Dems Who Oppose Spitzer's License Plan on Principle
The Times Union offered a gift of sorts to Democrats in the state Senate queasy about voting to allow illegal immigrant to obtain a driver’s license. By reporting on the technological difficulties some DMV machines have in detecting phony documents, senators can now, legitimately, say they oppose the plan because the technology isn’t there yet.
That’s how Jeff Klein had previously hedged his concerns about the issue before voting against the measure.
Seven other Democrats joined him.
I just got off the phone with Tom Staudter, a spokesman for one of them, Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
At first, he pointed to the TU story and the technological troubles as the reason for Stewart-Cousins’ objection.
But when those kinks get worked out, I asked, would she support it?
“She still has a problem, in a sense, giving people a privilege that is conferred by the state,” Staudter told me. “The other thing is she is still looking at the plan.”
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aren't democrats supposed to believe that government is a good thing that can be used to help people? then why are democratic state senators saying they have no faith in the DMV?
why? because it is a cop out.
fact is that senators klein and stewart-cousins are scared shitless that their vote for the governor's plan will be used against them by the GOP in 2008. which is why i support term-limits!!! these people let elections dictate their policy positions. if they knew they only had 8 years in office, perhaps they would vote with their hearts and minds, and not out of fear of losing their next election.
i also think it is sad that these senators are so scared of their own constituents....
i hope governor spitzer remembers how these senate democrats threw them under the bus and realizes that a democrat controlled senate will not be the end of his problems. why should spitzer go out of his way to help any of these career politicians ever again?
In a democracy legislators are supposed to represent the will of their consituents. Being "so scared" as you put it of the people that hire and fire you is generally a good thing, it makes people more responsive and accountable.
The problem with gov't today is so few seats are drawn to be competitive there is no accountability. Fortunately, there are still a few hot button issues that these people will have to answer for their votes on. Gay marriage is one, this is another. Can't wait for next November!!
It's one thing to represent your district. It is a totally different story to cast a vote based on political circumstances.
NYS has a 93% reelection rate for its state legislators; incumbents spend on average 10xs more than challengers in the Assembly and the Senate.
Then we wonder why we have the country's worst state government.
Governor Spitzer may be the only noble state official we have and the media is turning on him. Why? Because he is a badass who refuses to play by their shitty rules.
I am being a little hard, but for reason. Spitzer is a really good public official and has stuck his neck out on the line for New York and the Democrats so far. He has taken a beaten for it too.
He is trying to bring new life to the state. The Republicans in the Senate have killed all of his legislative ideas, so Spitzer is using the powers of the executive branch to bring changes via the agencies....(which by the way, the republicans refuse to appoint his agency heads).
The senate Dems just devalued Spitzer and made him look weak (during a time that spitzer is down)because unlike him they are unwilling to stick their necks out on the line for New York and the party's long term goals. I think they are betraying the governor and he happens to be 100% right on this issue. They are just too short-sighted and scared to follow him by sticking their necks out a little to actually accomplish something. I think, they are in effect kicking him while he is down.
Isn't a legitimate concern if the technology doesn't work?
From what I've read, 21 other states use the same technology without problem. Like the original post of this blog says, this Times Union article was a gift.
the problem here is the dishonesty...
if klein and co. simply said something like:
"At this point, we can't support this measure because a majority of our district believes that giving illegals a driver's license is a bad idea. We have a conference to worry about."
Then fine....No problem...
And that is prob. exactly the conversation that went on behind closed doors.
But when they try to rationalize their vote in this sloppy and silly way, it just insults the intelligence of the people they are supposed to represent. And I think acting like this actually has the opposite effect. Meaning, behaving like this isn't going to appease people against illegal aliens. It is only going to entrench those same people's view that they have a soft-bellied liberal representative in the state senate. so these senators are alienating their base while at the same time not really gaining any points with conservatives. so not only are they wrong on the issue, they are playing very sloppy politics.
excellent work! keep up the good job.
In retrospect, maybe Klein and Co. were right for voting against the plan. Still though, I think dems in general need to be more party orientated if they want to stand a chance of taking the majority in the senate. They need to get mean!!! They need to get nas-tay!!!!
I agree that this is bad politics. The Republicans are almost always able to unite together (even if some individual members may be harmed), vote as a block, and as a united body go into attack mode against the Democrats.
Every man for himself in the Democratic party. Instead of coming together, voting as a block, and attacking Joe Bruno and the Majority for being racists who use emotions instead of fact to back their argument, they undercut each other and shoot themselves in the foot.
The Democratic Party will always be at a competitive disadvantage if they continue to act in this manner.