THE "PORK" IN NEW YORK, Thoughts of an older American on Constitutional Government in the USA Options

[Livyjr]

THE ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

Comment by UpstateWonk: John Galt said “We do expect the Rensselaer County Clerk to do his job ….”

actually John We don’t…We in my instance being 72% of the State who did not get the right to vote on this issue but if given the opportunity by DICTATOR SPITZER, we would gladly correct his stupid ILLEGAL directive…

And so…

JOHN GALT RESPONDS: Wonk, dude, we ARE on the same page …

I’m in that 72% with you, not against you …

Perhaps I did not express myself clearly enough …

I am saying that Frank Merola has a duty to enforce the law just as it is written …

Not some cut-and-paste version that Spitzer is trying to force on him …

In a bid to prove to us NYS citizens that Spitzer can RULE NYS WITHOUT the NYS legislature …

You put it correctly, dude ….

What Spitzer has is a DIRECTIVE ….

Spitzer’s DIRECTIVE does not constitute law here in NYS ….

The thought that it might is LUDICROUS ….

IF Spitzer wants to try and make his DIRECTIVE into law that Frank Merola has to abide by, then let Spitzer do it properly, by coming before the people and the state legislature, as OUR Constitution requires him to do …

And that is what I am posting about …

Sorry to not be more clear, originally, Wonk …

Thanks for the chance to clear that point up …

And so ….

Comment by John Galt — October 20, 2007 @ 7:25 am

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=5631#comments

[Livyjr]

THE ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

Comment by UpstateWonk: John Galt said “We do expect the Rensselaer County Clerk to do his job ….”

actually John We don’t…We in my instance being 72% of the State who did not get the right to vote on this issue but if given the opportunity by DICTATOR SPITZER, we would gladly correct his stupid ILLEGAL directive…

And so…

JOHN GALT CONTINUES: And Wonk, you are the only person in these BLOGS who seems to have clued in to the actual reality in play here in NYS right exactly now with respect the the DRIVERGATE CHAPTER of the ON-GOING ELIOT MESS here in New York State ….

ALL WE HAVE RIGHT NOW ON THE TABLE FROM SPITZER IS A DIRECTIVE ….

In the near future, Spitzer says that he is going to try and impose this DIRECTIVE on the elected COUNTY CLERKS in NYS ….

The elected COUNTY CLERKS in NYS have gotten together on the matter ….

And some, like Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola and Columbia County Clerk Holly Tanner have stated that they will not abide by Spitzer’s DIRECTIVE, which you call illegal …

And I call NULL, because it is in excess of his authority, jurisdiction and discretion as NYS Governor …

HIS DIRECTIVE HAS NO LAWFUL EXISTENCE, Wonk ….

And so, Spitzer is powerless to impose it upon the elected COUNTY CLERKS ….

Nothing more can now really transpire in the matter until Spitzer tries to enforce his DECREE somehow against the elected COUNTY CLERKS ….

So in some way, Spitzer will need a TEST CASE …

We countryfolks can picture Spitzer walking into the Office of the Rensselaer County Clerk holding a big silk pillow in his arms with a person from another country here in the United States unlawfully resting comfortably on it …

And Spitzer will be trailed by all the GOO-GOO’s who are his groupies …

And the labor unions who want at a ready supply of these illegals …….

And a HOST of media …

And on behalf of this illegal person, and on national TV, Spitzer will then try to bend Frank Merola to his will to have Frank Merola issue this illegal person a NYS driver’s license …

OR ELSE …

Spitzer will give Frank Merola the “STEAMROLLER” treatment ….

And knowing Frank Merola ….

It’s my thought that on NATIONAL TV, he is going to sign right up for a block of that instruction ….

AND THE WORLD WILL BE WATCHING, Wonk …

CAN ELIOT SPITZER B***H-SLAP FRANK MEROLA IN PUBLIC AND GET AWAY WITH IT?

The CANDID WORLD would like to know that answer ….

And so would we countryfolks ….

And so …

Comment by John Galt — October 20, 2007 @ 2:35 pm

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=5631#comments

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

October 19, 2007

"Kirwan To Gov: Stick Member Items Where Sun Don't Shine"

Assemblyman Tom Kirwan, a Newburgh Republican who is never one to mince words, said the following to the Catskill News regarding Gov. Eliot Spitzer's blocking of the Assembly minority's member items - allegedly in retaliation for their opposition to his driver's license plan:

"As far as him threatening to hold these member items, he can stick these member items up his ass."

"Neither I nor my constituents are a bunch of prostitutes willing to prostrate ourselves to this buffoon."

"This guy is an absolute embarrassment as a governor."

"By far, he is going to go down as the worst governor in the history of the state."

Kirwan is known for his maverick streak.

He's probably best known for crossing party lines to join Democratic Sen. Liz Krueger in suing their own Legislature and then-Gov. George Pataki in 2005 over the majority-controlled system in Albany that they argued disenfranchsied minority members and their constituents.

The suit was unsuccessful, but it did manage to bring some attention to the imbalance at the Capitol at a time when government reform was a hot topic.

Posted by Elizabeth Benjamin on October 19, 2007 11:44 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...e.html#comments

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Lou Dobbs Crusades Against Spitzer’s Driver’s License Plan for Illegal Immigrants"

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE

Published: October 17, 2007

ALBANY, Oct. 16 — The CNN anchor Lou Dobbs calls Gov. Eliot Spitzer “a genius.”

But not in a nice way.

“I was being about as facetious as one could be,” Mr. Dobbs said in an interview Tuesday as he prepared for his nightly broadcast, “Lou Dobbs Tonight.”

For the last nine days, the show has included discussion of Mr. Spitzer’s plan to allow illegal immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses.

Mr. Dobbs, a pinstriped journalist turned populist crusader against illegal immigration, is not a fan.

