“They’re (expletive) takin’ all the money … you guys stole from those poor grandmothers in California?”
“Yeah, Grandma Millie, man, … “But she’s the one who couldn’t figure out how to (expletive) vote on the butterfly ballot.”
– Enron traders talking on tapes obtained
by Snohomish County PUD.
We know that those grandmas, plus grandpas and their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews in not only California but also Washington and dozens of other western states could pay for Enron’s misdeeds through extra charges on their electricity bills.
We can be proud that the Snohomish County Public Utility District sought those incriminating tapes in defending itself in Enron’s suit against the P.U.D and other utilities.
Enron’s bankruptcy trustee is trying to get money that it charged utilities here and elsewhere. Efforts to get the Federal Energy Commission and Congress to act against Enron have failed.
A partisan primary
By upholding Gov. Gary Locke’s veto of the Legislature-passed Qualifying Primary, the State Supreme Court ensured that we’ll have a partisan primary in September but also set the stage for a rebellion in November.
That rebellion will come when voters face Initiative 872. The State Grange, which is circulating petitions for the Initiative. believes that voters who have up to 70 years of voting for their favorite candidates regardless of party will be so offended by Locke’s system that they will approve I-872.
The initiative will have the anti-partisan-primary vote to itself now that a referendum petition against Locke’s measure by frequent candidate Richard Pope did not meet last week’s deadline for referenda. Grangers are confident that I-872 will get enough signatures by the June 30 initiative-petition deadline.
Absentee voters are particularly likely to support the Initiative if they have to return their ballots in envelopes noting which ballot they’ve voted.
I suggest that voters pick a ballot if there’s a race of particular interest, like the Democratic contest for governor between Attorney General Christine Gregoire and King County Executive Ron Sims, then ignore the rest of the ballot.
We’d like to know what you think. If you have a comment send it to:
The Enterprise
P.O. Box 977
Lynnwood, Wash. 98036
E-mail: entopinion@heraldnet.com
Fax: 425-774-8622
Evan Smith is the Enterprise Forum editor.
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