn’t ask for a Social Security number.” On Saturday, Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced a major compromise to his plan to allow illegal immigrants to receive state driver’s licenses: New York will create a three-tier license system, under which the state will produce an enhanced driver’s license that will be as secure as a passport and a second version of the license that will meet the new federal standards of the Real ID Act, which was designed to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. Illegal immigrants would be able to obtain a third type of license using a foreign passport. This license would be marked to show that it is not valid federal identification. RISKS ON BOTH SIDES As he would like a New York driver’s license, Arturo said last week that he was skeptical of Spitzer’s plan to allow illegal immigrants to receive state driver’s licenses. He said that when his wife told him about the proposal, he wondered whether illegal immigrants would feel comfortable going to a state agency. They might worry, he said, about being arrested. Certainly, he said, he wouldn’t want to be the first person to walk down to the DMV and try out the new process. “I would need to see it first,” Arturo said during an interview last week. Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Federation for American Immigration Reform, said his organization opposes New York’s plan to license illegal immigrants. He said the state should not give driver’s licenses to “people it doesn’t know anything about.” “How do we know we’re not just helping someone establish a false identity?” he said. “For the governor to say we’re going to give anyone who can parallel park a car a license not only jeopardizes the safety of New Yorkers but of everyone in the country. I’m a former New Yorker. I’ve been to the Division of Motor Vehicles. They can’t figure anything out.” OUT-OF-STATE LOOPHOLE Not being able to get a New York driver’s license hasn’t prevented Arturo and other illegal immigrants from driving a car. Arturo is married and has three children between the ages of 1 and 10, all born in the United States. He said he uses his Texas driver’s license — the few times he’s been stopped by police, he’s shown them the Texas license and hasn’t had any trouble — and is insured through a friend. He has two cars, he said. Right now, with his Texas license, he can move freely, Arturo said. But he would like to be able to get his own car insurance, and occasionally, there’s a situation where it would be useful to have a New York license. For instance, he deposits money regularly at the bank. One week, a clerk asked for his driver’s license, and he was told the Texas license was not acceptable. ILLEGALS FEEL LIMITED Another illegal immigrant, a 28-year-old man who moved to the United States from Mexico 11 years ago and has spent the past two years living in the Capital Region, has followed the debate over Spitzer’s plan to license illegal immigrants. “All immigrants are pretty much in favor of it,” he said. “It’s been well-received by the immigrant community.” He said the plan has received favorable coverage on Univision, the Spanish-language television network. “Immigrants think it’s very good news. To not be able to have access to a driver’s license — you can’t drive a car or cash a check. It limits you.” The man said illegal immigrants might be afraid to ask for a driver’s license. “I think at first, yes, there is going to be some fear and distrust,” he said. “People have been deported. Police have been called on people who have tried to get licenses at DMV.” But once they see that illegal immigrants can get licenses without being deported, they will be willing to apply for driver’s licenses, he said. DRIVING OUTSIDE THE LAW He said he got a driver’s license years ago, when he was working in tobacco fields in North Carolina. He didn’t try to get a driver’s license when he moved to New York because he lacks a Social Security card. Instead, he continued renewing his North Carolina license. But stricter rules — the state recently announced that a Social Security card is required to get a license there — will make that impossible in the future. “I renewed it recently,” he said. “It’s good for two years. It will be the last time I can renew it in North Carolina.” His brother still lives in North Carolina, and because of the new rule, he has been unable to renew his license. As a result, he has been driving around with an expired license. The man said he knows some people who carry Mexican driver’s licenses when they drive. “If they cannot get a driver’s license here and they need to drive, they still drive,” he said. POLITICIZING THE ISSUE During his campaign for governor, Spitzer promised to allow illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses. The recent backlash has surprised groups that advocated for this change. “The thing we didn’t anticipate is how desperate the Republicans in the Senate are in terms of holding on to their majority,” said Guillermo Perez, president of the Albany/ Capital District Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. He said commentators such as CNN’s Lou Dobbs have created a “network of immigrant-bashing.” “I was sort of naive,” he said. “I didn’t expect something like this to happen in New York, given the history of the state. There’s so much antipathy toward immigrants.” “I’m not going to say we aren’t concerned about issues of national security because we are,” Perez continued. “But we’re not going to engage in hysteria.” In an interview before Spitzer announced his compromise, Perez said licensing illegal immigrants would “create a system in which people are encouraged to come out of the shadows. They are provided valid documentation. They are put into the system. That’s incredibly helpful.” He said hundreds of thousands of people would take advantage of the opportunity to get licenses if they knew they could do so without getting arrested. “It won’t make us safer if people who are working in our communities live in constant fear of discovery one day,” Perez said. “We have a crisis around immigration, but terrorizing undocumented people is not responsible. They’re