“It’s an abuse of power!” Mr. Dobbs thundered.

“He is being absolutely irresponsible."

"When the governor of New York embarks on this kind of irresponsibility, it is national news as far as I’m concerned.”

And when Mr. Dobbs — whose broadcast is CNN’s second-highest-rated show — speaks, many people listen.

His relentless mockery of Mr. Spitzer’s decision has thrust the driver’s license policy onto the national stage, helping fuel an uproar not only among New Yorkers, but among national groups opposed to illegal immigration as well.

As it happens, Mr. Dobbs was recovering from a tonsillectomy when Mr. Spitzer announced the policy on Sept. 21.

But the anchorman went on the attack almost immediately after going back on the air Oct. 8, saying it was “hard to imagine what this governor is thinking.”

It only took him another week to conclude that Mr. Spitzer, in fact, was not thinking at all.

“This governor is a genius,” he proclaimed disgustedly on Monday.

“An overwhelming majority of New York voters oppose the governor, but he refuses to back down.”

With the television set on mute, the scrunch alone of Mr. Dobbs’s brow conveys his belief that Mr. Spitzer’s new policy is, possibly, the dumbest idea in the history of dumb ideas.

“I think he’s definitely had an effect,” said State Senator Martin J. Golden, a Brooklyn Republican who was on Mr. Dobbs’s show on Sunday to denounce the plan.

“Everybody’s chiming in."

"I get e-mails from across the country because of Lou Dobbs."

"I got an e-mail from a soldier in Iraq saying, ‘Go for it, Golden, keep it up.’”

Mr. Golden is one of several New York elected officials — most of them with more experience on New York 1 than on CNN — who have been recent guests on Mr. Dobbs’s show.

Many have expressed support for proposals by state lawmakers to overturn the license policy or to deny funding for it.

But not everyone who goes on gets supportive e-mail messages.

José M. Serrano, a Democratic state senator who represents parts of Manhattan and the Bronx, appeared with Mr. Golden to defend Mr. Spitzer’s policy, but found himself under a verbal barrage from both the host and his fellow guest.

“Oh my goodness, that was something else,” Mr. Serrano said.

“I think it was my first time on national television."

"I wound up debating both of them — Lou paid very little attention to Marty Golden and instead just kind of dug in on me.”

This next morning, Mr. Serrano said, his office was bombarded with angry e-mail messages from around the country.

“One guy wrote, ‘We will derail the illegal gravy train from within,’” he said.

“I don’t really know what that means."

"Another person said, ‘Go back to Mexico, you’re obviously Mexican.’”

(Mr. Serrano is from Puerto Rico.)

“I’m not naïve, but I was still surprised at the level of ignorance,” Mr. Serrano said.

(Mr. Dobbs’s correspondents have also stated on the air that illegal immigrants will need only a foreign passport to obtain a driver’s license, and that Mr. Spitzer’s policy was instituted through executive order, neither of which is true.)

Mr. Dobbs’s guests and interviewees are typically opponents of the policy.

A segment that Mr. Dobbs pitched on Thursday as “a lively debate” on the issue, for example, featured the host and two members of the State Assembly who oppose the governor’s plan, along with a viewers’ poll on whether Mr. Spitzer should be recalled.

(Ninety-seven percent said yes.)

One person who has not made an appearance on Mr. Dobbs’s show, despite repeated invitations, is the governor himself.

Christine Anderson, a spokeswoman for Mr. Spitzer, said scheduling problems had prevented the governor from appearing.

The administration had made other officials available to Mr. Dobbs’s bookers, she said, including Michael A. L. Balboni, the governor’s top Homeland Security aide.

But the show’s producers had declined.

“We don’t really have a position about his show,” Ms. Anderson said.

“That said, facts matter, and what we have endeavored to do throughout this entire debate is to make an argument about the safety and security benefits to doing this.”

But Mr. Dobbs said that Mr. Spitzer, and Mr. Spitzer alone, is responsible for defending his new policy.

“The man hasn’t shown the gumption to come on the air and debate the issue with me,” Mr. Dobbs said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/nyregion...amp;oref=slogin

[Livyjr]

THE RECORD

"Rhetoric drowns out any rational discussion"

By: The Watertown Daily Times

10/17/2007

Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer's unilateral decision to change the rules on obtaining a driver's license unleashed a barrage of scathing criticism which has been followed by the governor's intemperate defense of his decision.

The latest uproar in state politics began when Spitzer announced that his administration was abandoning the five-year-old policy requiring driver's license applicants to provide a Social Security card.

Instead, the estimated 500,000 to 1 million illegal immigrants in the state will be permitted to substitute a valid foreign passport for the Social Security card.

The governor's position isn't new.

He said during the 2006 campaign that he would change the rule but the sudden policy revision without prior public discussion provoked an angry response from opponents.

They raised the specter of another 9-11 by terrorists now able to obtain a driver's license that could be used as valid identification and make it easier for them to move freely about.

Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco ridiculed the plan with emotional images, saying 9-11 mastermind Osama bin Laden was taking delight in the proposal.

State Sen. Martin Golden said Spitzer wasn't elected "to allow terrorists to go unchecked."

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and others speculated the change would render state driver's licenses useless as an ID for boarding an airplane or other federal purposes.

Even county clerks whose offices issue driver's licenses have rebelled at the change and several intend to ignore it.

An irascible Spitzer accused his critics of "fear-mongering and extremist rhetoric," "knee-jerk reactions" and engaging "in the politics of fear and selfishness."

Spitzer lashed out at Bloomberg as "wrong at every level - dead wrong, factually wrong, legally wrong, morally wrong, ethically wrong."

Spitzer maintains his policy, when it takes effect in December, will improve security by bringing illegal immigrants out of the shadows, improve safety on state highways and reduce insurance premiums since unlicensed drivers are more likely to be involved in car accidents.

