Nov 15, 2007 5:43 am US/Eastern
Just Call Him ... Gov. Flip-Flop
In 1 Day, Spitzer Reverses Course On Immigrant Driver's Licenses & Internet Sales Tax
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Governor Eliot Spitzer abandoned his quest to push into law a plan to give all illegal immigrants driver's licenses.
CBS
Governor Eliot Spitzer may have earned the title "Gov. Flip-Flop" on Wednesday.
He changed his mind and backtracked on not one, but two upcoming policy changes.
New Yorkers spoke and this Spitzer listened -- twice as it turned out.
"It does not take a stethoscope to hear the pulse of New Yorkers on this one," Spitzer said in response to the outcry against his plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
However, in typical Spitzer fashion, he went down in typical steamroller fashion – with a blast at his opponents.
"In New York political forces quickly mobilized to prey on the public's worst fears," Spitzer said. "Political opponents equated minimum wage-undocumented dishwashers with Osama bin Laden."
But get this. While it took Spitzer two full months of full bore battering to change course on the immigrants driver's licenses, it took him just one day to realize it would be a very unpopular idea to start charging the state's 8.3 percent sales tax on a lot of Internet purchases right before the holidays.
"He didn't think it would be a good idea to do this now," said state Budget Director Paul Francis, noting that the plan to go after Internet sales was to go into effect Dec. 7.
The new Internet sales tax was not destined to win him new fans.
"I feel that we're paying enough tax," one New Yorker said. "He should leave that alone. Spitzer's messing up. He's just messing up."
The pundits' assessment of Spitzer on driver's licenses before the tax issue came up was not kind.
"This was a disaster for the Democratic Party and a windfall for the Republican Party, and I think this really was a sign of what could hold in the future," said Heather McDonald of the Manhattan Institute.
From day one, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno's Republicans, who were angry over Spitzer's "troopergate" scandal, used the issue to bludgeon him. But a presidential debate question on Spitzer's plan also caused Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton to stumble -- which didn't please her one bit.
Many New Yorkers joined with Sen. Clinton Wednesday in breathing a sigh of relief. Two out of three polled said they were against the plan.
"In today's world we need to be as security oriented as possible so everything should be documented," feels Long Island resident Judd Mohel.
Still, the debate raged over whether political partisanship killed the plan.
"I think the vast majority -- in some cases 70-80 percent of the people -- opposed this idea," said Rep Vito Fossella, R-Staten Island. "I think that transcended party lines. I think that the core of it is that people are genuinely concerned about security."
Chung-Wha Hong of the NY Immigration Coalition said he was "very, very devastated." He felt the decision was a "direct attack on our political system and the viability of the Democratic process."
One man in New Jersey seemed to sum up the governor's plight best.
"(It's) taken away some of the credibility I used to feel for him," Jim Markovic said.
For Spitzer, cutting bait on both issues appeared to be the right thing to do.
A year ago he was elected with overwhelming support, but a new poll found only 25 percent would now vote to re-elect him.
He's lucky the next election is still three years away.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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