Bitching at Mitch, 6-16-2010

 [I thought of omitting this post for being irrelevant after all this time. Maybe there was a worry about appearing a bit foolish in publishing such an out-of-date piece. Well, anyone following this blog knows I am a moron, so a little foolishness will not matter. Moreover, reading a bit down the page, I thought this may be as irrelevant as I first thought. You can judge for yourself, or just skip this one. sch 11/10/22.]

 Mitch Daniels had two governmental ideas of any interest, and he did nothing with them. Government/township reform went to die in the Kernan/Shepard Commission. The other got shunted down a memory hole - a constitutional convention.

Ignore Indiana Constitution lacks precision about calling a constitutional convention. We have not had one since 1851.

I recall fear of Eric Miller and other right-wingers. That they would soon gain control of any such convention. Considering how little political support the far right gets in this state, I could not see them getting elected in enough numbers for getting control of a constitutional convention.

[And there is why I thought this piece might still be relevant - for how wrong I was about Indiana. Maybe I was correct about 2010, but not now. I recall a bit of timidity towards Miller, who I thought should have been confronted. Is it too late? We will see in 2024. sch 11/10/22.]

Maybe someone realized that there might be a greater danger to the status quo by finally allowing in what the Democrats wanted in 1916 - the referendum and the recall and home rule for its cities. I am not so keen on the referendum, but is a 100 years enough time to wait for the recall and home rule?

[Considering what happened in Michigan with its abortion referendum, and how the referendum might upset our gerrymandered General Assembly, I am more amendable now to the referendum. sch 11/10/22.]

Then, too, someone might have wanted to add proportional representation. I would have.

[And I still would - as a more democratic way to elect our legislature. sch 11/10/22.]

Or a provision forbidding class basketball. Sign me up for that.

I would not like us to give up electing the Attorney General or Secretary of State. There remains good reasons keeping them responsible to the electorate rather than the Governor. I would make our Attorney General more like New York's.

[Todd Rokita might just make me back down on that idea. sch 11/10/22.]

I would put term limits on all political offices - executive, legislative, and judicial. Two consecutive terms seems reasonable to me, with a term on the bench, and then repeat the process. 

It looks like another victory for the status quo.

sch