That may be true, but rational discussion of the policy is being drowned out by the rhetoric on both sides.

Spitzer has missed an opportunity.

He failed to anticipate the opposition, which might have been avoided by laying the groundwork for acceptable change through dialogue rather than imposing it by fiat.

http://www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?ne...=7018&rfi=6

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK OBSERVER

"Troopergate Makes a Slow Fund-Raising Season for Spitzer"

by Azi Paybarah

Published: October 16, 2007

This article was published in the October 22, 2007, edition of The New York Observer.

Next week will mark the return of the legislature to Albany for a special session.

It will also mark the expiration of a missed fund-raising opportunity for Eliot Spitzer.

According to a regular contributor and fund-raiser for Mr. Spitzer, the governor originally planned to spend the out-of-session months starting in late June making a push for new donations with appearances across the country, but abandoned those plans because of the Troopergate scandal.

“When the legislature is out of session, the governor can command more of the limelight,” this fund-raiser said.

“The governor’s rating always goes up when the legislature is out of session."

"He has the stage to himself."

"Obviously, that hasn’t happened here.”

That may be an understatement.

In May, Mr. Spitzer attended fund-raisers in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and earlier this month, he was at an event in Texas.

But for most of the time in between, Mr. Spitzer was in New York playing defense in front of editorial boards and local reporters, explaining his role (or non-role, as the case may be) in directing state police to track State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno’s use of state aircraft and then leaking it to the press.

A July 23 report from the attorney general’s office found two of Mr. Spitzer’s aides responsible.

One was immediately suspended and has since joined a lobbying firm.

The other was demoted.

“I don’t think this is what a lot of people expected,” said the Spitzer fund-raiser.

“And even if there was going to be contention, I don’t think this is the contention narrative” they wanted.

One of Mr. Spitzer’s aides, speaking on background, disputed the notion that Troopergate had derailed the governor’s fund-raising schedule.

The aide said that summer fund-raising was always going to be difficult, with many regular contributors out of the city, and that the donor events weren’t tied to the legislative calendar.

The aide also said that the plan all along was for Mr. Spitzer to spend the time between sessions focusing on local initiatives.

Whatever the reason for the fund-raising slowdown, it seems to have taken a toll on the governor’s finances.

Though Mr. Spitzer still has a comfortable amount of money in his campaign war chest, the amount has been greatly diminished, most notably by his costly ad battles over health care policy with the powerful (and well-funded) 1199 SEIU union, but also by the campaign staff he still employs.

Mr. Spitzer came into this year with $3,692,033.66 in his reelection account after a landslide win in November.

According to the latest figures from the State Board of Elections in July, he was down to $1,478,572.95 in the same account.

(Mr. Spitzer also has $32,894.56 on hand in his federal PAC, which he said is used to help selected congressional candidates.)

But the news hasn’t all been bad.

On Sept. 20, the Albany County district attorney cleared Mr. Spitzer of any wrongdoing in the matter of the troopers and Joe Bruno.

And now, according to the fund-raiser, Mr. Spitzer’s financial operation is going to be looking to make up for lost time as best they can.

“They’re making a big push,” the fund-raiser said.

“They want big numbers for their January filing, to show strength at the beginning of session and that their political team is in a good place.”

Allyson Giard, a fund-raiser on the staff of Mr. Spitzer’s campaign committee, e-mailed the following comment on the situation:

“The governor’s fund-raising continues to be robust: it speaks to his ability to raise money under self-imposed limits, and it operates within the constraints imposed by a schedule that makes governing—not fund-raising—a priority.”

http://www.observer.com/2007/troopergate-m...-season-spitzer

[Livyjr]

PRESS & SUN-BULLETIN

Wednesday October 17, 2007

"New York horse-racing authority proposed"

ALBANY -- Republicans in the state Senate on Tuesday proposed establishing a new state authority to oversee thoroughbred racing in New York, a plan likely to further divide political leaders over how to revive the sagging industry.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno laid out a proposal to create a "public-private" partnership between the racing industry and the state by establishing a new public authority called the New York State Racing, Gaming and Equine Sports Development Corp.

The authority would be an umbrella organization that would oversee racing at the New York City-based Aqueduct and Belmont racetracks and at Saratoga, about 30 miles north of Albany.

It would oversee the bidding for contracts to run video lottery terminals at Aqueduct and Belmont, as well for marketing and capital improvements.

Bruno said the entity could also serve as the oversight group for the state's six off-track betting operations.

"What's been going on the last 40 or 50 years hasn't been working in this state," Bruno, R-Brunswick, Rensselaer County, said of the current oversight by the New York Racing Association.

The Senate has balked at Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to continue to have NYRA run the racetracks and to let a private entity run video lottery terminals at Aqueduct.

Spitzer's proposal calls for about $250 million in state aid to help make NYRA financially stable as it tries to get itself out of bankruptcy protection.

The state's contract with NYRA, a private, non-profit corporation, expires at year's end.

If a deal is not approved by the state Legislature, NYRA has warned that the state's racing industry could be shuttered; lawmakers say the state racing oversight board would manage the tracks.

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll...10170342%2F1006

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THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Bruno's copters cost $72G, but Troopergate cost $1.5M"

By JOE MAHONEY, DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

Thursday, October 18th 2007, 4:00 AM

ALBANY - The tab for Joe Bruno's state helicopter flights this year: $72,000.

The $1.5 million public tab for the Troopergate investigation: Priceless.

Albany is in the fourth month of gridlock from the scandal that began when Gov. Spitzer's aides plotted to make the Senate majority leader pay a political price for using state aircraft.

And the costs are still mounting - Spitzer's office now plans to spend $400,000 for an outside lawyer, Dietrich Snell, to fight subpoenas from GOP state senators, the Daily News has learned.

"The attempted cure is costing much more than the initial problem," lamented Richard Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union.

