Proposal 10-1: The Con-Con

     Reading about 10-1, I kept coming across the new-to-me phrase "con-con:" apparent poli shorthand for "Constitutional Convention." If you're thinking of Philly circa the 1780's, think again: Michigan's constitution is long outdated. In fact, it still erroneously lists the voting age as 21... grrr. I can't imagine what all the Baby Boomers who fought for their right to get Nixon the hell outta there would have to say about that.
     Regardless, a lot of people are finding a lot of fault with the state of Michigan's government and its general inarguable state of disarray. Proposal 10-1, to appear on the ballot in November, will (if passed) "convene a constitutional convention for the purpose of drafting a general revision of the state constitution," (per the State of Michigan's Statewide Ballot Proposal Status).
    In other words, should we decide in November to pass this proposal, it will begin the process of a general overhaul of the Michigan constitution. Proponets of the proposal argue that it would provide a long-overdue facelift to the state's policies and dust off obsolete laws and practices, for an overall more efficient governing system; they say the change would reflect Michigan's economic changes, and provide stability in time that many say the current constitution is lacking.
   Those against the proposal maintain that the enormity of the job of overhauling Michigan's constitution, and the many-- MANY-- time-consuming debates that would arise would, to put it simply, create more problems than it would be worth; i.e., potentially causing governmental instability and uncertainty and causing the already-swamped government to lose focus of matters that are perhaps more important (the pet issue: The Economy).
    One wonders, though: by "losing focus" on the problems in order to ultimately solve them (ideally) could it be beneficial in the end? Or, would the polarized halves of the government-- which, one could argue, is heightened in this election, given the incumbent's (err) dwindling popularity, even within her own party, and the Republicans' ever-growing frustration with her and, thus, what seems like the entire Left-- argue until they were blue (or... red) in the face, effectively turning the con-con into one big fillibuster of nonsense?!
     Stay tuned, for only time will tell. And only we can make that decision.

Resources: For a full analysis of this issue, including Michigan constitutional history, please see this.
Contact: hwoloson@energizemichigan.com