[Elspode]

The hell with anonymity...I plan to vote a straight Democratic ticket for the first time in my life this evening when I finally get to vote. Yes, I know, Dems are scum, too...but I can hardly see how they can hose things much worse than they've been hosed already. At least they might ease the burden of my indigent son a little bit by rolling back some of the cuts that were shoved down his already-below-the-poverty-line throat since they took over Missouri.

I am also voting in favor of Missouri Proposition 2 (the Stem Cell Research Initiative - a Constitutional amendment which will prevent Missouri from enacting laws dealing with stem cell research which are any more stringent than those that the Feds allow...but which the local opposition refers to as an incentive to abortions, an inducement for young women to sell their eggs, and a guaranteed path to human cloning on the public dollar). I plan to vote against Prop 3, a new 90+ cent per pack tax on cigs, because, even though I don't smoke anymore, Missouri hasn't shown that they do anything with such revenues except throw them into the General Fund. They don't fund anti smoking education, improve schools or fund public health with the dough, so screw 'em.

There are a couple of local sales tax initiatives which I will vote in favor of, because I support my new suburban municipality in its efforts to modernize and provide state of the art facilities to its residents. I will also vote in favor of a school bond issue on the ballot.