"These scandals and the resulting investigations have cost the state significant money, both in terms of dollars and time lost from addressing crucial issues."

In tallying the costs, The News reviewed work hours by lawyers, investigators, public relations specialists and others.

Government insiders say the total estimated tab of $1.54 million could easily grow.

The protracted battle grew out of suspicions by Spitzer aides that Bruno attended political fund-raisers in Manhattan on several trips made with a state police helicopter.

The total tab for his 10 trips is about $72,000.

After state police records on Bruno's travels were fed to an Albany newspaper, the senator cried foul and accused the governor of having troopers spy on him.

Both Bruno and Spitzer called for investigations.

Costs started mounting.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's July 23 report found the Spitzer administration misused the state police, while Bruno broke no laws because his trips included government business.

Because Spitzer's aides didn't fully cooperate with Cuomo, Republicans demanded more digging.

Separate inquiries were launched by the Albany County district attorney along with the now-defunct state Ethics Commission and its successor, the Pubic Integrity Commission, which is still investigating.

The state Senate Investigations Committee hired former federal prosecutor Joseph diGenova, whose firm is expected to collect $500,000.

The panel, led by Sen. George Winner (R-Elmira), subpoenaed records from Spitzer's office and indicated it wants the governor to testify.

So Spitzer hired Snell.

Government insiders said Spitzer plans to claim executive privilege to fight the subpoenas, which could drag out the legal wrangling and boost Snell's billable hours.

The warring sides blame each other for the spiraling bills.

"It's rather pitiful that all these public funds are being expended all because of the governor's own behavior," said Winner.

He said Spitzer can spare the taxpayers simply by cooperating.

Spitzer spokesman Jeffrey Gordon shot back, "The most egregious cost to taxpayers is the Senate's refusal to do the real work of governing, such as passing the Wicks Law."

That delay has cost New York City taxpayers more than $30 million on construction projects, he said.

Dadey said the spending should be halted when the Public Integrity Commission issues its findings, though no one can say when that will happen.

But he said the controversy won't die until Spitzer answers questions under oath on what he knew or didn't know about the anti-Bruno scheme.

"The governor ought to formally testify so the citizens and the state can put this behind us," Dadey said.

jmahoney@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/18...pergate_-1.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Spitzer's immigrant license fight gets uglier in Albany"

BY ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, October 18th 2007, 10:03 AM

The fight over Gov. Spitzer's illegal immigrant driver's license plan got nastier yesterday as Assembly Republicans and Democrats traded charges of censorship and rule-bending.

An aide to Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco (R-Schenectady), who has been outspoken against the governor's plan, said the Democratic majority refused a request for some 50,000 mailers.

The literature would have gone to five Assembly Republicans' districts, featuring each lawmaker with Tedisco, at a cost of roughly $58,000.

The Democrats accused the Republicans of trying to bend in-house mail rules.

Tedisco's chief of staff, William Sherman, rejected that argument as "bogus."

"It's censorship; all of the mail was going to go out until [Tedisco] picked up the pace" of criticizing Spitzer on driver's licenses, Sherman insisted.

Sherman noted the rejections came one day after the Spitzer administration told Tedisco it had canceled $300,000 in state-funded health care and education projects in his district, claiming he was never authorized to allocate that cash.

Tedisco has threatened to sue to block Spitzer from fully implementing his driver's license plan.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) backs the governor.

Silver spokesman Dan Weiller said the censorship allegation "does not stand up to scrutiny."

Weiller noted a Tedisco mailer blasting the license plan was sent out just last week.

The Republicans wanted to pay for the new mailing through the $100,000 allocated each year to both the speaker and minority leaders for "leadership" missives.

Individual members get a much smaller budget - three district-wide mailers a year plus $2,750.

The Democrats argued the GOP mailers didn't meet the arguably murky standards laid out for leadership mail, which according to a 1999 speaker's directive, is supposed to inform constituents of "the majority or minority party's positions on issues."

Weiller noted the contact information on the mailers was for the rank-and-file members, not Tedisco himself, and were slated to be sent into the lawmakers' districts, not statewide.

ebenjamin@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/18...ht_gets_ug.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK SUN

"Republicans See Flaw in Spitzer License Plan"

By JACOB GERSHMAN, Staff Reporter of the Sun

October 18, 2007

Illegal immigrants in New York who don't drive but nevertheless want official state identification will be eligible to receive nondriver IDs under Governor Spitzer's new policy.

The contentious debate over Mr. Spitzer's immigration policy has focused on his recent decision to grant driver's licenses to state residents without regard to their legal status.

Republican lawmakers hostile to the governor's policy are now trying to draw attention to the fact that undocumented New Yorkers, many of whom don't own a car or drive to work, can apply for nondriver photo identification cards, which serve the same identification purposes as driver's licenses.

Lawmakers argue that granting nondriver IDs to illegal immigrants undercuts one of the main arguments Mr. Spitzer has articulated in defense of the policy.

The governor has insisted that his new regulations would improve road safety and reduce insurance costs, pointing to statistics that show unlicensed drivers are more likely to be involved in fatal traffic accidents.

"He hid behind this notion that the reason why he was doing this was to keep the streets safe and to bring insurance costs down … when the reality is it had absolutely nothing to do with it," a spokesman for Senate Republicans, John McArdle, said.

Under Mr. Spitzer's policy, undocumented immigrants could apply for driver's licenses by submitting foreign passports and birth certificates, which would be scanned into a system to determine if the records were fraudulent.

It's not clear how many undocumented immigrants would seek nondriver state identification and voluntarily enter a state database.

The identification could be used to cash checks, buy alcoholic beverages, board airplanes, and enter government buildings.

Opponents of the policy, which is scheduled to take effect next year, say it would make it easier for illegal immigrants to blend into society and reward individuals who have violated immigration laws.