here working hard. They came here for one reason: to provide for their families. That’s the immigrant story.” FEAR OF DISCOVERY “Having been undocumented at one point in my life, I know the risks and tribulations immigrants go through,” said Liz Espinoza, a social worker at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam and a member of the local chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. “In many parts of the state, the need for a vehicle is essential.” She said the issue is also one of safety. “As a driver, I want to make sure everyone on the road has a license,” she said. Espinoza, 27, moved to the U.S. with her mother from Peru when she was 5. They were following her father and overstayed their visas, as he had done. Her mother was able to get a New York driver’s license using her Peruvian passport. “She had to take a driving test and pass it,” Espinoza recalled. Her parents later divorced, and when Espinoza was 16, her mother remarried an American; Espinoza and her mother then gained legal status. “We lived in great fear of being found out,” she said of her childhood. “It was very secretive and isolated. None of my peers knew I was not only not born here but that I was undocumented.” Last week, federal legislation that would have given some children of illegal immigrants a path toward legality failed a Senate vote. The measure, called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, would have allowed illegal immigrants who plan to attend college or join the military and who came to the United Sates before they turned 16 to move toward legality. If her mother hadn’t married an American, “I might have been praying for something like the DREAM Act to happen,” Espinoza said. ‘DON’T DO NOTHING WRONG’ Arturo said he came to the U.S. to work. “I came here to work, to get a better future,” Arturo said. “We cannot afford to be down there in Mexico.” He lived in Texas for a while but has now been in Albany for about seven years. His first jobs were in construction, doing roofing and sheetrocking. For a while, he picked corn in Rensselaer County. But the work was inconsistent, and he decided he needed to do something with more regular hours. Today, he works at a restaurant in the Capital Region. For the most part, Arturo said he doesn’t live in fear of being discovered and deported. “I feel like I’m an American,” he explained. “We don’t do nothing wrong,” Arturo said. “All we do is work. White people don’t want to do a lot of the work we do.” Last month, Spitzer said allowing illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses will encourage people who are driving illegally to get insurance and improve public security by creating records for tens of thousands of people whose presence in the state is otherwise undocumented. Mehlman, however, suggested the roads could be made safer if there were severe consequences for driving without a license. “When you pull someone over who doesn’t have a [license], you impound the car and call Immigration,” he said. There are eight or nine states where people can get a driver’s license without a Social Security card, but “unlike Spitzer, who wants to send out engraved invitations saying ‘Please come and get a license’ they’re just not going to ask certain questions if you go to get a license,” he said. It is unclear when the new tiered licensing system will take effect. [/img]
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
The Bush administration and New York cut a deal Saturday to create a new generation of super-secure driver’s licenses for U.S. citizens but also allow illegal immigrants to get a version. New York is the fourth state to reach an agreement on federally approved secure licenses, after Arizona, Vermont and Washington. The issue is pressing for border states, where new and tighter rules are soon to go into effect for crossings. Saturday’s agreement with the Homeland Security Department will create a three-tier license system in New York. It is the largest state to sign on so far to the government’s post-9/11 effort to make identification cards more secure.
Secure from what????? Secured against what????? Who is doing the securing???? What is not secured???? What the hell are we afraid of?????
We are #$%#$#!!!!!!!
Quoted Text
Main Entry: 1se·cure Pronunciation: \si-ˈkyu̇r\ Function: adjective Inflected Form(s): se·cur·er; se·cur·est Etymology: Latin securus safe, secure, from se without + cura care — more at suicide Date: circa 1533 1 aarchaic : unwisely free from fear or distrust : overconfident b: easy in mind : confident c: assured in opinion or expectation : having no doubt 2 a: free from danger b: free from risk of loss c: affording safety d: trustworthy, dependable 3: assured 1 — se·cure·ly adverb — se·cure·ness noun
Quoted Text
Main Entry: 2secure Function: verb Inflected Form(s): se·cured; se·cur·ing Date: 1588 transitive verb 1 a: to relieve from exposure to danger : act to make safe against adverse contingencies b: to put beyond hazard of losing or of not receiving : guarantee > c: to give pledge of payment to (a creditor) or of (an obligation) 2 a: to take (a person) into custody : hold fast : pinion b: to make fast 3 a: to get secure usually lasting possession or control of b: bring about, effect 4: to release (naval personnel) from work or duty intransitive verb 1of naval personnel : to stop work : go off duty 2of a ship : to tie up : berth synonyms see ensure — se·cur·er noun
The illegal immigrants were just the vice for the conversation and the push.....ok,,,,can everyone now say together "bye-bye liberty"......so in the end the 'terrorists' have won the battle of the minds.......all because we think lettuce pickers are the problem to our over-inflated economy/sex offenders/ballooning mortgages/increasing school taxes/increasing healthcare cost etc.........would someone please press the red button to stop this merry-go-round......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Lou Dobbs makes Spitzer his pinata CNN host rips immigration stance BY LARRY MCSHANE The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Lou Dobbs is sorry about calling Gov. Elliot Spitzer an idiot. Sincerely.
As for ripping the New York Democrat as arrogant, spineless and “a spoiled rich kid brat,” the host of CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight” stands by those nationally broadcast broadsides. Absolutely. Dobbs has made Spitzer an almost daily target over his recent plan to ease restrictions on illegal immigrants seeking New York state driver’s licenses, mixing vitriol with sarcasm while endlessly lambasting the governor’s decision. TURNING IT UP The lifelong Republican has taken on politicians of every stripe, as when he blasted the Bush administration over port security. But his nightly diatribe against Spitzer is notable for its intensity, and for elevating a state proposal onto the national stage. “What he’s doing is an outrageous, arrogant abuse of power,” Dobbs said in an interview before a recent show. “He’s pandering to a constituency aligned directly against the interests of U.S. and New York state citizens.” Dobbs’ ire boiled over last Tuesday night when he ripped Spitzer as an idiot — and then offered an on-air mea culpa. “I’m the idiot,” Dobbs said. “Governor, I apologize for calling you one. Your policies are idiotic. But I have to apologize for calling you an idiot.” Dobbs shouldn’t hold his breath waiting for a bouquet of roses (the state flower) and a thank-you note from Spitzer. “Mr. Dobbs has clearly demonstrated that he is not interested in a real debate on New York’s driver’s license policy change,” said Jennifer Givner, a Spitzer spokeswoman. “He has repeatedly refused to offer balanced coverage of the issue.” Dobbs has turned the first-term governor into a verbal pinata over his September announcement that illegal immigrants with valid foreign passports could obtain a driver’s license. Spitzer has said the plan, set to go into effect this December, would make New York safer by bringing its 1 million illegal immigrants “out of the shadows.” IN THE CROSSHAIRS The decision reversed a 2002 order by former Gov. George Pataki issued after the 9/11 attacks, and placed Spitzer directly in Dobbs’ cable crosshairs. But Dobbs, while perhaps the highest-profile critics of the plan, is not alone: a state poll showed 72 percent of New Yorkers opposed Spitzer on this issue, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has also expressed skepticism. Spitzer, in a speech recently week, noted that “despite the hysteria this policy has created in some circles, it is simply a return to the policy we had for most of our state’s history.” Dobbs is hardly swayed by the history lesson, complaining the relaxed license requirement could produce voter fraud and raise security issues. Spitzer has ignored repeated invitations to appear on the program, Dobbs said; the show has turned down guests supporting Spitzer, including former national counterterrorism adviser Richard A. Clarke, according to Givner. Dobbs, who has made immigration one of his show’s centerpiece issues, was criticized last week in a New York Times editorial for his Spitzer bashing. “Mr. Dobbs has trained his biggest guns on Mr. Spitzer, branding him with puerile epithets like ‘spoiled rich-kid brat’ and depicting his policy as some sort of sanctuary program for the 9/11 hijackers,” the Times wrote. “Someday there may be a calm debate, in Albany and nationally, about immigrant drivers. “With Mr. Dobbs at the megaphone, for now there is only histrionics and outrage.” Dobbs isn’t expecting any apology from the Times. And he has few kind words for the newspaper. “The New York Times is the house organ for Gov. Spitzer,” Dobbs said. “They’re wrong on this issue, as they are on many others.” WON’T BACK DOWN Dobbs draws a nightly audience of roughly 800,000, making him second in CNN viewers to Larry King’s nightly program. He has no intention of lightening up on Spitzer. “Why should I?” Dobbs asked. “He’s wrong. This issue is of vital importance to the state of New York and the nation. My job as an advocacy journalist is to confront directly abuses of power and wrongheaded politics.” And sure enough, 24 hours after his “idiot” apology, Dobbs was again taking shots at Spitzer. “This governor is irresponsible,” Dobbs told his audience. “It’s clear arrogance. ... He has declared himself to be what people hoped he would not be — and that is an arrogant tool of special interests.” SYLVAIN GABOURY/DMI CNN host Lou Dobbs has been harshly critical of Gov. Elliot Spitzer over the Democrat’s plan to ease restrictions on illegal aliens seeking driver’s licenses. Dobbs has described Spitzer as arrogant, spineless and “a spoiled rich kid brat.” A poll shows that 72 percent of New Yorkers oppose Spitzer on the issue.
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482-4966 or fred.acw@gmail.com 
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