(From our friends at the Drum Major Institute. I'll have more on this later. Short version is that I think the Governor's plan is solid policy. I really do. However, I think the ineptitude with which it was introduced has likely killed it. In this piece Andrea describes a "conversation" about an important issue. I'm all for that, but the Governor ceded the progressive half of that immediately by saying, well, by saying nothing. My take on this is very close to Bouldin's. Regardless, I am awfully tired of watching a blowdried blowhard like Dobbs spout Bruno's "spoiled, rich kid brat" schtick. - promoted by phillip anderson)
post by Drum Major Institute's Andrea Batista Schlesinger Lou Dobbs is at it again. His target this time? Governor Eliot Spitzer and his plan to provide drivers licenses to New Yorkers regardless of their citizenship.
In developing your own opinion on the Governor's proposal consider this: If, like Lou Dobbs, you believe political pandering that exploits fear should be used to stall a much-needed conversation about immigration policy, you should join his knee-jerk opposition to Governor Spitzer's plan. But if you want a common-sense approach that follows the lead of eight other states and would make New York's people and streets safer, go with the Governor.
Here's some video of the Governor addressing the meeting of the New York State Democratic Committee yesterday out on Long island. In this clip he explains his support for the practice of granting drivers licenses to the undocumented and calls out those who have invoked the terrorist-9/11-Iranian president boogeyman in discussing it. More video later today.
Joe Bruno has been generally supportive of allowing the undocumented to obtain driver licenses. Ensuring that as many people on our streets are licensed and insured is smart policy. Now those who oppose such measures are dragging out the GOP's favorite boogeyman, "voter fraud", and Uncle Joe has joined the chorus.
Critics of Gov. Spitzer's decision to grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens warned yesterday that it will make it easier for noncitizens to register to vote.
"They can vote, [and] they're not even legal," said Republican Senate Majority leader Joseph Bruno, who yesterday changed gears from Monday, when he was receptive to Spitzer's action.
Speaking on WROW-AM radio in Albany, Bruno said he believes part of Spitzer's intent in allowing driver's licenses for illegal immigrants was to get more Democratic voters.
"This is a political move on the part of the governor to get these people beholden to him," Bruno said.
Where to start? First, this is New York, Joe. In case you haven't noticed, Democrats already hold a 5-3 registration advantage, and advantage that widens by the day as the Republican "brand" is driven further into the ground by your party's "leadership". To suggest that Dems need to resort to such chicanery to "get more democratic voters" is beyond ridiculous.
Secondly, as Josh Marshall and his crew at TPM have documented quite thoroughly over the past year, in person voter fraud is a myth. It simply doesn't exist in the US anymore. It only exists as a means of suppressing the legal votes of those who historically vote for Democrats by Republicans. Period.
Oppose safer streets if you like, Joe, but this particular conspiracy theory is tired and utterly baseless.
I'm loathe to link to this whackadoo, but this piece by one Tony Dolz, who claims to be a "National Security Analyst" with something called the California Coalition for Immigration Reform is just too...special to let it just pass without some comment. Hell, the title alone is extremely entertaining. Here's a taste in all its grammatically challenged, fact free glory:
The driver's licenses for illegal aliens bill was signed into law September 21 in the state capital by a grinning Governor Eliot Spitzer while getting backslapped by employers of illegal aliens, immigration law attorneys, churches that get a cut of government grants to aid mostly illegal aliens and brazen representatives of the increasingly politically aggressive illegal alien community.
The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is supplying weapons to Al-Qaida, the international terrorist organization, with which to kill Americans in Iraq and Afganistan (NY Times Sept 20th, 2007). You and I would not trust Ahmadinejad loose in the United States with a valid New York driver's license giving him access to places and information that are dangerous to us, but it does not bother Governor Eliot Spitzer one bit. Ahmadinejad has not gone missing in America yet, he is under constant watch, but did you know that between September 11, 2001 and September 11, 2005 91,000 persons from countries that harbor terrorism have been apprehended at our border with Mexico (According to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, it is estimated that for each one caught it is estimated that 4 or 5 are never spotted crossing).
Many of those apprehended had made a long journey starting in the Middle East and proceeding to Spain, then to South American, finally to Mexico and eventually, up to two years later and after paying up to $50,000 to Mexican criminal cartels, into our country through our unprotected borders?
...
Who would make a circuitous journey taking two years, through three continents, and after all those travel difficulties and costs pay an additional $50,000 to a Mexican criminal cartel to help them violate our borders? Could these persons of interest in paying so much money to get a minimum wage job at a 7-Eleven store in an illegal alien enclave in New York City?
...
What if we are targeted again and some of the terrorists were carrying New York State driver's licenses? Would an apology from Governor Eliot Spitzer be sufficient then or would he deserve a special place in hell instead?
