The bag fee is losing with only 41 percent of the vote, as of latest returns from King County Elections. Here's the statement sent out by the Coalition to Stop the Seattle Bag Tax, which was essentially a puppet organization funded with $1.3 million from the American Chemistry Council, to celebrate their heroic, grassroots victory:

Members of the Coalition to Stop the Seattle Bag Tax, a grassroots alliance including local small business owners and concerned citizens, responded today with relief at the news of Referendum 1’s defeat at the ballot box. Referendum 1, also known as the grocery bag tax, and originally enacted last July by the Mayor and the City Council, was rejected by Seattle voters.

The small business community and those least able to absorb the impact of the tax had opposed the tax, calling it unnecessary and unfair. Robin Pavlish, a 7-Eleven Market Manager and a member of the coalition, declared, "As a representative of many small businesses in Seattle and reflecting the views of many of our customers, I’m happy that Seattle voters stopped the bag tax from passing. The last thing we need in this economy is another tax to collect or another burden on consumers, particularly when so many residents already reuse and recycle their paper and plastic bags."

The douchebags managed to dupe most Seattle voters into reversing the bag fee ordinance. They claimed it was the wrong way to reduce plastic waste. The right way? Anything that doesn't hurt the gigantic plastic industry small business community, of course.