They are also skeptical that technology and information exists to confirm that a foreign applicant is not misrepresenting his or her identity.

Senate Republicans have threatened to withhold funding for the DMV and are planning to pass legislation to overturn Mr. Spitzer's policy, which the governor handed down last month to the DMV.

Lawmakers and other critics of the plan are planning to file court challenges.

Most Assembly Democrats, including Speaker Sheldon Silver, say they stand by the policy.

A recent poll found that 72% of New Yorkers are opposed to granting licenses to illegal immigrants.

Beyond the issue of traffic safety, Mr. Spitzer has argued that granting licenses to illegal immigrants would "bring an entire population of people into a database that, when necessary, can be used to help law enforcement agencies track down criminals."

http://www.nysun.com/article/64787

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NEWSDAY

"Police give Spitzer's license plan mixed reviews"

BY CHRISTINE ARMARIO | christine.armario@newsday.com

The commissioner of the Suffolk Police Department, which arrests unlicensed drivers for traffic violations if they can't prove their identities, said Wednesday he doesn't back Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to grant licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Suffolk police initiated the policy of arresting unlicensed drivers earlier this year because, they said, it would help reduce fatal accidents in a population considered at high risk.

But, in an interview, Commissioner Richard Dormer said issuing licenses to the undocumented would be unlikely to decrease traffic deaths.

Of those involved in fatalities, he said, many are unlicensed because they have lost their driving privileges, not because they are undocumented.

"You're still going to have folks who are not going to obtain a license driving, and get involved in crashes and then come to the attention of police," Dormer said.

"So that's still going to happen."

"That's not going to eliminate that."

Dormer's viewpoint stood in stark contrast to several other Long Island police departments, including Nassau County's, which touted the plan as an effective tool in getting more educated drivers on the road, increasing the number of people with insurance, and reducing the number of incidents where an unlicensed driver leaves the scene of a crash.

"I think the policy will promote less accidents, overall," Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said.

The issue is a critical one in Suffolk and Nassau counties, which ranked first and second, respectively, in the number of fatal crashes statewide in 2005, the last year figures were available, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Under Spitzer's plan, immigrants could use a valid foreign passport and other records to apply for a license.

Spitzer contends the measure will improve traffic safety and help law enforcement by creating records of a population now in the shadows.

The plan has faced criticism from lawmakers, county clerks and others who have raised concerns it will undermine the credibility of the drivers' license document and compromise homeland security.

In interviews this week, Mulvey and two East End chiefs said the licenses could potentially provide police with an important investigative resource, by allowing them to confirm identities and access photographs and other vital information of suspects and witnesses.

"Giving unidentified people an identity and having a record of that, would help an investigation," Riverhead Chief David Hegermiller said.

Southold Chief Carlisle Cochran said those benefits would hinge on whether or not the documents provided to the state Department of Motor Vehicles are valid.

"It's difficult to take people's word for granted," he said.

According to Spitzer's office, new anti-fraud measures, including photo comparison, and a Document Verification Unit will ensure a driver's identity.

But those measures have not quelled the worries of some in federal law enforcement.

"I think perhaps at a local level it could have some benefits," Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said yesterday.

"But from a federal law enforcement perspective, in general, it is our position that it is never a good idea to issue a legal document to someone in the country illegally."

Joe King, an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said one possible problem is that people will forge an unfamiliar document -- a Tongan passport, for example -- to get a valid New York license under another name.

The person would then use the license to get other forms of identification to create a "legend," a law enforcement term for documents used to support a false persona and history.

Dormer said yesterday that he shared those concerns.

"We're all aware that every time we come up with a new document, the bad guys figure out how to forge it," he said.

Staff writer Andrew Strickler contributed to this story.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-lipol...0,7590496.story

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK POST

"E-MAILS THE 'SMOKING GUN' IN GOV VENGEANCE"

By FREDRIC U. DICKER State Editor

October 18, 2007 -- ALBANY - A key Republican lawmaker disclosed several "smoking gun" e-mails yesterday showing Gov. Spitzer's administration had OK'd funding for a local health-care clinic last month - before suddenly canceling the grant on Monday after his attack on Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco (R-Schenectady) revealed the records to back up his charge that Spitzer cut over $300,000 of his community projects to punish him for opposing the governor's licensing plan and not - as Spitzer contended yesterday - to help get state spending under control.

"That's an outright lie," Tedisco's chief of staff, William Sherman, said of Spitzer's claim, calling the e-mails "the smoking-gun evidence."

Disclosure of the e-mails came as The Post learned that Spitzer was holding up over $100,000 in local "member item" district projects for nearly 20 other Assembly Republicans.

The move against Tedisco's district was reported in The Post yesterday.

One e-mail appeared to directly contradict claims of Spitzer and his budget director, Paul Francis, that Tedisco was told in January that the funding would no longer be available.

Spitzer's office e-mailed Tedisco's on Sept. 6, saying:

"We're prepared to process this project along with the other items."

Tedisco released the e-mails shortly after Francis made public a letter to Tedisco stating that Assembly Republicans were notified after Spitzer took office that "it was never our intention to provide member item funding for new projects after Jan. 1, 2007, outside the budget process."

However, an aide to Spitzer conceded there was not written proof that such a notification was sent.

Additional reporting by Maggie Haberman

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10182007/news/..._gun_in_gov.htm

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG:

Well, topo ...

With respect to this admittedly very murky "plan" of NYS Governor Eliot "MAD DAWG" Spitzer to issue NYS driver's licenses to people in this country illegally ...

I went back and re-read the October 19, 2007 LA Times article "An unlikely treasure-trove of donors for Clinton - The candidate's unparalleled fundraising success relies largely on the least-affluent residents of New York's Chinatown -- some of whom can't be tracked down" by Peter Nicholas and Tom Hamburger, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers ...