It should also be noted that Mr. Dolz is a "founding member" of the "Minutemen border security and immigration reform grass-roots organization ("America's Biggest Neighborhood Watch") and the State of California Legislative Liaison for the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps."
(I saw this this morning as well. Nice one, Newsday. - promoted by phillip anderson)
(UPDATE! Just got off the phone with Newsday and their online editor was very responsive. They'll use more objective descriptions & represent the range of opinions next time around).
* * * Newsday is a serious regional newspaper -- the kind we could use more of. That's why I was so disgusted to see this push-poll full of false choices on their website this morning. Everyone knows that immigration is a hotly debated topic in Long Island, a situation exacerbated by the political maneuvering of a certain ambitious elected who should know better.
That does not excuse a legitimate newspaper from creating an online push-poll using skewed language which asks respondents to make a choice between unfeasible, destructive options and a coded language slur constructed to bias the public against comprehensive immigration reform. According to Newsday here are the only opinions one can have on immigration policy (and the percentage they poll right now).
14.7%
Tougher border and visa control (57 responses)
70.2%
Tougher control, deportation of undocumented (273 responses)
8.7%
Tougher control, some kind of amnesty (34 responses)
3.1%
Tougher control, amnesty (12 responses)
1.5%
Amnesty (6 responses)
1.8%
None, it's fine as it is (7 responses)
Long Island WINS, a new campaign to change the currently toxic debate over immigration on the island is going on television with their message on the shared interest of immigrants and middle class Long Islanders. Today they are launching a significant Long Island media buy of innovative T.V. commercials available at the campaign’s website, longislandwins.com and YouTube. If you're on the Island you'll see them on News 12 and on cable.
Long Island continues to be one of the places most divided over immigration. Last week Adelphi University and the Horace Hagedorn Foundation released a study with results that combat some negative myths about the impact Hispanics (the largest immigrant population in the area) have on Long Island's economy. The study shows:
Long Island Hispanics contribute nearly a billion dollars a year in taxes and other revenues to local government, far more than they use in public services, producing a net benefit to the public of $202 million a year. Consumer spending by Hispanics produced an additional $5.7 billion impact on the Long Island economy, creating more than 52,000 jobs.
In today's Newsday, the biggest paper in Long Island, conservative columnist Raymond J. Keating came out in support of their new study and in support of treating immigrants with respect. In a great column he writes
Locally, it's time for some groups to stop kicking around immigrants, and instead start recognizing the role they play in keeping Long Island's economy afloat. Common-sense economics and basic human decency dictate welcoming immigrants and aiding their assimilation.
I hope his well argued support makes other potential allies take notice. Marginalizing immigrants as enforcement-only immigration reform would do inhibits their ability to contribute to the economy and makes them even more vulnerable to exploitation by employers (thus making unscrupulous employers want to hire only easily exploited immigrants). Recognizing the economic contributions of immigrants is key to creating comprehensive immigration reform that strengthens and expands the American Middle Class. For more on that check out DMI's report on immigration and the middle class.
(The Drum Major Institute is doing truly great work on this issue. - promoted by lipris)
(the following is by DMI's Director of Research Amy Traub - and yes, xposted from the DMIBlog)
Back in 1980, fewer than one out of every twenty Long Islanders was Hispanic. Today, the proportion is nearly one in eight. The swiftness of this demographic change has fueled ethnic tensions, with both anti-immigrant sentiment and generalized racism against Hispanic Americans on the rise.
Some of the nation's most virulent anti-immigrant proposals have erupted from Long Island's elected officials, from Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy to local Congressional Representative Peter King, co-sponsor of the harsh and unworkable immigration bill H.R. 4437. At the same time, vicious hate crimes against Hispanics on Long Island have repeatedly made headlines.
Bridging the ethnic divide is a long process, but a new report published by the Horace Hagedorn Foundation may help Long Islanders begin to appreciate their Hispanic neighbors -- and their important contribution to the Long Island economy -- a bit more.
Tuesday night, Working Families suceeded in defeating proposed anti-immigrant legislation in the Suffolk County Legislature by a vote of 10 to 6.
Hopefully this win signals the beginning of a change in political discourse. Here's Brian Schneck, Co-Chair of the Suffolk Chapter of the Working Families Party:
"The tide is turning in Suffolk County . . . After several years of grandstanding politicians riding a wave of anti-immigrant animus, people are starting to return to their senses. Common-sense values of decency and tolerance prevailed last night.
. . .
Legislators need to know that working families are looking for real solutions to the problems facing us here on Long Island, not useless political grandstanding.
. . .
There are many victims of our nation's inadequate immigration policies, as well as the failure of government to enforce labor laws. But this bill only fueled the flames of misunderstanding and intolerance."
