In God We Trust - The License Plate

Indiana has always offered alternate license plates. They did this long before other states because they held a competition for license plates that often resulted in a "butt ugly" plate. So people always chose something different when given the opportunity. Consider these:

When the "Wander Indiana" plate was issued the environmental plate became popular. Twenty five dollars goes to support the Indiana Heritage Trust dedicated to securing more lands for conservation, recreation and preservation purposes-like state parks and such. Fifteen dollars goes to administrative fees. So for forty bucks you can adorn your vehicle with this beauty instead of one of the "butt uglies".

Soon after, the "Kids First" plate became equally popular. Twenty five dollars goes to the Indiana Kids Trust fund towards programs for the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Not only is it a worthy cause, but the plate is cool as can be!

This was followed in popularity by the "Education" plate with a cute picture of Garfield. Jim Davis, the Garfield creator, is a Hoosier. The proceeds of this plate go to school corporations, as us Hoosiers call our school districts. The money is to be used to recognize students. Both the "Kids First" and the "Education" plate carry a fifteen dollar administrative fee.

You can even get a plate to support your college. Of course you must pay the fifteen dollar administrative fee. Here are a few notable ones.

This is our current plate, known as the "regular" plate.

Last year the state came up with an alternate plate, the "In God We Trust" plate. Perhaps it was as a result of the controversy over the prayer said before the General Assembly begins work for the day. Someone sued that it endorsed religion. The Speaker of the House continued to recognize God and "in the name of our Savior" during the debate of the law suit. But they won and I think now the Speaker has to be a little more politically correct. Why I even think he had a rabbi say a prayer this year. Here is the "In God We Trust" plate.

Interesting enough there is no administrative fee for this plate, nor do the proceeds go to any cause. This year because of Rep. Woody Burton of Greenville you may have this plate for free! It is your choice. You can get a sticker for the "regular" green plate or you can have this red, white, and blue beauty for free. Yep! The taxpayers are footing the bill at the cost of $3.89 a plate for a total of $1 million dollars towards road upkeep lost. That's right, free plate and crummy roads!

This is Indiana and if we are going to charge fifteen dollars administrative fees for donating twenty-five dollars to a Hoosier tradition like the one to the right, why would give a break to Francis Scott Key? (The phrase "In God We Trust" started with his last verse of "The Star Spangled Banner" before it was hammered into our coins.)

Of course some people are preferring the plate below this year. The proceeds go to supporting the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority (ISCBA) to help defray the costs of the Lucas Oil Stadium and Convention Center expansion project.
I like the Colts plate myself. But, I would prefer a different look for it. It should be a blue plate with a white Colts helmet. The blue horseshoe should be prominent. Instead of "Go Colts" it should say:

"In Peyton We Trust"

-willi