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The seattlepi.com editorial board and seattlepi.com readers on how to vote in the Nov. 2, 2010, general election.

Politico

· This week in Playback
· Reid rips McCain over 'don't ask'
· Palin has run in with press
· Obama, economy stuck in a ditch
· U.S. loses '22 World Cup bid
more

Blogs

Strange Bedfellows
· Poll: Obama beats Romney - in Massachusetts
· Recount: Litzow beats Gordon in 41st Senate race

David Horsey
· CARTOON: Oblivious Obama?
· CARTOON/COLUMN: Wikileaks exposes sad diplomatic realities

Reader blog: Forthright
· Earmark Rejection Rejected
· Hate Speech � Speak Up

Reader blog: Good Government, Bad Government
· Where progressives and libertarians agree and differ
· The Reagan Revolution Redux

Reader blog: Progressive FormerCons
· JFK on America's Current Economic Mess; Petraeus Disses Obama
· America, Russia, China 1970-2010

City Brights: Step Forward
· Gender Identity Expert and Author Kate Bornstein in Seattle This Weekend
· Known Hate Group Continues Lies on Hardball

Reader blog: The Monday Morning Economist
· It's Not 1994 Again, It's 1934 Again
· Better to Let the Bush Tax Cuts Expire

Press releases

View government/policy press releases

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2010
Reid rips McCain over 'don't ask'
Politico: Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ripped into Sen. John McCain on Saturday, saying the Arizona Republican has issued a "dizzying" defense of the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning gays from openly serving in the military.

This week in Playback
Politico: POLITICO rounds up this week in Playback.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2010
Poll: Obama beats Romney - in Massachusetts
President Barack Obama leads potential 2012 GOP rival Mitt Romney by 52 percent to 43 percent in Massachusetts, where Romney used to be governor, a new poll shows.

Recount: Litzow beats Gordon in 41st Senate race
After a mandatory machine recount, Republican Steve Litzow has been declared the winner against Democratic incumbent Randy Gordon in the 41st Legislative District state Senate race.

Seattle well-poised for recovery, in some areas, eventually
Seattlepi.com's Aubrey Cohen has just filed this piece:

House Dems say they'd save Basic Health - unclear how
Democrats in the Washington state House have their ideas about how to solve the current budget mess up on their blog now.

State workers agree to pay a little more for health care
A coalition of state employee unions has tentatively agreed to up the percentage workers pay for health insurance premiums.

Fight over high school trees continues
Chances are growing slimmer by the day that tree advocates can keep the Seattle School District from cutting down part of a small forest at Ingraham High School.

Obama, economy stuck in a ditch
Politico: The White House had some cause to look forward to Friday's jobs report: Even the most conservative estimates of November gains were north of 100,000, suggesting the mythical economic "pivot point" towards an accelerated recovery had finally arrived.

Palin has run in with press
Politico: Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin had to deal with a bit of a surprise during her trip to Iowa on Thursday -– she had to talk to the press.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2010
McDermott on talking with GOP: 'Almost a waste of time'
Rep. Jim McDermott, the Democrat who represents Seattle in the U.S. House, was talking tough Thursday on MSNBC's "Hardball."

McCain, Gates clash over gays in military
From The Associated Press:

New taxes on soda, candy come to an end
Starting Thursday, it'll be cheaper for people to buy soda, candy and bottled water.

McGinn: 'I'll work harder at doing it better'
Seattlepi.com reporter Scott Gutierrez went to last night's forum about the viaduct tunnel. Mayor Mike McGinn, who has thrown some hard elbows in the debate about the tunnel, said he could've chosen some words better, but is still no fan of the tunnel.

Seafair: Bad for Seattle's trees?
The Holland American Line entry makes its way along 4th Avenue during the 2009 Seafair Torchlight Parade. (Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com file photo) Seattle's Seafair Torchlight Parade may have to do a better job of accommodating trees. How isn't clear, but city managers are worried about the summer parade's effect on trees that line the Fourth Avenue parade route downtown.

Analysis: Bellevue wants privatized booze; Seattle doesn't
The Seattle Times dug into the precinct-by-precinct results of last month's election and found that people in Bellevue were for getting the state out of the liquor business, while people in Seattle prefer buying their booze from the government.

Cheney could face Nigerian charge
Politico: Dick Cheney may soon face corruption charges in Nigeria for his alleged involvement in a bribery scandal involving Halliburton, the company he once headed, according to reports from the African nation.
"We are filing charges against Cheney," Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, told Reuters.

