|
On November 4th, Vote No
This November, there will be a question on the ballot, "Shall there be a Constitutional Convention to amend or revise the Constitution of the state?" Working families across the state are voting NO.
According to the rules, the state legislature appoints the delegates to a constitutional convention -- anyone they want. It would be a convention of lobbyists, special interests and insiders. That isn’t change – it’s just politics as usual.
It’s telling to look at who is supporting the “Vote Yes” side. Their stated objective is to win initiative and referendum in Connecticut, giving the right-wing a tool to put hot-button issues up for a public vote. They openly stated examples of issues they would like to see the public vote on including:
- Eliminate binding arbitration
- Cap property taxes
- Eliminate the income tax
And that’s just for starters. Imagine what former Governor John Rowland did to public employees in Waterbury – expanded statewide to all public employees. Union members can’t afford THAT kind of “change”.
The Chair of the coalition supporting a constitutional convention is Matthew Daly. You might remember his unsuccessful run against State Senator Edith Prague, on a platform of repealing the income tax. He is also an heir to the Vicks Vapo-rub fortune (no wonder he opposes the income tax), and a funder of the conservative think tank Yankee Institute.
The effort to cap property taxes is nothing more than a feel-good measure designed to starve public services and increase support for privatization. It hurts working families to blindly cap taxes without thought for the impact on vital municipal services, from snowplowing to police and fire to education.
Another proponent of the constitutional convention is the radical right-wing Family Institute of Connecticut. The FIC’s mission is to outlaw abortion and ban gay marriage. They even oppose day care for our children, despite the fact that so many households need two incomes to get by. They want to try to use the Connecticut Constitution to insert their right wing agenda.
This fall, you will likely hear feel-good media reports from the “vote yes” side, talking about initiative and referendum, conjuring up an image of regular folks going to a good old-fashioned New England town hall meeting to talk about the vital issues of the day, from the economy to gas prices to foreclosures to property rights.
Don’t be fooled. A constitutional convention would be a group of lobbyists and special interests appointed by the General Assembly. There would be no limit to what they could propose to change in the constitution – they could do anything, or they could do nothing at all. Just remember that despite their good-government public message, there is a radical right wing agenda lurking behind it. Vote NO on the constitutional convention.
|
