Indiana offers new license plates

[Soldier4Christ]

Indiana offers new license plates

If you have strong views opposing abortion, you can now make a statement on the back of your car.

Starting in January, a new Indiana license plate called "Choose Life" will be available.

The plate's design has yet to be approved by the state, but it's expected to look similar to the Florida plate.

The Indiana Association of Pregnancy Centers petitioned for the plates.

Money for the sale of each plate will support the group's nearly one hundred centers.

Indiana is the 14th state to offer the "Choose Life" plate.


Indiana's decision to offer a "Choose Life" license plate could generate millions of dollars for anti-abortion centers seeking to spread their message.

The plate, commissioned by the Indiana Association of Pregnancy Centers, reflects a growing trend toward drivers who want to profess their beliefs and interests -- and organizations who hope to capitalize on those statements.

Indiana currently offers 55 plates and plans to release 10 more in 2007 -- including the "Choose Life" plate and another that says "In God We Trust." Purchasers pay a $15 fee plus a donation of up to $25 to organizations representing pet lovers, the environment, advocates for children, colleges and universities, veterans and even sports enthusiasts.

"Plates, to a degree, are an extension of one's personality," said BMV spokesman Greg Cook. "They obviously help bring in revenue and also help the organization gain awareness."

The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles sold more than 300,000 specialty plates last year and collected $2.7 million. Virginia, which has 180 specialty license plates, collected $6.9 million through specialty plates in fiscal year 2005, said Bill Foy, a spokesman with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.

Another $1.9 million went to the groups whose interests the Virginia plates reflected- including tobacco heritage, greyhound adoption, foxhunting, home schooling and friends of Tibet.

The state also offers dozens of college and university plates, including out-of-state schools such as Texas A&M and Penn State. Plates are in the works that feature juvenile diabetes, adoption and scuba diving.

"It's one of those things that have mushroomed," Foy said. "It really has just taken off."

Though groups like the revenue, the volume of specialty plates can be a headache for law enforcement officials to track.

"It's kind of like Pandora's box -- once you open it you can't get it shut," said Indiana State Police 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten. "You just live with it the best you can."

Melissa Savage, a policy analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures, said some states are finding it's difficult for administrators to track numerous plates.

"There's certainly some states out there that are trying to rein it in," Savage said.

Some more controversial plates, such as those supporting anti-abortion views, have spurred lawsuits across the country. In March, a federal appeals court ruled Tennessee could sell license plates that say "Choose Life," even though it doesn't offer one with an abortion rights message. The court later delayed production of the plates so opponents could appeal. Challenges also have been raised in other states.

Indiana's "Choose Life" plates- which will bring money to the Indiana Association of Pregnancy Centers- are expected to withstand any court challenge because they were created administratively through the BMV, not by a legislative vote that could favor one political position over another.

Dan Steiner, president of the association, hopes to raise millions of dollars over several years for centers that offer abortion alternatives. The plates could also raise awareness, he said.

"It's non-confrontational," Steiner said. "It's positive."

During this year's legislative session, the General Assembly passed a bill to create the "In God We Trust" plate, which does not include an extra fee and is not technically a specialty plate.

The state also recently created an Indianapolis Colts series of plates, which were released earlier this year. So far, more than 6,134 have been sold, with part of the proceeds going to help fund the team's new stadium.

If plates don't prove popular, they are discontinued.

Indiana requires at least 2,000 plates to be bought over a span of four years, or an average of 500 plates per year. Dropped plates in Indiana include ones that helped fund the Literacy Foundation, Indiana Mental Health Trust, and the Food Bank Trust, Cook said.

[Soldier4Christ]

A part of a commentary on above article that kind of caught my interest:

State of Indiana to ACLU: Bring It ON!

No no, please try to remain conscious.  It’s a bit more exciting than some boring old “vanity” plate that identifies your college affiliation, or your military branch, or some charity trying to raise money with plate sales (with the state getting half the cut, of course).  Nope, it was something that’ll have the lib/dem/soc/commies squealing like a stuck pig in a mosque full of KC Masterpiece Barbeque Sauce.  The plate, proposed by Indiana Representative Woody Burton (R-Johnson County, House District 58) includes the words “In God We Trust.”

Yeah, I thought that might pique your interests.  As we all know, God has become rather passé in lib/dem/soc/commie circles.  God is inconvenient, and lib/dem/soc/commies don’t like being discommoded by an unseen force.  God is all-powerful, and lib/dem/soc/commies don’t want anybody to have power - except themselves, of course.  God tells us what we can and can’t do, and as we all know, lib/dem/soc/commies like to reserve that privilege for themselves.

And God help you (pun intended) if you want to mention It in a pledge, on a coin, on a slab of granite inside a state courthouse, or (Shock! Horror!) on a license plate!  The ACLU has done everything possible to remove God from public.  Can’t pray on a public street if it’s too close to a place where babies are murdered.  Can’t pray in a classroom (although it happens every day - ask any kid who hasn’t studied for the BIG test).  Can’t mention Jesus in a prayer even if you’re a Christian who also happens to be a Navy Chaplain.

Can’t even have a memorial cross to our slain heroes on the top of Mount Soledad in San Diego either.

All because of a non-existent “establishment clause.”  A clause which appears NOWHERE in the Constitution of the United States of America.  That actually comes from a letter that Jefferson sent to some folks.  A clause which has been used to actually circumvent another important part of the Constitution.  Oh, the ACLU will beat their breasts about the first part of the First Amendment - “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”  However, they always seem to forget the second half of that sentence - “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Well, the Indiana State House is flying the flag, folding their hands and thumbing their noses at the ACLU.  About bloody time, too.

The e-Mail that Mom sent me wasn’t to tell me about the passage of the bill, though.  It was a link to a company that is giving Indiana residents the opportunity to vote on which of the following four designs they like the best.

Oh, I’m sure there are people out there right now, soiling themselves at the thought of some upstart, bible-thumping, flyover state in Dumb-istan (as some lib/dem/soc/commies actually refer to “red” states) having the temerity to actually mention the ‘G’ word on a public way like this.  No doubt, there are hundreds of lawyers out there, mobilizing their hate-God-hate-America teams to protest this affront to their lack of beliefs.

Nevertheless, to normal, honest, hardworking people, God means a lot.  We have every right, under the Constitution, to display our faith that there IS a God.  The Statehouse, a place that is NOT Congress, had every legal right to do this.  And We, The People, have every right to get one of those plates on our cars (our personal property) and display our faith in a Creator as well as our nifty driving skills.

So, if any of you lawyers, you ACLU types, want to complain about this, I’ve got a simple message to you from the VAST majority of Hoosiers.

Bring it on!

We want our Country back.  We want our Constitution back.  And we want God back.  In public.  Where God belongs.  If you don’t like that, Tough!  Learn to live with it.  Move to another state.  Or another country.  Just leave us be, or you’ll have a fight on your hands that I promise you’ll lose.  Badly.

If you do not live in Indiana, but you’re interested in getting a similar style of plate in your State, you might want to send a note to your State legislators.  Who knows - perhaps us poor, dumb, hick, redneck, white-trash rep/con/tairs will keep these idiots so busy that they won’t have the chance to intrude on all those other parts of our lives!

Oh, by the way - if you’re a lib/dem/soc/commie, and you see one of those license plates on the car in front of you, just squeeze your eyes shut real tight, stick your fingers in your ears and sing at the top of your lungs to make that sight go away.  Right before your car veers off and hits a tree, that is.  If you’re lucky, you might actually get a chance to find out if God exists - right before He kicks your sorry butt straight to hell.