Panel hears proposed constitution changes

The dreadful Alabama Constitution needs reform, or out and out replacement. Almost everyone agrees with this except for (a) rich people, who are afraid of the tax structure being made progressive, (b) religious fanatics, who think that the state will turn into Nevada if ordinary people got a say in it, and (c) bigots, who like the fact that it's a Jim Crow document even if the US Constitution makes all that moot. That's still a pretty powerful lobby right there, so I'm not betting on anything happening.

Both candidates for governor have endorsed constitutional reform, but differ on how to go about it. Republican nominee Bob Riley advocates targeted amendments drafted by a commission, then voted on by the Legislature and the people. Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman favors a complete rewrite through a citizens' constitutional convention.

Siegelman, for once, is absolutely right, and Riley is as usual mostly wrong. Riley is of course a rich person, (even if he wants to fix the tax system and make it fairer to poor people!) and at least something of a fanatic. (I don't think he's actually a bigot, even if he is an Alabama Republican.) But he, like most of the people in charge of the state, is terrified of what a citizens' convention might come up with. I particularly recall the lobbyists who denounced an provision that would bar lobbyists and state legislators from the convention.