Important headlines for February 6th
Bottom Line: These are stories you don't want to miss and my hot takes on them...
Crashes skyrocket as more drivers text - Sun Sentinel
Excerpt: Legislation to make Florida’s law tougher has failed repeatedly, and the state has no system to track how often cellphones lead to crashes. But an analysis of 3 million crashes by the South Florida Sun Sentinel found that collisions typical of texting and driving are increasing at a staggering rate.
While the total number of accidents increased by 11 percent from 2013 to 2016, crashes caused by careless driving rose by as much as four times that amount – even after accounting for more cars on the road.
Hot Take: The temptation anytime there's a problem is to assert that if only we had more laws...What like immigration laws for example? How about drinking and driving since we're on the topic of risky road behavior? That's the narrative this story takes as a bill to make texting while driving continues to gain traction in the state session and to be sure this Sun Sentinel story is rife with an agenda. Get beyond the presentation of the story and the information is instructive and alarming. Careless driving accidents up by around 400% in a few years! That's a problem. And doubtlessly texting is at the root of the problem. Here's an alarming stat for you...According to recent research by the FIA Foundation those who text while driving are twice as likely to cause a crash as compared to a drunk driver!
Yes, texting while driving needs to stop (along with drunk driving). The only way this will happen will be by people taking responsibility and stopping the behavior. Texting while driving is careless driving which is already a primary offense. Make it a point of emphasis by police and go from there. Texting while driving can't even be proven as anything other than careless driving because a warrant is required to observe activity on a phone. So go ahead with the feel good bill if that does it for you but understand that personal responsibility is what's needed most.
Polls Swing Toward Republicans, Easing Midterm Fears Alexander Bolton, The Hill
Hot Take: Best economy in 20 years. Biggest year over year increase in net take home pay in 32 years. 100% opposed by every federally elected Democrat. I've literally never seen an entire party at the federal level be proven to be on the wrong side of history within a year but here it is. Democrats have literally opposed the entire Trump agenda that's led to this prosperity. The agenda has literally been "resistance" of President Trump - which they thought was a winner as long as they could keep him down. But now that he's persevered through the resistance and certain elements in his own party - well what's the agenda now Democrats? It is true that being anti-something very unpopular can be a winning message (ie Republicans with the Obamacare repeal message that led to massive gains in midterms). Historically however, people are much more inclined to vote for something they believe in as opposed to something they're simply opposing - especially when what they're opposing is a better economy.
The midterm cycle still history favors Democrats but what ordinarily would be a slam dunk opportunity for them might be at risk due to the blind hatred of the most successful first year President since at least Ronald Reagan.
Until tomorrow...