BS: Your local election results!

Subject: RE: BS: Your local election results!
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Dec 02 - 12:00 AM

Recounts still coming in. Don't give up the ship.

Subject: RE: BS: Your local election results!
From: NicoleC
Date: 06 Nov 02 - 04:59 PM

I actually voted *shudder* _FOR_ Davis, our sleezy Dem Gov, when we had a fine, upstanding HONEST Green candidate, even if he didn't have a prayer of winning. The polls were so close, and Simon is even worse...

Two years ago, I insisted that I was going to vote my conscience, and not try to play the odds with the election. I still say that. Why the hole got punched for Davis, I don't know, but I did it. I'm rather ashamed of myself.

Subject: RE: BS: Your local election results!
From: Bobert
Date: 06 Nov 02 - 04:29 PM

Well, 0 for whatever. Normal. I even did vote fir one Dem who didn't win. I wasn't gonna vote fir the Dem but I wrote and told the Repub Congresswoman I'd vote against her if she voted fir Junior's War. Well, she did so, hey, being a man of my word, I voted for the Dem becuase there were no other choices. I abstained on the one Senate race because no one was running against the Dem.

Like I said... normal...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Your local election results!
From: NicoleC
Date: 06 Nov 02 - 04:18 PM

That's why I was so surprised that measures to REDUCE taxes here were DEFEATED! Both of 'em, and they were significant decreases. Locally, I think the proponents for the measure did a very good job of pointing out exactly how much money would come out of the budget, and where those cuts were likely to come from, without being hysterical. By equating reduced income with reduce services like fire, police and school crossing guards, the measures were easily defeated.

Perhaps there's a lesson to be learned in an effective way to inform the citizenry. It was a very informed citizenry in this case.

Subject: RE: BS: Your local election results!
From: Genie
Date: 06 Nov 02 - 03:37 PM

Well, the self-proclaimed moderate Republican Gordon Smith handily won re-election to the US Senate from Oregon -- to no one's surprise. (Among other things, he's very personable and good looking and good friends with our Democrat Senator Ron Wyden).

It looks like the Democrats keep the governorship, but by a tiny margin.

Probably the most disgusting (but predictable) happening out here was the defeat of the Iniative measure that would have required labelling of foods containing genetically engineered products. Early polls showed massive support for the measure. Then the big corporations poured about $7,000,000 into a media blitz telling how it would put "the small business folks" out of business (like they really care!) and totally missing the main point of the labelling (which is not just health concerns). The supporters only had about $2,000 for their campaign. Result: the measure is defeated ca. 80%-20%.

More important than the issue of labelling or not labelling genetically engineered foods is the fact that elections (especially ballot measures) seem to be won or lost based on who spends the most. Grassroots candidates and measures don't have much chance against the "megacorporocracy."

The Universal Health Plan Initiative was also soundly defeated -- as it deserved to be. It's a nice idea, but the proposed legislation was not well thought out and was too huge a step to take all at once. I do hope similar but more workable measures will be introduced by the Legislature, with our urging.

A few local and regional races had positive outcomes, IMO. All our Democratic US Representatives won re-election, and most of the State Legislature races went as expected. There was a Metro Councillor race in which the woman who wanted to undermine Portland's "Urban Growth Boundary" (easing the way to LA-type sprawl) was defeated. Yea!!

But the puzzlement to me is this:
Nationwide and even within many states, the voters seemed to vote for tax reduction or rejection of tax increases. The populace seems willing to let mega-billionaires pass on their entire estates tax free to some distant relative (or anyone else of their choosing?) at their death, because "that money has already been taxed and it's unfair to tax it again."
So what do folks in Multnomah County (e.g., Portland) do? They easily pass three measures -- for children's services, parks and recreation, and libraries -- that may each increase PROPERTY TAXES by 3% per year!
Not that the projects aren't worthy, but why are folks so willing to add almost 10% to the property taxes of homeowners who may be on limited, fixed incomes? (Propery taxes in Oregon no longer have any exemption for low income folks, nor can you write off against them the cost of improvements to your property that increase its value.)

Anyway, I think the results in Oregon were on the whole far more positive than the nationwide results.

Genie

Subject: RE: BS: Your local election results!
From: Don Firth
Date: 06 Nov 02 - 03:07 PM

Washington State is in more or less good shape. Two Senators (Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell) both Democrats. Nine Representatives: six Democrats (including the outspoken Jim McDermott from the 7th district—mine) and three Republicans.

Local elections were a bit spotty. The initiative sponsored by the controversial Tim Eyman limiting annual automobile license tab fees to $30.00 passed. The last time this went through, ferry fares went way up and lots of needed highway repairs didn't get done because one of their main revenue supports (license tabs and gas taxes) had been yanked. Some people never learn. But anti-taxes seemed to be the main thrust of the voters this time, failing to take into consideration what services would be lost or drastically cut, including a lot of safety issues.

It's close (absentee ballots yet to count), but it looks like the monorail is going to go through. Seattle has the nation's third worst traffic gridlock, and other than a bus system that further clogs up the streets, no public transportation system. The light-rail system on the drawing boards is a bad joke—a billion dollar tunnel under the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Capitol Hill that's turning out to be an engineers and geologists nightmare—and endless bitching and complaining from the people it's supposed to eventually serve, provided they live long enough. The new monorail will be a lot neater than the current Seattle icon that just runs a mile and a half from Westlake to the Seattle Center. It will be cheaper and faster to build, runs above the streets, leaving them fully usable, can climb steeper grades than light-rail (making tunnels unnecessary), won't get involved in traffic accidents, is non-polluting, and it will be a whole lot less expensive to operate. Also, if the routes don't work out, it's a fairly easy job to remove the pylons and tracks and put them somewhere else. Can't do that with a tunnel. Yet for some totally bizarre and unexplained reason many of the Powers That Be have tried to stop it despite the fact that the voters have voted for it three times now. I think that a lot of the people who voted against it this time didn't realize that the planned Ballard to West Seattle run is only the first of a potentially area-wide system, hopefully replacing the cockamamie multi-billion dollar light-rail plan. Maybe this time the monorail will make it beyond the drawing boards.

It didn't seem to be much of an issue this time around, but I still wonder why it is that the Powers that Be in Seattle can't seem to find the funds to do something for the 7,000 homeless, in this area, most of whom are working poor—but they can find the money to build two brand new sports stadiums (stadia?). But that sort of thing seems to be the general thrust of the whole nation's domestic policy. Screw the people. Follow the money.

Better hunker down. Our foreign policy is a real goat's breakfast, and the international situation is going to be a real doozy.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Your local election results!
From: NicoleC
Date: 06 Nov 02 - 12:51 PM

Well, here in CA, Gray Davis handily won after some nail-biting preliminary results, Gary Condit lost, eBay exec Steve Westly barely won the State Controller's seat. Overall, democrats won pretty big, catching Gov, Controller, Sec of State, Insurance Commissioner, Treasurer, Lt. Gov (we vote them separately, a Latino won the first state-wide office since the 1800's), and Attorney General.

And voter turnout was in the gutter. A new low, I believe.

SF thumbed their noses at the homeless by defeating both legislation to build homeless shelters and cutting a food stipend that a couple thousand homeless people get from the local government. SF passed proposition requiring the government to explore the possibility of growing and distributing medical marijuana. Several tax hike propositions failed.

In Sacramento, both propositions to CUT utility taxes failed and we sold lord knows how many billions of dollars in bonds for the same issues we sold bonds last year and the year before that and will again next year.

Subject: RE: BS: Your local election results!
From: Troll
Date: 06 Nov 02 - 04:59 AM

GUEST, as long as you choose to remain nameless, your opinions really don't count for very much. I believe that this statement enjoys bi-partisan support.

troll

Subject: RE: BS: Your local election results!
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 10:30 PM

I don't give a shit except to reflect on thoughts about that remote missle earlier. If Bush/ republicans win and as was suggested in another thread that sort of action is taken to be a vote winner, my views over Americans will diminish.

Subject: RE: BS: Your local election results!
From: DougR
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 10:23 PM

Surprise, surprise! The Democrats weren't able to screw things up in Florida for a change! Both Jed and Ms. Harris won! Yahoo!

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Your local election results!
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 10:20 PM

Hey, it *is* Florida. Home of the dimpled chad. Home of Jim Crow. Hey, no matter what the results show, they're are *fuzzy*. That state above all others, when it comes to elections, puts TV wrestling and roller derby to shame....

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Your local election results!
From: Bill D
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 10:13 PM

too late....3 votes in and they declare the Southernmost shrub winner....

"stay with the evil you know" I guess

Subject: BS: Your local election results!
From: harpgirl
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 07:58 PM

Keep us posted!


The panhandle voting is about to close down. Any wagers as to how long it will take Flori-Duh to decide on a governor?