And one disturbing statement from the humanistic point-of-view that leaped right out of that article at me was as follows:

Kwong thinks Clinton may be "exploiting the vulnerabilities of recent immigrants."

end quotes

EXPLOITING ...

There is a word that takes us back in time, here in NYS, topo ...

Back to the days of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire ...

Back to the days of my own youth, actually, when the mills were still running up here in Troy, and women were exploited as commodities, and not human beings at all ...

And that brings us to this following from that same article, to wit:

Many, on the other hand, said they gave for reasons having more to do with the Chinese community than with Clinton.

He Duan Zheng, who gave $1,000, said of the Fujianese community:

"They informed us to go, so I went."

"Everybody was making a donation, so I did too," he said.

"Otherwise I would lose face."

end quotes

OTHERWISE, I WOULD LOSE FACE ...

I find this whole SPITZER-ITIC PLAN to be disturbing, precisely because of all the very gray areas contained within it, coupled with the refusal of the SPITZER-ITES to be forthcoming about many of the details of the SPITZER-ITIC PLAN ...

Such as this DATABASE that the SPITZER-ITES hint at, but do not provide details of, to include WHO will "own" this DATABASE with the names of all these illegal immigrants contained therein ...

EXTORTION is what comes to mind, topo ...

EXTORTION and EXPLOITATION of these people in this country illegally by the SPITZER-ITES, who are very hungry for money ...

And that EXTORTION and EXPLOITATION is made possible due to the fact that these same people have no legal rights here in America that will protect them, once their names are on this DATABASE, and the SPITZER-ITES show up at their door to demand some "PROTECTION MONEY" from them, if they want to keep their faces on their heads ...

They have no right to sue for redress of grievance, because they are not American citizens ...

And then, there is the TAX ANGLE ...

If these people are here and actually working ...

But they are "beneath the radar" ...

Then it is highly unlikely that their employers have been withholding any income taxes for them for submission to the government for the use of their labor ...

Sooooo ....

IS SPITZER DECLARING A TAX HOLIDAY FOR THESE EMPLOYERS, I MUST WONDER?

A MORATORIUM ON WITHHOLDING INCOME TAXES FOR THOSE WHO EMPLOY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS?

Any thoughts, topo?

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | October 22, 2007 8:04 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli..._weekend_4.html

This post has been edited by Livyjr: Oct 22 2007, 06:43 AM

[Livyjr]

"Suit filed over driver's licenses going to illegal immigrants"

By KENNETH C. CROWE II, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 12:56 p.m., Monday, October 22, 2007

TROY -- Rensselaer County Clerk Frank J. Merola said he has sued the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Commissioner David Swarts to stop Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Merola said he filed the lawsuit today in Albany County.

"The governor is not listening to the people; perhaps he may listen to the courts," Merola said.

"New York residents have stated loudly and clearly that we are not in favor of giving license to illegal aliens and all we get from the governor are lectures on how we are wrong, and that if we were as smart as he was, we would understand and support this policy," Merola said.

Thomas Gleason, a senior partner with the firm Gleason, Dunn, Walsh and O'Shea, will represent Merola.

The lawsuit alleges that the state DMV is in violation of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law Article 19 Section 502 that mandates a Social Security number for purposes of license issuance.

The suit seeks a restraining order against the state DMV's imposition of this policy as well as overturning the governor's policy change.

"I have stated from the beginning that Rensselaer County will not issue any licenses to those who cannot prove that they are in this country legally."

"I am filing this suit on behalf of the people of Rensselaer County to prevent this outrageous and dangerous policy change that poses a threat to the safety and security of New York residents," Merola said.

[Livyjr]

"Ex-aide to Spitzer, Senate clash over subpoena"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 2:33 p.m., Monday, October 22, 2007

ALBANY -- Gov. Eliot Spitzer's former communications director refused Monday to testify or provide information under a subpoena issued by a Senate committee investigating an alleged plot to smear the state's top Republican.

"So much for 'full cooperation,'" Senate investigations committee Chairman George Winner said of the move by former Spitzer aide Darren Dopp.

"The governor clearly told him not to provide any information and assert certain privileges and he said, 'Yes, sir.'"

Winner, a Republican senator from Elmira, said Dopp could face a misdemeanor charge of contempt of the Legislature.

Terence Kindlon, Dopp's lawyer, said he will try to bring the issue to a state Supreme Court judge in Albany who is scheduled to consider in early November whether the governor is protected from the Senate's subpoenas.

"We're caught between a rock and a hard place," Kindlon said.

"We had a subpoena from the Senate committee and a demand from outside counsel to the governor saying you will be violating a privilege that exists in favor of the executive chamber."

"We don't at this point know what's right and what's not, so we are doing what people do when there is a question that needs to be resolved: We are asking that it be resolved by a judge," Kindlon said.

He said the Senate knew there would be no testimony or substantial information provided on Monday.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo reported in July that Dopp and at least one other top Spitzer aide used state police to compile travel reports on Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno.

The data tracked Bruno's use of state aircraft and a state police driver on days he attended Republican fundraisers after meeting with lobbyists.

The travel records were then provided to a newspaper reporter who had requested them.

A subsequent investigation by Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares found no wrongdoing and no plot to smear Bruno.

The Senate investigations committee and the state Public Integrity Commission continue to investigate the case, which has led to gridlock in Albany since early summer.

A letter from Kindlon was delivered to the committee as it prepared to question Dopp and receive e-mails, private e-mail accounts and other documents.

"We reminded everyone on the record of the provisions of the penal law involved in contempt of the Legislature," Winner said.

"Our next step is either to enforce this on our own, or fold it into other litigation that's going on with the governor's office."

Spitzer is fighting the Senate committee's subpoenas.

The Democratic governor has said the hearings run by Republican Senators are politically motivated.

