Poll: Rewrite the California Constitution?

[bemildred]

When I was a summer intern at The Times' editorial page in 2004, I expressed some surprise to an editor that, nearly a year after Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor and Sacramento seemed to have passed the peak of its 2003 budget crisis, the state was still in a bad enough spot for the paper to continue publishing editorials under its "Reinventing California" tagline. The editor smiled and replied, "Ah, the naivete of our youth," implying that I was wrong to have ever expected the state's fiscal nightmare to end with the election of a new governor.

How right she was. Nearly five years later, the state's situation remains so dire that many prominent voices have re-calibrated their criticism of the people and interests that control Sacramento, taking aim instead at the very Constitution that sets the rules for governing California. The state needs a constitutional convention, they say, and the Times' editorial board endorsed the idea last week:

There have been calls for months now to convene a state constitutional convention and, in essence, start over. It's a good idea. The state Constitution runs to two fat volumes in print and is padded each year by new voter initiatives or legislative propositions. In the end, it's just a document. It's not the enemy. But retooling is one necessary step to make the state function better....

No convention -- in fact, no statewide fix -- will work if it consists simply of one interest group's shopping list. The Times has made no secret of its position against the two-thirds legislative threshold for tax increases and budgets, and we will keep pushing to overturn it. But the point is to get more ideas on the table.

Prepare for the season of reform and reinvention. A tax reform commission is to release its report in July. Political parties and candidates will focus on next year's gubernatorial election. It's not time to back away from government; it's time to engage it, and change it. Over the coming weeks and months, this page will not be shy about asking questions and offering suggestions. Bring on the ideas. Bring on the convention.

http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2009/05/california-constitutional-convention.html

[AndyTiedye]

1. I'd Be Afraid to Convene a Constitutional Convention So Soon After Proposition 8 Passed

It could go very badly for us.

[bemildred]

2. I know what you mean. But things are not going so good now either.

On the present course, the state government will soon cease to function.

Maybe we could break it up into 2 or 3 smaller states, and each of those could start over.

[Kerrytravelers]

3. Here is what the online polling is currently showing:

Should California call a constitutional convention?

51.1 % - Yes; rewriting the Constitution seems to be the only way to move beyond financially broke and politically broken.
10.0 % - Yes, but not everything should be on the table.
15.6 % - No, but the state still needs major reforms.
23.3 % - No; voters on May 19 sent a clear message of what they want, and it Sacramento should abide by it.

[bemildred]

4. Damn, I just noticed the cookie trick works.

[Cleita]

5. We need that but those events take time.

Right now we need some immediate fixes on some government level to keep the whole economy and law and orderliness of California from collapsing.