Californians are convinced that the state is on the wrong track, and they're mad as hell at the dysfunction in Sacramento. But they're not willing to do much about it.-John Diaz, in Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle.
...A solid majority of Californians say they favor "fundamental change" to the [state] Constitution. Yet on point after point, when asked about a specific constitutional change, Californians say "no way."
Even now, nine-and-a-half years after moving to California, I am stunned at how much legislation is put in front of the voters at each election. (Last year's election ballot contained about FORTY state and local initiatives!) Decades worth of initiatives and amendments to the state constitution have created a tangled mess from which it is impossible to govern (our state's constitution has 500+ amendments!!). And until there is a constitutional convention that streamlines the process and keeps most decisions out of the hands of the voters (who cast their ballots without any understanding of what it is they're voting on), the state of California will find herself plunging into the abyss.
