Pubdate: Fri, 19 Sep 2003
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2003 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://www.seattletimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Mike Miller
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/props.htm (Ballot Initiatives)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)

USE YOUR WORDS: 'NO' TO THE LATTE TAX MEANS NO TO THE KIDS

Editor, The Times:

I predicted 66 percent against I-77 (the 10-cent espresso tax). It was 
really 68 percent NO! I knew that I-75 (lowering marijuana's 
law-enforcement priority) would pass ("Latte tax creamed; Leave pot smokers 
alone, Seattle voters say," Times, front page, Sept. 17).

We were, I admit, pretty grumpy at our child-care center the next day. 
Maybe it was because we were sleep-deprived from a late-night in-service 
training on infant first aid and CPR. We learned how to breathe life back 
into a lifeless baby... just in case. Most of us probably got back to our 
homes around 9 p.m., just in time to see the latest tally on I-77. I was 
getting really angry!

I pulled myself up by my bootstraps, got on my bike because I knew that 
they needed me at the child-care center. The placards at almost every 
espresso stand had a No I-77. They also read "No to the tax; Yes to child 
care." I'm sorry. "No" means "no"! That's basic logic even to the toddlers 
at our child-care center.

Everyone has said "no" to child care at the polls. Child-care activists 
have tried to elicit the help of mayors, governors, senators, corporations 
and their CEOs, and the working parents themselves for many years and we 
have been denied at every turn.

"We need help!" "We need money!" And we finally brought our plea to the 
general electorate. "We need help!" "Help us, please?"

NO!

OK, Seattle. I see your priorities. You want to guzzle gas in your big fat 
cars. You want to profit from your real-estate sale. Drive to the Bellevue 
Mall via Highway 520 to shop at Nordstrom. Buy your double-tall 2-percent 
mocha at Starbucks.

Forget the child care! That's easier for you now since marijuana is almost 
un-illegal. Smoke, mellow, chill... Forget the children who need help.

Mike Miller, Seattle
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens