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http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/31/dem.debate.folo/index.html

During the debate, Clinton sidestepped sticky issues such as whether illegal immigrants should be given driver's licenses or how she would fix Social Security.

Clinton said New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's controversial plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants "makes a lot of sense," but she stopped short of endorsing the proposal.

That response prompted Edwards to criticize Clinton for being "inconsistent."

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Schumer steers clear of heated driver’s license debate
BY BEN DOBBIN The Associated Press

   ROCHESTER — Sen. Charles Schumer sidestepped the heated debate over driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants once again Monday, saying the best way to cut illegal immigration is through Social Security cards.
   Schumer and fellow New York Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton have so far avoided endorsing Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s plan to offer three types of licenses: one for crossing the Canadian border, another to board domestic flights and a third for illegal immigrants for driving and identity purposes.
   The plan is part of a deal struck with the Department of Homeland Security last month to push through the federal Real ID Act, a law to make driver’s licenses more secure and keep them out of the hands of would-be terrorists.
   Under Spitzer’s plan, two types of licenses would meet or exceed the Real ID standards, while the third version would not meet those standards but would be available to illegal immigrants.
   Asked about Spitzer’s plan, Schumer talked about certain aspects without saying whether he actually supports or opposes it.
   “I am for, at the federal level, Real ID, which doesn’t countenance illegal immigrants to use driver’s licenses for any purpose at all,” Schumer said. He then added that he would fight illegal immigration through Social Security ID cards, which he claimed would cut the flow of illegals by 80 percent.
   “The most important thing I’ve done on this area is I have come up with this proposal for a biometric Social Security card with your picture that everyone would have to present before they got a job,” he said. “If the employer hired someone who didn’t present a legitimate card, they’d get huge fines.”
   Schumer’s answer was about as enlightening as the one Clinton gave Sunday, when she said: “I broadly support what governors like Elliot Spitzer are trying to do.”

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Dems must find answer for Spitzer license plan
Froma Harrop is a nationally syndicated columnist.

   Hillary Clinton — and the other Democrats running for president — couldn’t possibly have assumed that they would forever skate around the issue of illegal immigration. That notion came to an end in the most recent debate, when the New York senator badly slipped over a question about her state’s controversial plan to issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. Did she think no one would ask?
   Democrats had better start dealing with this. Polls show a large majority of Americans, including Democrats, opposed to illegal immigration. They also find that most Americans favor some sort of amnesty for many illegals. Clinton apparently tried to finesse the two, while ignoring what’s behind the numbers.
   What many Democrats (and Republicans) don’t “get” is that the support for amnesty is highly conditional. It rests on trust that any official pardon will be the last one. The “grand bargain” on immigration went down in flames last spring because no one believed the sales pitch — that with the amnesty would come a stop to future illegal immigration.
   When will people know that their politicians mean business? When they hear them say “no.”
   Many Democrats have a terrible time saying “no” to illegal immigrants who are otherwise good people. Trouble is, there will always be nice, hardworking folks who come here without papers. Americans want their politicians to draw lines that they’ll defend.
   President Bush peddled the grand bargain’s amnesty as a recognition that many illegal aliens have been working in this country a long time. But when the bill came out, the cutoff date was set at just four months prior. Sen. Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat, tried to insert some discipline into the amnesty deadline by requiring a five-year residency. He failed.
   Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin recently lined up some attractive former illegal immigrants — high-school grads who went on to serve in the military or attend college. The Democrat was pushing the Dream Act, which would have granted legal status to such fine young people. His performance was a blatant manipulation of the public’s mixed feelings on amnesty.
   Of course, any country would want these great kids. But Americans were not interested in a parade of piecemeal amnesties and no real progress on enforcing the immigration laws. They wouldn’t go for a “yes” until they heard a “no.”
   Cheap-labor Republicans can’t say “no” to big business. Their grand-bargain trick was to unveil a vast new guest-worker program that would have simply made millions of would-be illegals legal — though still exploitable. The public did not buy.
   And what about New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s plan to issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens? The last thing New York needs is another fishy form of ID, especially one stamped by the state. Even Mike Bloomberg, New York City’s open-borders mayor, worried that the feds would not accept these licenses at airports once Real ID goes into effect.
   Clinton argues that illegal aliens are coming here anyway, so giving them licenses is just recognizing reality. If that’s her stand, why bother with immigration laws at all? People will always be coming here illegally, and so there will always be a new reality to recognize.
   The other Democrats, with the exception of Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, saw nothing wrong in issuing driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. They’re honest but courting political disaster.
   Democrats need a serious response to illegal immigration. The only effective approach is also the sensitive one: Enforce sanctions against employers who hire illegal aliens (and that requires a secure ID). This would take some pressure off the border with Mexico.
   Can the Democratic candidates learn to say “no” to illegal immigration? One thing is certain: They can’t say nothing.  

