WASHINGTON - Pssst. Want to make $1,000? It's easy: just get Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to say whether she supports Gov. Eliot Spitzer's driver's license plan.
That's the offer from one Sept. 11 families group opposed to giving licenses to illegal immigrants.
Spitzer, a Democrat, struck a deal Saturday with the Bush administration to create a three-tiered license system in New York that would create two forms of more secure identification and a third available to illegal aliens.
New Yorkers have been arguing about the issue for a month, but Clinton struggled Tuesday night at a presidential debate to say what her position was. The group 9/11 Families for a Secure America, which has pushed the government to tighten border security and crack down on illegal immigration, publicly offered $1,000 on Wednesday to anyone who “can get a straight answer” out of Clinton on the subject.
“It's frustrating. I mean, come on, take a position,” said the group's leader, Peter Gadiel, whose son James died at the World Trade Center.
Clinton spokesman Blake Zeff replied: “It looks like they'll be sending the charity of our choice a thousand dollars, because Sen. Clinton's position on this is crystal clear.”
Her campaign issued a statement saying Clinton supports “governors like Governor Spitzer” in trying to address a national problem, one that she said she will fix through comprehensive immigration reform when she becomes president. The statement did not say if she supports Spitzer's license plan.
During the debate, Clinton initially voiced support for Spitzer's effort. Then, when Sen. Chris Dodd objected, Clinton said she wasn't saying it should be done, but recognized why Spitzer is trying to do it even though she didn't think it's “the best thing for any governor to do.”
Rival John Edwards fired back: “Unless I missed something, Senator Clinton said two different things in the course of about two minutes.”
Added Sen. Barack Obama: “I can't tell whether she was for it or against it.”
In her home state, Republicans were just as confused.
Sandy Treadwell, a former state GOP chairman now running for Congress, criticized Clinton for supporting the Spitzer plan, while Assembly Republican Leader Jim Tedisco said the senator should “make up her mind.”
Clinton's fellow Democratic senator Charles Schumer was equally vague Wednesday, but more concise.
“I am not commenting on the state plan,” Schumer told reporters.
Spitzer said the plan the Department of Homeland Security agreed to over the weekend would be a major improvement to security and bring undocumented immigrants out of the shadows of society. Under the plan, part of which is scheduled to begin next year, New York will produce one ID that will be as secure as a passport and is intended for people who will soon need the document for even a drive to Canada.
Spitzer, a Democrat, struck a deal Saturday with the Bush administration to create a three-tiered license system in New York that would create two forms of more secure identification and a third available to illegal aliens.
New Yorkers have been arguing about the issue for a month, but Clinton struggled Tuesday night at a presidential debate to say what her position was. The group 9/11 Families for a Secure America, which has pushed the government to tighten border security and crack down on illegal immigration, publicly offered $1,000 on Wednesday to anyone who “can get a straight answer” out of Clinton on the subject.
“It's frustrating. I mean, come on, take a position,” said the group's leader, Peter Gadiel, whose son James died at the World Trade Center.
Clinton spokesman Blake Zeff replied: “It looks like they'll be sending the charity of our choice a thousand dollars, because Sen. Clinton's position on this is crystal clear.”
Her campaign issued a statement saying Clinton supports “governors like Governor Spitzer” in trying to address a national problem, one that she said she will fix through comprehensive immigration reform when she becomes president. The statement did not say if she supports Spitzer's license plan.
During the debate, Clinton initially voiced support for Spitzer's effort. Then, when Sen. Chris Dodd objected, Clinton said she wasn't saying it should be done, but recognized why Spitzer is trying to do it even though she didn't think it's “the best thing for any governor to do.”
Rival John Edwards fired back: “Unless I missed something, Senator Clinton said two different things in the course of about two minutes.”
Added Sen. Barack Obama: “I can't tell whether she was for it or against it.”
In her home state, Republicans were just as confused.
Sandy Treadwell, a former state GOP chairman now running for Congress, criticized Clinton for supporting the Spitzer plan, while Assembly Republican Leader Jim Tedisco said the senator should “make up her mind.”
Clinton's fellow Democratic senator Charles Schumer was equally vague Wednesday, but more concise.
“I am not commenting on the state plan,” Schumer told reporters.
Spitzer said the plan the Department of Homeland Security agreed to over the weekend would be a major improvement to security and bring undocumented immigrants out of the shadows of society. Under the plan, part of which is scheduled to begin next year, New York will produce one ID that will be as secure as a passport and is intended for people who will soon need the document for even a drive to Canada.
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