California’s Dim Idea

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Monika Bauerlein,
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On the off chance that you thought there was any intelligent life in California’s capital, here’s the latest from Sacramento:

Motorists who already feel bombarded by digital billboards, freeway advertisements and vinyl-wrapped buses say a new proposal to put ads on license plates is a bad sign. State lawmakers’ flirtation with digital license plates moved another step forward Monday as the Assembly Transportation Committee voted 9-0 in favor of a feasibility study to determine if advertising revenue from millions of digital license placards would help close the state’s $19.1-billion deficit.

This is surely one of the most moronic ideas in history. Just think: in the near future, California drivers could be distracted not just by digital billboards, digital phones, and digital nav systems, but by millions of blinking, flashing, scrolling digital license plates! And just to make the idea even better, there’s no chance that this would have more than the most minuscule effect on the state budget. It’s perfect! No wonder the feasibility study passed unanimously.