"The stonewalling continues, notwithstanding the promises of transparency," Winner said.

"It just belies the facts."

There was no immediate comment from Spitzer's office.

Spitzer said he is fully cooperating with the integrity commission probe as he did with the investigations by Cuomo and Soares, both of whom are Democrats.

[Livyjr]

"Senate GOP strikes back at Spitzer's illegal immigrant plan"

By VALERIE BAUMAN, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:42 p.m., Monday, October 22, 2007

ALBANY -- The Senate's Republican majority moved Monday to try to block Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to make it easier for illegal immigrants to receive driver's licenses.

It's part of an uncertain special session that could include action on pay raises for legislators and judges and tax breaks despite a projected deficit.

The Senate's license bill would require applicants for a driver's license to be in the country legally.

Spitzer's plan will end that requirement in December, by no longer requiring a Social Security number to get or renew a license.

Spitzer has said he can start the new policy in December without the Legislature's approval.

"We will change those rules," Spitzer said.

"If somebody will challenge it, we'll see what the courts will do."

He said he believes his administration is within its legal authority in changing the rules.

"This governor is so ill advised, there's an arrogance to it that is hard to understand," said Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

The Assembly's Democratic majority has supported the Democratic governor's plan, although some Democrats may side with the opposed Republican minority.

The Senate's measure, if passed as expected in that chamber, wouldn't become law without the Assembly's support.

Bruno said the attempt to change the policy on illegal immigrants was unconstitutional, contradicted the REAL ID Act and opposed the guidelines provided by the 911 commission.

After leaving a closed-door conference with Senate Democrats, Spitzer said the discussion was ongoing.

"Reasonable people will disagree on tough issues," Spitzer said.

"That's part of the discourse we have on tough issues and that's wonderful, that's as it should be."

"I think some of the rhetoric that has been imposed and brought into this issue has not only been overheated but I would say counterproductive."

Richard Clarke, the former counterterrorism adviser to three presidents, and William Bratton, the former commissioner of the New York City Police Department have supported the governor's plan.

Meanwhile, the Assembly's minority Republican caucus called on Democrats to help pass legislation with new amendments when they go into session Tuesday.

The new items would also prevent Spitzer's plan from going through.

Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith said he and most of his Democratic caucus support the governor's plan.

"This is the right way to go, given that Washington has failed to act" on illegal immigration, Smith said on the Senate floor.

A spokesman for Silver and Assembly Democrats had no comment on how they would vote on the issue if forced to.

A Siena College poll released last week found 72 percent of voters were opposed to "the governor's plan to allow undocumented immigrants to get New York driver's licenses."

Assembly Republican leader James Tedisco of Schenectady said Republicans plan to force a vote on the issue on Tuesday, if the Assembly goes into session.

The session came the same day that Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola filed a lawsuit to prevent implementation of the new license policy.

"All county clerks this is a crazy idea," he said.

Earlier in the day more than 100 people gathered in front of the state Capitol to protest the governor's plan.

Shelley Martin, 54, of Cobleskill, said the governor's plan would send a bad message, and that it's wrong to reward people for breaking the law by being in the country illegally.

"I thought as attorney general he would enforce our laws," Martin said.

"I'm disappointed."

------

Associated Press Writer Michael Gormley contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Eliot Spitzer's first year accomplishments (in no special order):

1. The DiNapoli mess, which demonstrated his remarkably weak political acumen.
2. His first NYS budget, which demonstrated his remarkably weak negotiating skills.
3. Telling an elected official that he's a f--king steamroller.
3. Traveling to districts of GOP Senators in order to embarrass them.
4. Trooper- or Chopper-gate.
5. Trying to get the IRS to investigate Bruno.
6. Giving undocumented immigrants NYS driver's licenses.

I'm sure I've left plenty out.

I'm also sure that this list will continue to grow.

Posted by: what's next | October 22, 2007 2:59 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...i.html#comments

[Livyjr]

"Records fight is cast as issue of privilege - Ex-Spitzer aide contends Senate subpoena covers confidential materials"

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, October 23, 2007

ALBANY -- Former top Spitzer administration aide Darren Dopp is defying a Senate subpoena, setting the stage for a court fight over executive privilege.

"The stonewalling continues," Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira, chairman of the Investigations Committee, said after a brief meeting at which Dopp, the governor's former communications director, and his lawyer, Terence Kindlon, had been scheduled to appear.

The committee is investigating the controversy that erupted after top aides to Gov. Eliot Spitzer asked the State Police to re-create from memory records of travel by Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno to New York City using a state helicopter and police drivers.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo both investigated the affair and found no illegalities.

Cuomo, however, said Spitzer's aides improperly drew police into what was essentially a political issue.

Dopp, who was suspended and then left to work for the Patricia Lynch Associates lobbying firm, was subpoenaed earlier this month.

Senators are seeking e-mails and other related correspondence.

Kindlon had previously said his client would come before the Investigations Committee at an Oct. 29 hearing.

The two were also scheduled to appear initially on Monday.

But that changed last week, Kindlon said, when Deitrich Snell, the lawyer representing the Spitzer administration, contended that a judge would have to decide whether the governor's aides are protected by executive privilege.

Joseph DiGenova, a lawyer advising the Senate Republicans, agreed, Kindlon said, adding that he hopes the judge who hears Snell's argument can also rule on whether Dopp is covered under executive privilege.

Kindlon maintains the items the Senate is requesting from Dopp are protected, either by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege.

In a letter sent to Winner on Monday, Kindlon said such items cover Dopp's e-mails, including those on his Blackberry device; policies on dealing with Freedom of Information Law requests; FOIL requests and communications with Times Union reporter James Odato; document retention and destruction policies; meeting notes, and "any and all information concerning any advice as to legality."

Controversy arose after a story July 1 by Odato questioning Bruno's use of state aircraft.

