IdaBlue

I think that Mitt moving to the center will underc...

2012-05-01T07:55:34.018-06:00

I think that Mitt moving to the center will undercut the hard-liner tea party types, which might then lead to some legislation actually getting passed, which in turn might help Obama show he's getting stuff done. Exactly the opposite of the Republican strategy the last 3 years.

Interesting take. I've always agreed with the...

2012-04-29T00:31:36.906-06:00

Interesting take. I've always agreed with the conventional wisdom that Mitt will attract moderates after he's rolled out his pre-arranged Etch-a-Sketch campaign to the center right. I hadn't ever thought that any moves to the center would actually hurt him by making Obama look like the (original) reasonable guy in the room. I still tend to go with the former logic, as I think that much of the electorate won't pay much attention to the election until summertime. And by then Mitt will have already re-invented himself as a center-right candidate. But I guess we'll see.

One thing's for sure: Obama will benefit by holding Mitt to his earlier primary campaign statements. Watching Romney wriggle out of his most recent hard-line statements (i.e., immigration, contraception, abortion) at the debates should be entertaining. As in painful.

Of all the great and necessary freedoms listed in ...

2012-04-13T11:59:33.506-06:00

Of all the great and necessary freedoms listed in the First Amendment, freedom to exercise religion (not just to believe, but to live out that belief) is the most important; before freedom of speech, before freedom of the press, before freedom of assembly, before freedom to petition the government for redress of grievances, before all others.
Rich Santorum.

Well, a key difference to me is push vs. pull. An...

2012-03-01T07:54:42.892-07:00

Well, a key difference to me is push vs. pull. An insurer will notify a lienholder of a failure to insure; it will push out the info, and the lienholder gets info on just the one vehicle, in which it has a legit interest.

The nationwide database, OTOH, would be made available to, well, whoever, and anyone with access could check out anyone. Would be very similar if all states combined their motor vehicle records into one database.

Doable, yes, easier on the driver without a smart phone, yes, but a privacy nightmare.

Now, I suppose one could imagine a system where each insurer sent a notice of insurance to each separate state, and the state consolidated them for state use. The insurer notifes the state of new insurance, and in lapses in coverage. Hmmm. Maybe. Not sure it's more efficient than allowing a person to show a smart phone image. Folks without smart phones would still be able to use *shudder* paper.

One step at a time. The legislation this thread is...

2012-02-29T23:37:25.570-07:00

One step at a time. The legislation this thread is about had to do with how a stopped motorist could provide proof of insurance, not how the police would track down scofflaws and remove them from the gene pool.

The state tracks registration. Insurance tracking with notification to 3rd parties is well-established. Combine. Do not invest instead in a new system to serve a small segment of drivers.

"When an officer verifies the registration, i...

2012-02-29T16:15:51.950-07:00

"When an officer verifies the registration, it comes through with the bit, true or false, insured or not insured."

Really how many scofflaws would be discovered in that manner? True enforcement would requiring hunting down the uninsured vehicles and disabling or impounding them in some way.

An excellent, and sad, example of why the Postal S...

2012-02-28T18:46:53.228-07:00

An excellent, and sad, example of why the Postal Service is important to us, and worth paying for.

"the method is in place" Good po...

2012-02-28T18:11:20.588-07:00

"the method is in place"

Good point; a lienholder has that interest in your car's insurance.

"but the state is not interested"

Yes it is! L'etat, c'est moi! I don't see the enforcement nightmare. The bit sits in the database with the registration. When an officer verifies the registration, it comes through with the bit, true or false, insured or not insured.

The state's not yet competent, but that can be fixed.

We recently were able to contact the Gold Star Mot...

2012-02-28T16:26:20.585-07:00

We recently were able to contact the Gold Star Mother of a soldier that had been killed in A'stan after being unable to contact her via mail or phone for several months. We learned that the post office in her small town of 300 people in Northern Idaho had closed and the Post Office set up PO Boxes for them 25 miles away in Bonners Ferry. The kicker is that mail with their old addresses on them was returned to sender 60 days after the change, so most of our correspondence to her was sent back to us. She had no phone service in the town either.

A couple of the companies I contract for are liste...

2012-02-28T14:42:38.737-07:00

A couple of the companies I contract for are listed on my auto policy as "Parties of Interest" and are notified of any changes or cancellations. The method is in place but the state is not interested. Even if they are notified the best they could do is cancel the vehicles registration but the owner still has the tags. An enforcement nightmare.