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Item                  Title                                                    Sponsor Co-Sponsors
CCAJPS 9 A RESOLUTION TO REQUIRE                       Legislator Lazzari
              THE OFFICE OF THE
              SCHENECTADY COUNTY
              CLERK TO FOLLOW THE
              STATUTORY PROVISIONS OF
              SECTION 502 OF THE VEHICLE
              AND TRAFFIC LAW THAT
              MANDATES THAT ALL
              APPLICANTS FOR A DRIVERS
              LICENSE PROVIDE THEIR
              SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER,
              AND TO REQUIRE SUCH OFFICE
              TO DENY DRIVERS LICENSES
              TO SUCH APPLICANTS WHO
              FAIL TO PROVIDE A VALID
              SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
              Monday, November 05, 2007
- 1 -

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Schenectady County Legislature
Legislative Initiative Form
Date: September 29,2007 Committee: Codes Initiative No.
Title of Proposed Resolution:
A Resolution to Require the Office of the Schenectady County Clerk to follow the Statutory Provisions of Section 502
of the Vehicle and Traffic Law that mandates that All Applicants for a Drivers License Provide Their Social Security Number,
and to require such office to deny drivers licenses to such applicants who fail to provide a valid social security number.
Purpose and General Idea:
Presently, the law is very clear that any one applying for a drivers license in New York State must provide their social
security number. Section 502 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law specifically provides that "the commissioner also shall require
that the applicant (for a drivers license) provide his or her social security number".
Governor Spitzer, in an effort to give drivers licenses to illegal aliens, has sought to ignore this state statute, and has
directed his Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a new state policy, to not require applicants for a
drivers license to provide their social security number. This is a direct violation of.state law.
The Office of the Schenectady County Clerk accepts applications for drivers licenses for the Department of Motor
Vehicles.
This resolution would require the Office of County Clerk to follow the state statute and reject for processing all
applications for drivers license which do not provide a valid social security number. It would further require that the County
Clerk verify the citizenship of any applicant that does provide a social security number before he processes an enrollment
application under motor voter.
Summary of Specific Provisions:
This resolution would prohibit the issuance of drivers licenses to illegal aliens as unlawfully sought by Governor Spitzer.
It would specifically require that the Office of Schenectady County Clerk follow New York State Law, by not violating
Section 502 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, and specifically require that any applicant for a drivers license in Schenectady
County must provide a valid social security number upon their application.
It would also specifically require that the County Clerk also follow the provisions of both Federal and State Law,
concerning the Help America Vote Act, and verify the citizenship of any applicant that does provide a social security number
before he processes an enrollment application under motor voter.
Fiscal Implications:
None Noted, as this mere requires the County Clerk to follow the present law
Justification:
Governor Spitzer has announced that he will direct his Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles to grant
Drivers Licenses to illegal aliens, by repealing a 2002 regulation.
This action is both ill advised and unlawful.
Before this action by the Governor, New York State was the national benchm ark for assuring the security and reliability
of its drivers licenses. A Drivers License is the most important, uniformly recognized identification document used in the United
States. This action of the Governor would cheapen the value of a New York State Drivers License as an identification
document and seriously place every New Yorker at risk, dramatically compromising our security.

Schenectady County License Security Act
Legislative Initiative
Page 2
As indicated above, the Governor's policy to issue Drivers Licenses in New York to Illegal Aliens is a direct violation
of New York State Law. Illegal Aliens are not permitted under federal law to have a social security number. Section 502 (1)
of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, specifically requires that an applicant for a New York State Drivers License provide their Social
Security Number. This 1995 law has been upheld by the New York State Court of Appeals as recently as June 7, 2007.
Moreover, this state statute cannot be repealed simply by a Governor removing a regulation designed to effectuate its
enforcement.
Our County, State and Nation have spent Billions to improve the security of all Americans and to identify those who
might wish to harm us. Historically, terrorists seeking to attack the United States have used validly issued drivers licenses from
other states as a means of identification to accomplish their ends. The September 11th Hijackers all used Drivers Licenses
to purchase their Airline Tickets, as well as rent cars and hotel rooms.
It should also be noted that this misguided policy would also opens the door to voter fraud. Even the New York State
Board of Elections has expressed serious concern, that under the provisions of motor voter and the Help America Vote Act,
that Governor Spitzers' action would lead to substantial confusion with unlawful registrations and non-citizens voting,
The Federal Government too has recognized the importance of security of Drivers Licenses. That is why Congress
passed the REAL ID Act, which would require social security number background checks of people applying for Drivers
Licenses. Both our United States Senators, Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, supported this Act on a bipartisan basis.
After Governor Spitzer's action, not only will his administration be in violation of New York State law, it will also be in
noncompliance with the Federal Law Real ID Act. This would have the effect of everyone in New York State having their
drivers license diminished in value, and would require us to obtain a passport to board a domestic plane flightortake an Amtrak
train. It would also prevent a license from being used as identification to enter a federal government building
The Republican Members of the Schenectady County Legislature take the security of the people of our community
and state very seriously. We publicallyaskthe Governor to reconsider this unlawful and ill conceived action. He should know
we will not stand idly by as he tries to do by fiat, what the law does not permit. That is why we further seek to require that all
license applications processed in Schenectady County be considered in light of the law. This Resolution would require the
Schenectady County Clerk to do just that.
Sponsor: Carolina Lazzari Legislator District 4
Co-Sponsors: Robert T. Farley, Minority Leader and Legislator District 3
James Buhrmaster, Legislator District 3
Joseph Suhrada, Legislator District 4
Page 1 of 1

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Illegals already breaking laws to get licenses

   Doesn’t Gov. Spitzer realize that many illegal immigrants already have driver’s licenses?
   I know of two — one from Peru who has a New York state license, and one from Indonesia who has had a Michigan license. They both arrived here on visitor visas and never left. They have been here up to 10 years. The Peruvian (a male) told me he is using some woman’s Social Security number. He owns a car registered in New York state and his daughter (also illegal) recently graduated from Schenectady High School. I also know a Colombian who has used a fake Social Security number.
   An immigration official told me that ever since President Bush placed the immigration offices under the Department of Homeland Security, that unless you are a terrorist, they don’t care about you.
   Here are some questions that Gov. Spitzer should answer:
   How many illegal aliens have arrived with visitor visas?
   Of those, how many already have driver’s licenses?
How many children of illegal aliens attend public schools?
How many illegal aliens are using fake or another person’s Social Security number?
My guess is that state, local and federal officials already know where many illegal aliens are. What is the governor doing about the illegals he already knows about? If he identifi es where more are living and working, what does he plan to do about it?
RICHARD VALE
Schenectady  

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Exclusive: Capital Tonight Poll
Updated: 11/7/2007
By: Josh Robin
  
  
ALBANY, N.Y. -- If Governor Spitzer thought revising his driver’s license plan would boost its popularity, he was badly mistaken.

An exclusive Capital Tonight poll shows most New Yorkers statewide are opposed to licenses for illegal immigrants, even with what the governor calls more security in the proposal.

With 55 percent giving Spitzer's plan the thumbs down; 29 percent approving and 16 percent not responding.
"They are a little bit less opposed than they were to the original, but they are still opposed to this plan,” said pollster Mickey Blum.

Hostility stretches across all political stripes, even more of Spitzer's fellow Democrats say no than yes.

And a constituency the governor has been courting is also not on board. The poll shows that Latino voters didn't like the original plan and they also don't approve of his new proposal. 52 percent reject it; 33 percent are in favor; and 15 percent not responding.