U.S. loses '22 World Cup bid
Politico: Despite former President Bill Clinton's intervention, the United States lost out in the bidding Thursday for the 2022 World Cup.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2010
Despite dog electrocution, city says streetlights are safe
Seattle officials worked to reassure people that its streetlight system is safe, after a dog was electrocuted and another injured on an electrical vault cover in Queen Anne last week.

UW provost: Belt tightening ahead
The University of Washington is gearing up for more cuts, and an initiative to evaluate academic programs is underway.

GOP: Cut state salaries 2.5 percent to save health care
Senate Republicans would have state workers - including those at universities - take a 2.5 percent across-the-board pay cut to help preserve health insurance for the most needy in Washington state.

Public safety and taxes: Dunn, GOP still don't get it
King County Councilman Reagan Dunn wants to set up a "Priority Commission" that would look for ways to help pay for criminal justice. Dunn is still peeved that next year's operating budget eliminates more than two dozen sheriff's deputies and 16 prosecuting attorneys to help the County plug a $60 million operating budget hole.

State suspends grants for community health clinics
A week after Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed eliminating the state's health insurance for the poor, end its food assistance program, and delay grant payments that help low-income students go to college, the state said it's suspending $5.3 in grants to community health clinics.

Report: 11 percent of Seattle bars, clubs broke rules
About one in 10 Seattle bars and restaurants ran afoul of public safety or permitting rules this year, the City Council was told Wednesday.

U.S. Supreme Court hears Wash. Freedom of Info case
From The Associated Press:

Analysis: Seattle liked income tax (except for rich areas)
The Seattle Times has an informative map breaking down the vote for Initiative 1098, a measure that went down in the Nov. 2 election that would've enacted an income tax on the wealthy to help pay for education. Seattle and Vashon Island were in favor - everybody else was opposed.

Hill Dems: Repeal 'don't ask' now
Politico: A new Pentagon report suggesting the U.S. military's effectiveness would not be harmed by openly gay men and women serving should trigger the quick demise of the existing "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), said.

FTC proposes 'Do not track' list
Politico: The Federal Trade Commission is officially signaling its support for technology that would allow consumers to prevent sites and services from tracking their browsing habits and using their information to serve up advertisements.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2010
GOP: Dems setting up tax vote for failure
Politico: House Republicans said they were disturbed that Democrats might try to pass a portion of the Bush tax cuts under a House procedure that requires a two-thirds vote for passage – a move that would likely set up the tax vote for failure.

Strong showing in anti-earmark vote
Politico: Thirty-nine senators voted Tuesday in support of a three year moratorium on appropriations earmarks, the strongest showing ever by opponents of the current process and a potential game changer in the year-end budget debate.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2010
Palin compares her book to WikiLeaks
Politico: Sarah Palin was able to get a federal judge this month to stop a website from publishing unauthorized excerpts of her book. Now, she wants to know why the White House couldn't put the breaks on Sunday's WikiLeaks document dump.

Waters: 'I've been denied due process'
Politico: Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is calling on the House ethics committee to schedule her ethics trial on three counts of violating House rules before the end of the lame-duck session.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2010
Rangel urges reprimand, not censure
Politico: WASHINGTON -- Rep. Charles Rangel is ready to make a last stand to salvage his reputation and tell the House that a censure should be reserved for crooked politicians.

Movie biz looks at Dodd, Richardson
Politico: Retiring Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and outgoing New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson are both in the running to become chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, one of Washington's A-list lobbying gigs, according to a report in The New York Times.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010
START puts Lugar on the spot
Politico: One was the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; the other, new to Washington, was a Democrat who had spent his political career in the Illinois state Senate and had no experience in arms control or foreign policy.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2010
For Obama, glass is half full
Politico: His party just suffered staggering losses, his no-drama West Wing is besieged and a few outlier Democrats are even demanding he surrender to fate, assume the fetal position and embrace a one-term presidency.

Sunday talk show tip sheet
Politico: It's a mixed bag on this Sunday's television talk shows with issues ranging from North Korea's artillery strike on South Korea to homeland security to philanthropy.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2010
Fed up with lack of political civility
Politico: Civility just might be getting sexy.

Obama: 'Make tomorrow better'
Politico: In lieu of his weekly address, President Barack Obama delivered a Thanksgiving Day message linking the holiday's history, which dates back to America's founding settlers, to the nation's resilience in the face of today's steep economic challenges.

Palin blasts media on Facebook
Politico: Sarah Palin took the media and even President Barack Obama to task Thursday in a Thanksgiving message posted online.