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