In more conservative upstate, 60 percent are opposed; 27 percent are in favor of 12 percent didn't answer.

While Spitzer stresses security, the poll data suggests New Yorkers agree more with his opponents; that his plan makes the state more vulnerable.
  

If Governor Spitzer thought revising his driver’s license plan would boost its popularity, he was badly mistaken.


And New Yorker's distrust of the the plan doesn't extend to immigrants themselves but.

"There's some question in the minds of voters as to whether or not granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants could allow for some kind of misuse and something that would in some way endanger,” said Blum.

Critics point out the September 11th hijackers carried licenses and warn foreign passports needed for the licenses could be forged.

Spitzer disagrees.

"We will have more people in the system. Security means knowing who is here. It knows having information about people, not pretending that a million people in NY State don't exist,” Spitzer said.

The governor continues pushing his message even if most of his constituents disagree.

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“I am for, at the federal level, Real ID, which doesn’t countenance illegal immigrants to use driver’s licenses for any purpose at all,” Schumer said. He then added that he would fight illegal immigration through Social Security ID cards, which he claimed would cut the flow of illegals by 80 percent.
   “The most important thing I’ve done on this area is I have come up with this proposal for a biometric Social Security card with your picture that everyone would have to present before they got a job,” he said. “If the employer hired someone who didn’t present a legitimate card, they’d get huge fines.”

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Schumer’s answer was about as enlightening as the one Clinton gave Sunday, when she said: “I broadly support what governors like Elliot Spitzer are trying to do.”

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ALBANY Analysis
Gov’t transition lends urgency to license push
States prodded by feds toward compromise
BY MICHAEL GORMLEY The Associated Press

   ALBANY — Last summer, three failed car bombings in London and Glasgow tested the new British prime minister’s mettle shortly after Tony Blair left office.
   In 2004, terrorist attacks on Madrid trains helped lead to the electoral defeat of the pro-U.S. government and Spain’s early withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
   In a grave guessing game of when terrorists might strike, the transition of government — such as the 2008 U.S. presidential election — has been a consistent red flag, pointed to by the independent Sept. 11 Commission as a potentially fatal lapse.
   It’s enough to push states like New York to move more quickly to secure its driver’s licenses.
   “Al-Qaida has done things in keeping with political calendar, absolutely,” said Michael Balboni, New York state’s homeland security chief.
   The 9/11 attacks fell on a primary election day and the upcoming national election was a motivator in fervent, closed-door talks two weeks ago involving Balboni, Motor Vehicles Commissioner David Swarts, Gov. Eliot Spitzer, and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
   Those talks led to a three-tiered license system that Chertoff, who opposes giving illegal immigrants licenses, said was among the most secure in the nation.
   And while Spitzer’s argument that illegal immigrants should be allowed to get licenses continues to dominate headlines and inflame opponents who call the plan a boon to terrorists, homeland security experts have praised the other elements of the compromise anows” to become more accountable for their actions.
   “We are very much encouraged by New York coming forward to work with us,” said Laura Keehner of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “This is a step in the right direction. We are working with other states on similar types of agreements.”
   But she quickly added: “Let’s be very clear. We in no way endorse giving licenses to illegal immigrants.”
   She said Michigan and other states are now talking with the Bush administration about changes to their driver’s licenses.
   Excluding the element of providing illegal aliens licenses — which Spitzer said Friday he might reconsider if he cannot build more support — Balboni said the New York compromise is being talked about as a national model.
   “Secretary Chertoff has mentioned he is trying to make sure that, regardless of who’s in his seat, that there is a continuity of security for the nation, that he leaves in place an apparatus that can function,” said Balboni, for years the homeland security point man for the Republican-led Senate.
   “It was very much what Eliot Spitzer said to me when he hired me, that, ‘When the ball comes into my court on Jan. 1, I want to make sure we have the capability to respond if, God forbid, somenounced Oct. 27.
   One license will be as secure as a U.S. passport for crossing the Canadian border, another will work for boarding airplanes, and a third will not be valid federal identification but will be available to illegal immigrants and others for driving.
   Spitzer said the new approach would make New York roads safer and protect New Yorkers from terrorists by identifying and bringing illegal immigrants “out of the shadthing should happen,’ ” recounted Balboni.
   That’s the kind of early transition called for in a little noticed recommendation of the independent Sept. 11 Commission that studied the terror attacks on New York and Washington.
   “The new [Bush] administration did not have its deputy Cabinet officials in place until the spring of 2001, and the critical sub-Cabinet officials were not confirmed until the summer — if then,” states the commission’s report under the recommendation “Improve the transition between administrations.”
   “In other words,” the report stated, “the new administration — like others before it — did not have its team on the job until at least six months after it took office . . . since a catastrophic attack could occur with little or no notice, we should minimize as much as possible the disruption of national security policy making.” U.S. Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said the Bush administration is acting on those recommendations now. Back in Albany, Balboni said those eight paragraphs on Page 422 of the commission’s report helped fuel the quick and surprising compromise on driver’s licenses as well as new initiatives to secure the border with Canada.
   “We’re absolutely keeping it in mind,” Balboni said. “There are so many different pieces of this puzzle.
   “You can’t be paranoid, but you always need to be looking for the things a terrorist could be thinking about,” Balboni said, “especially in a time of transition, in particular in a country that is pretty much divided down the middle.”

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Spitzer open to tossing license plan
Governor says he's staying the course for now, but has softened his stance
  
By DANNY HAKIM, New York Times
First published: Sunday, November 11, 2007

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Reeling from relentless criticism of his plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, Gov. Eliot Spitzer has taken a step back, raising the possibility he may shelve the idea.
    
The governor's aides have grown increasingly concerned that reaction to the plan is preventing Spitzer from or even discussing other issues; it has also become an issue for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign and has caused anxiety among other Democrats.

After a meeting Friday with Hispanic lawmakers at a conference here, Spitzer was not displaying the defiance with which he had defended the plan in the past. Asked by a reporter if he would change or table the plan, the governor said he was sticking with it "as of now," but suggested that he was open to abandoning it.

"Sometimes you put out an idea and there isn't so much support, and you try to persuade people and you see where you go," Spitzer said. "This is the way the world works."

He added: "I don't think there's ever been an executive, a president, a governor who hasn't put out ideas, that at the end of the day there isn't support, and so things don't work out, but as of now, sure, I think this is the right idea from a security perspective. We'll wait and see."

If Spitzer were to withdraw the policy, there would probably be great relief among the many Democrats who have become entangled in the issue, whether they support the plan or not.

The reaction to the plan has far exceeded what the governor or his staff expected, and Democratic incumbents in Congress and the state Senate fear it has given Republicans an issue to use against them next year. It has also earned Spitzer the animosity of groups pushing for stricter controls on immigration and inspired Lou Dobbs, the CNN anchor, to lead a nightly crusade against the policy.

Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco has been one of Spitzer's most outspoken critics in New York. "I've been saying all along that the Democrats are going to come up with a predatory law. He'll have to stay 2,000 feet away from any Democrat or Democratic candidate. He's becoming nuclear."

Spitzer's comments Friday followed just after Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the Legislature's top Democrat, who also attended the conference, suggested to reporters that Spitzer should not push ahead at this point.

"I think the governor has a job of going out and selling to the public what he hopes to achieve, listening to the public, making them more comfortable and slowing down the process," said Silver, who has broken with Spitzer over the policy.

The criticism and intense focus on the issue has led to internal discussions among Spitzer's aides about their next step. Spitzer has said he plans to have the new system in place by the end of next year.

Lt. Gov. David A. Paterson, who was also at the Puerto Rico conference, said of the governor, "I think, for now, he is satisfied to keep going."

"Now, down the road, you don't know what future events are, and obviously if they -- at some point we're going to have to start seeing a spike" in support, he said, adding, "If not, I would think down the road, we'll at least think about it."

The administration's tone on the issue has shifted since Spitzer announced Sept. 21 that the Department of Motor Vehicles would begin issuing driver's licenses regardless of immigration status.
At first Spitzer seemed pleased that even though the plan set off debate, it was a fight over policy rather than the frequently nasty back-and-forth over his administration's role in attacking the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno.

