Folsom: "Full rewrite" of Alabama constitution is needed

Jim Folsom, Jr., the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor, wants to scrap the current Alabama constitution and call a constitutional convention to write a new one. According to the Decatur Daily:

In response to a question from a Rotary member, Folsom said he favors holding a convention to rewrite the state's constitution.

"We need a full rewrite to put us into the 21st century," Folsom said. "It would make our government more efficient and increase local control."

It's a fact: the Alabama Constitution restricts the power of government perhaps more than any other state constitution in the country. Jim Folsom, Jr. says that this makes our government less efficient than it should be. I say it makes it less intrusive than it would be were the majority of constitutional reformers to have their way. It all depends on your outlook: on how you view the role of government.

The primary purpose of a constitution is not to ensure government efficiency. It is to provide the basic framework for government and to define its powers. Loosening the constitutional restrictions on government power would almost certainly make government work more efficiently, just like Jim Folsom says. If it weren't for all those inconvenient limitations, government could raise taxes more efficiently, spend the people's money on new social programs more efficiently, hand out industrial development money to big corporations more efficiently, and build buildings named after important political figures more efficiently.

For government to act efficiently is one thing; for it to act in a way that is mindful of its foremost duty - to protect life, liberty, and property - is something altogether different.