Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: DOE, don’t nuke my car

Tuesday, March 4, 2003 | 8:32 a.m.

NOW WE HEAR that our nation's largest insurer of car and homeowner policies will no longer cover losses to nuclear exposure.

USA Today newspaper tells us: "The nuclear exclusion will be added to all State Farm auto policies by June 2004. State Farm's commercial and homeowners coverage already carry the exclusion. The policy change excludes coverage for vehicle losses caused by any detonation or release of radiation from any nuclear or radioactive device. ..."

Earlier I heard a televised business report that made this nuclear exclusion very broad.

So allow me to ask if a truck or train carrying nuke waste to Nevada has a problem that affects my car or home, will I also be excluded?

Every state has its share of nuts but a story coming out of Maine last week gave it a lead over the other 49. I'm sure it's only a temporary lead because that state is loaded with great Americans of the past and present. Nevertheless, the story written by Robert Stacy McCain in the Washington Times upset me and other readers.

McCain wrote: "Members of the Maine National Guard, called up to prepare for an attack on Iraq, have asserted that their children are being harassed at school by teachers who oppose the war.

"Guard members say their children are 'coming home upset, depressed, crying,' said Maj. Peter Rogers, a spokesman for The Maine National Guard. "This was based on some incidents that were happening in school, both in the classroom and on the playground."

Continuing, Mr. Cain wrote: "In an e-mail sent to the parents of one child who had complained of harassment at school, National Guard officials said they had 'over 30 complaints that name schools and individual principals, teachers and guidance counselors. ...' "

Before we in Las Vegas get too smug, let's not forget that skinheads in this city harassed the families of some military people assigned to Desert Shield and later Desert storm in 1990-91. We handled that problem and I'm sure Maine will handle its mess.

Sen. Joe Neal may irritate large numbers of people with some of his proposals. I happen to be one of those people, but over the years I have learned not to shut out Neal's voice.

Joe is not a dummy, he is a populist and his mind works night and day. Sometimes it grinds out ideas that sound strange to the majority but they should be heard and evaluated.

Gaming lobbyists shrug off the senator's attempts to raise gambling taxes but none of them want to see an initiative petition that gives voters a shot at this issue.

Over the years the Legislature has modified many of Joe's proposals and passed them into law. The senator has the propensity to overstate some issues and seek what appears to be extreme action to correct what he sees is wrong.

The Democrat from Las Vegas and the Republican majority leader from Reno, Sen. Bill Raggio, may be viewed as opposites, but both are invaluable members of the Nevada State Senate. Both senators have refreshing senses of humor and without them the Senate could be both dull and oftentimes unproductive. Also, different views and experiences are the meat for that great legal sausage machine grinding out the laws that affect our lives as Nevadans.

Does this sound familiar? Joan Vennochi of The Boston Globe reporting on the recent National Governors Assn. meeting in Washington, D.C., zeroed in on Idaho's Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. Kempthorne is one of 13 Republican governors seeking tax increases from their constituents.

Vennochi wrote: "To those who look at his tax proposal and ask, 'How can a Republican governor do that?' Kempthorne has a simple answer: 'We do not have a printing press in the state.'

"Voters are telling him they don't want cuts in education and they don't want new taxes. In response this governor is opting to tell them the tough truth: They can't have one without the other."

Sound familiar?