Later, when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and others questioned the idea, the governor shot back that Bloomberg was "wrong at every level -- dead wrong, factually wrong, legally wrong, morally wrong, ethically wrong." He later apologized.

The governor seemed only to inflame feelings when, late last month, he announced that he was modifying his plan and would issue three tiers of licenses, with illegal immigrants eligible only for a license that could not be used to board planes or cross borders.

That change came after secret negotiations with the federal homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, and created resentment among Latino lawmakers who had been the biggest backers of the original plan.

"When the governor backtracked the first time he tried to make things better and he actually made them worse," Tedisco said. "He's trying to get out of what I would call a political quagmire. There's one way out -- dismantling the plan altogether."

On Friday, perhaps to keep the meeting upbeat, the governor barely mentioned the license issue in his 25-minute breakfast address to lawmakers here attending the annual conference on legislative issues held by the New York Assembly's Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force. He further sidestepped confrontation by not taking questions from the lawmakers.

Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr., a Democrat, said "there was a warm reception" but added, "It's always good to take questions; we're full of questions." Diaz has opposed the revised plan, reiterating on Friday that he believed the governor was "capitulating to the Bush administration."

Other lawmakers said they were grateful that the governor had tried to take on an issue that had been a priority for them.

"Me? I'm still with the governor," said Assemblyman Jose Rivera, a Bronx Democrat. "Was it good timing? Maybe not, because the extreme right, they need issues. Here, they got one, and they haven't let go." Union staff writer David Filkins contributed to this story.

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“In other words,” the report stated, “the new administration — like others before it — did not have its team on the job until at least six months after it took office . . . since a catastrophic attack could occur with little or no notice, we should minimize as much as possible the disruption of national security policy making.” U.S. Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said the Bush administration is acting on those recommendations now. Back in Albany, Balboni said those eight paragraphs on Page 422 of the commission’s report helped fuel the quick and surprising compromise on driver’s licenses as well as new initiatives to secure the border with Canada.

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That change came after secret negotiations with the federal homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, and created resentment among Latino lawmakers who had been the biggest backers of the original plan.

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Mr. Spitzer wavers
First published: Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Officially, Gov. Spitzer is sticking to his plan to issue driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. But in the world of realpolitik, the governor seems about ready to dump the plan in the face of mounting criticism from his political opponents, as well as some members of his own party.
The first sign that Mr. Spitzer was wavering came over the weekend, during a conference of Hispanic lawmakers in Puerto Rico. According to The New York Times, the governor told a reporter that sometimes "you put out an idea and there isn't much support" and "things don't work out."

But it's not that Mr. Spitzer ever put out the idea of granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Instead, he announced it as a fait accompli. Then, when the criticism began to increase in volume, the governor hammered out a compromise plan with Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff that called for a three-tier license system that satisfied no one, not his Republican critics and not the Latino lawmakers who had been among the strongest supporters of the governor's original plan to issue a single driver's license to all qualified applicants.

Mr. Spitzer should have tried building a consensus for the new policy, and listening to the ideas of opponents. Instead, he soon found himself on the defensive. And even though his arguments were sound -- it makes good security sense to have illegal immigrants come out of the shadows, and it makes safety and economic sense for them to earn a driver's license and have insurance -- he was pilloried by his opponents for disregarding the views of his critics and acting by decree.

What won't help is for Mr. Spitzer to stay on the fence over the volatile issue. He has to make a decision, and soon. The issue has morphed from a state matter to a national one, and may well have done serious damage to the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been lambasted by her primary rivals for trying to have it both ways by sympathizing with the Spitzer plan, while at the same time distancing herself from it.

In truth, Sen. Clinton is right when she frames the issue as a national one. Governors shouldn't have to decide how to handle the illegal immigration issue. That's a national issue that demands a federal solution. Until then, each governor will find himself or herself facing a dilemma of how to treat undocumented immigrants in their states. Some states already issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, and there has been little public outcry about it. But Mr. Spitzer's political foes raised the heat so high on this issue that the governor might well have concluded the only way he can escape getting burned is to back off.

Consider it a lesson learned.