Opinion: N.Y. mayor takes a stand on driver’s licenses for illegals

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Californians know well the emotions that swirl around any debate over giving legal driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. Now, the rest of the country is coming to understand it.

We saw some of the furor during Tuesday’s Democratic party debate in Philadelphia where Hillary Clinton seemed to be for giving licenses to illegal immigrants in New York state before she was against giving licenses to illegal immigrants in New York state. Or the other way around. She got nicked over that and keeping her first lady’s papers sealed, as the transcript shows, and next morning quickly pulled out a union endorsement to try to change the subject of public discussion.

Now, for what it’s worth the mayor of New York has weighed in on the issue. The former Democrat-turned-Republican-turned independent Michael Bloomberg says he opposes the plan to give illegals drivers licenses. ‘I do not believe they should,’ Bloomberg said on CNN.

‘The bottom line,’ the billionaire added, ‘is we should be giving driver’s licenses to people knowing who they are and making sure that they have a right to have them.’

As long as Bloomberg was there, Blitz Wolfer asked him, yet again, about running for president. ‘You are asking a person who’s not a candidate,’ the mayor said. ‘I have 791 days left to go in my job. And I plan to finish that.’

‘You plan to finish it. But, zero chance you would run for president this time around?’

‘This country does not need another candidate and I’m not a candidate. And I told you I’m going to speak out. I have every intention of speaking out and traveling around this country and trying to get people to say, look, you know who are running. Tell us what you will do and how do you stop the constant fighting that has immobilized Congress, both parties and both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue?’

You’ll note, of course, that having answered the driver’s license question directly, Bloomberg found himself unable to address the ‘zero chance’ one in the same manner.

--Andrew Malcolm