August 12, 2003
Remember to Vote & Other Sad Tales
If you live in King County, you need to register by August 16th in order to vote in September's county primaries. And if you hate the bother of polling places, just get the absentee ballot. There's really no excuse for not voting when they mail the thing right to your house.
A soldier from the Tacoma area serving in Iraq appears to have died of an accidental gunshot wound to the head, which was apparently not combat related.
An officer involved in the shooting death of a troubled Seattle resident is suing the dead man's mother on the grounds that she was the owner of the car involved in the incident.
Senator Cantwell speaks out on the Bush administration's environmental policy.
...The Bush Administration is eager to open up environmentally sensitive areas to drilling - including places that may not even have the resources to make it economically feasible. But at the same time, the President opposes the most important project for increasing our energy supply in at least a generation: the Alaskan natural gas pipeline.
The single largest capital construction project in our nation's history, the pipeline would channel 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to the lower 48 and pump 400,000 jobs into our sagging economy. I urge President Bush to reconsider his decision. ...
Senator Murray comments on the latest Senate energy bill.
...I am also concerned that the legislation gives FERC new authority without protecting consumers. Times have changed since last year’s bill was drafted. The electricity title from last year was drafted before federal regulators determined energy suppliers manipulated power and natural gas prices during the 2000- 2001 energy crisis. This bill does not outlaw the many predatory market manipulation practices that were used by companies such as Enron to cheat consumers. Citizens of our state are still paying higher electric bills because of the manipulation of the Big Energy companies. ...
And finally, in some not so depressing news, Howard Dean will visit Seattle in the near future.
Posted by natasha at August 12, 2003 06:13 PM | TrackBackUnfortunately, Bush is also visiting Seattle, next week.
Posted by: Al-Muhajabah on August 12, 2003 08:39 PMI had already come to the realization that I'll be out of town on business on the day of the primary, so I sent off for my absentee ballot a couple of weeks ago. While I detest the increasing tendency to vote absentee (encouraged, it seems, by the entire Washington state political apparatus), I have to do so this time.
As far as I'm concerned, only people in my situation -- those who will be unable to go to their polling places on Election Day -- should vote absentee. The concept of "permanent absentee ballot" (again, this is rapidly becoming the default here in Washington) offends me deeply. Going into the voting booth is an all-but-sacred event for me. I derive an immense satisfaction and thrill every time I participate in the most elemental way in our political process, so I cannot comprehend why someone would decline that opportunity without an overwhelming reason to do so.
I also think that, contrary to the beliefs espoused by pundits and voting officials, absentee voting decreases turnout. In addition, with absentees now up to half or more of the ballots, the process of counting the vote is much, much slower than it once was.
Posted by: N in Seattle on August 12, 2003 08:51 PMnice site, you know
Posted by: Lolita! on October 14, 2003 04:55 PM