The world is flat. The sky is falling. A new Alabama constitution means gambling and taxes. Throw them in a bag, mix them all up, and they all come out the same: Alarmist ramblings that simply aren’t true
The first two proved wrong long ago. Now it’s time to take a whack at the third misnomer.
But Alabama lawmakers thus far seem reluctant to let the issue of a new constitution advance past the committee stage, which will put the century old problem on hold once again.
And that’s a real shame. Reminiscent of when the constitution was adopted in 1901, guaranteeing rights denial to blacks and poor white Alabamians and centralizing power in Montgomery, today’s lawmakers are doing likewise.
By their inaction, they are denying the people of Alabama the right to decide whether or not they want to call a convention of citizens to rewrite a constitution that has been amended more than 750 times because it is so ineffective.
That’s what the question is really all about – letting the people decide whether or not they want a constitutional convention. It isn’t about raising taxes nor is it about gambling. It’s about the people’s right to vote.
Right now, that right is stuck in a committee that political observers say only a minority is willing to go on record in favor of. And the voters of this state ought to be alarmists themselves, beckoning lawmakers to do the people’s work like they were elected to do.
Surely that would include allowing the people to decide an issue as vital as the state constitution themselves. Or will they simply preserve the image of another place and time when poll taxes and segregated schools were not only the norm, they were guaranteed under this constitution?
It’s time to let the people decide, and lawmakers shouldn’t stand in their way.