Fixed the mistake. I guess the old soldier in me ...

2012-02-28T07:56:21.245-07:00

Fixed the mistake. I guess the old soldier in me just wants to leave out the i.

I'm not as organized as you. My insurer no lo...

2012-02-28T07:51:47.529-07:00

I'm not as organized as you. My insurer no longer mails out the proofs, so I have to log on, down load, print, and put in my car, twice a year, for 2 cars. Being able to do it on the phone saves me all but the first step.

Yes, a nationwide database of all drivers linking all states and all insurance companies could work, but I suspect civil libertarians would object. And it would need to be nationwide, to enable cross-border trips.

Do be careful about passing ordnance near your nat...

2012-02-27T22:11:37.839-07:00

Do be careful about passing ordnance near your natural gas production activity. Or vice versa.

Maybe if I hadn't successfully carried my proo...

2012-02-27T19:04:42.620-07:00

Maybe if I hadn't successfully carried my proof of insurance (along with my registration) in my glove boxes for 30+ years, and if I had a smartphone, this would strike me as brilliant! instead of as "meh."

What if the state required that an insurer of an Idaho-registered vehicle had to send an electronic notice to the state that VIN#xyz had paid-for insurance through some date? And that if the contract was cancelled or otherwise terminated before that date, the insurer was required to notify similarly?

When the police needed to look up the registration, the record would include a bit for insured yes, or no.

This does not sound like "model legislation" to me, but a rather a significant waste of resources.

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2012-02-21T18:12:43.481-07:00

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thanks for sharing us.Its true that the first year...

2012-02-14T08:54:49.076-07:00

thanks for sharing us.Its true that the first year it did take some time to do a decent survey. We sent a property survey out to various department heads, and they sent it down to their mangers.

Exactly right.

2012-02-12T10:16:00.065-07:00

Exactly right.

It's all about the majority parties arrogance,...

2012-02-12T08:28:36.976-07:00

It's all about the majority parties arrogance, they don't think they have to listen to anyone. So for those who are vocal they do everything they can to shut them up!

Ellsworth is a graduate of BYU.

2012-02-11T18:18:22.154-07:00

Ellsworth is a graduate of BYU.

I agree, it is political theatre and will be ineff...

2012-02-09T10:41:28.114-07:00

I agree, it is political theatre and will be ineffectual. I just don't like that it perpetuates the idea that drinking is immoral and deserving of punishment.

Ostensibly aimed at drinking AND driving, true, but I still think it stigmatizes drinking alcohol.

Oh, c'mon. Your argument that this is some po...

2012-02-08T14:26:51.227-07:00

Oh, c'mon. Your argument that this is some politically easy way to please the Mormon vote is not convincing. First, the legislator who is quoted at poking holes in Rep. Ellsworth's logic is none other than Rep. Lynn Luker, a well-known member of the LDS Church. Second, it's patently obvious that what's going on is simply that Rep. Ellsworth is looking for an easy and painless way to mollify voters who are still upset that Rep. McGee suffered too little for his summer DUI. It's political cover against the barbs of the all-government-is-corrupt wing of her party.

In the end, the law is just political theater -- a silly law aimed at giving the party-in-power political cover for not doing something to McGee. It will do nothing to dissuade future DUI's. And it's certainly not aimed at just pleasing teetotalers.

Well, that's were we disagree. I don't th...

2012-02-02T07:44:43.749-07:00

Well, that's were we disagree. I don't think our financial burdens are unsustainable. We have the wherewithal to pay for our spending, but not the political will to do so.

Hopefully, Idaho will resist pressures to expand g...

2012-02-01T22:26:31.134-07:00

Hopefully, Idaho will resist pressures to expand government the same way so many other states have as they now grapple with unsustainable financial burdens. A little more balance in such blog posts would be nice.

It's obvious Denney is just upset because his ...

2012-01-29T12:24:35.154-07:00

It's obvious Denney is just upset because his own phannie is in the ring 4 other incumbents. I see he doesn't seem to be so vocally upset about the new map approved as of this weeekend which has him safely alone.

Hopefully it all turns out well

2012-01-26T09:36:20.800-07:00

Hopefully it all turns out well