The simple, straightforward and self-evident case for a Con-Con

Rich has a great column this week about how the ongoing “civil war” between Madigan, Jones and Blago is threatening to cripple Springfield for another long year. It’s hard to see how, in light of this, anyone can argue that our great state’s constitution doesn’t need at least a little tweaking.

The purpose of a constitution is to establish the rule of law and safeguard against the corruptible rule of man. In other words, a constitution exists to limit the harm that a single corrupt or incompetent individual (or individuals) can inflict upon the state by placing limits on their power.

Under our current constitution, the Governor and legislative leaders have amassed so much power that a personal feud between them has completely gridlocked the entire state government. Yes, we can always choose to not re-elect the same Governor, and we can choose to elect legislators who will depose the current leaders of each chamber. But when elections become more about checking the power of an office’s current occupant, they become less about ideas and issues.

A good constitution would allow us to always cast our votes based on “who is the right person for the job” and/or “who will support the best solutions to the problems facing our state,” not “who is least likely to let personal conflicts with other office holders get in the way of the people’s business.” A good constitution ensures that, even if one office holder does have a personal conflict with another, the state doesn’t have to wait until after the next election cycle to become functional again.

Illinois clearly does not have a good constitution.

We deserve a better one.

We need a better one.