That prompted Bruno to claim Spitzer was spying on him.

Items that were not privileged, Kindlon said, were a copy of Dopp's resume and newspaper articles about the use of state aircraft.

The correspondence the committee is seeking is from when Dopp worked for the governor.

Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Lawsuit filed as pressure increases - County clerk sues DMV; opposing bill passes in Senate as GOP pledges to fight Spitzer plan"

By JAMES M. ODATO and KENNETH C. CROWE II, Staff writers, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, October 23, 2007

ALBANY -- Opponents of Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to allow illegal immigrants to gain driver's licenses turned up the pressure on the first-term Democrat on Monday, with Rensselaer County's elected clerk filing a private lawsuit, Assembly and Senate Republicans threatening taxpayer-funded litigation and several hundred citizens rallying against the governor's "unilateral" act.

"We are going to do everything that we can to keep that from happening," said Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, R-Brunswick, in supporting a bill passed Monday night to derail the governor's action.

Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola, a Republican, sued the state Department of Motor Vehicles in Albany County in an effort to block the governor's policy and, as Merola told demonstrators on the Capitol steps, "to stop this nonsense."

"The governor is not listening to the people; perhaps he may listen to the courts," Merola said.

"New York residents have stated loudly and clearly that we are not in favor of giving licenses to illegal aliens and all we get from the governor are lectures on how we are wrong, and that if we were as smart as he was, we would understand and support this policy," Merola said.

Merola drew enthusiastic support from the crowd of about 200 people.

Holding a sign that read, "Don't Steamroll Our Safety," Richard Benz, 62, of Wyantskill said, "I voted for Spitzer."

"I regret it."

"Our country needs a lot more border protection."

"We're not against immigration."

"We're against illegal immigrants," said Karen Gilmore, 63, of Albany.

Spitzer, who met privately with Democratic lawmakers, some of whom also dislike the directive, insists it is legal and seemed undeterred by the heavy criticism and a recent poll showing more than 70 percent of New Yorkers dislike his licensing plan.

He said he governs according to principle, not polls.

"That is part of the discourse we have on tough issues and that's wonderful, as it should be," Spitzer said.

"Some of the rhetoric that has been imposed and brought into this issue is not only overheated but ... counterproductive."

Some of Spitzer's Democratic allies in the Senate minority and Assembly majority portrayed him as showing leadership amid fear-mongering and an undercurrent of racism.

Citing the use of fraudulent driver's licenses by the terrorists of Sept. 11, 2001, Bruno and other opponents charged that the governor's program will cause safety and security breaches and voter fraud.

Supporters said Spitzer's move will enhance security by bringing illegal immigrants out of the shadows.

They denounced references to the World Trade Center terrorists.

"Racists ... are having a ball," said Sen. Rubin Diaz Sr., D-Bronx, adding that he was referring to people outside the Senate.

"There is no connection between immigration and terrorism," said Sen. Jose Serrano, D-Bronx.

He backed Spitzer's assertion that New York motorists would save $120 million because illegal immigrants who register their cars will become insured, an estimate from the state Insurance Department that opponents consider dubious.

Following more than three hours of arguments, a bill from Sen. Frank Padavan, R-Bellerose, passed along party lines, 33-19.

The legislation would require applicants for driver's licenses and nondriver identification cards to provide proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful presence in the United States.

A few Democrats in competitive districts voted with the Republicans, including Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Westchester County, David Valesky of Syracuse and Craig Johnson of Nassau County.

Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Bethlehem, said he sided with Spitzer despite opposition from his constituents because he believes extending driving privileges is the right thing to do, and Spitzer's opponents are "pandering to people's emotions."

In the Senate debate and in an Assembly GOP news conference, Republican lawmakers expressed outrage at the governor's failure to consult with them or the public before announcing on Sept. 21 a policy to grant licenses to New York's more than 500,000 illegal immigrants.

That could happen as early as December if an applicant can produce identification such as a passport or birth certificate.

He would no longer need a Social Security number or a letter explaining why he lacks one.

Assembly Republicans plan to push today for legislation blocking the policy and providing immunity to county clerks who defy it.

Although the effort is expected to fail in the Democratic-controlled chamber, Minority Leader James Tedisco said it could help expose Democrats who "have been hiding in the weeds on this issue."

Assemblyman David Townsend, R-Rome, said the Spitzer initiative is part of a conspiracy to get illegal immigrants registered as voters in time to vote for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., next year in the presidential primary and general election.

Under the conspiracy, he said, even "Senor Tedisco" could vote.

Spitzer suggested Townsend's comments are illogical.

"A driver's license is not a ticket to voting," Spitzer said.

M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 or by e-mail at jodato@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

ITHACA JOURNAL

"License controversy: Immigration reform must come from national level"

It is hard to disagree with Tompkins County Clerk Aurora Valenti's decision to follow the directive from Gov. Eliot Spitzer to license illegal immigrant drivers.

Other county clerks — and legislatures — have to take a different tack by refusing to follow the directive.

But both sides are just being pulled into a larger debate that needs to be fixed at the federal level.

We feel Valenti is right to follow the law because, in fact, it is the law.

When she and other clerks took oaths of office, they promised to follow the law as it is, not how they want it to be.

Since the law allows the governor to call the shots on this one, Valenti and other clerks who follow him are doing the right thing.

They can't decide they are not going to uphold the law — we would have an ugly form of anarchy if they did.

Though the driver's license issue has drawn the headlines lately, it is really just one piece of a much larger puzzle.

The federal government needs to revisit the immigration issue and come to a bipartisan compromise that will answer the smaller debates such as if someone who is here illegally should be able to obtain a license.

A piecemeal approach to this problem won't solve anything.

If a compromise could be reached, county clerks wouldn't become foot soldiers in a debate they shouldn't be involved in.

Originally published October 18, 2007

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs....F1014%2FOPINION