You say you want a revolution?

I think it's safe to say you don't fully comprehend what you'd be getting.

You don't call for constitutional conventions unless you aim to blow up the existing model and start from scratch, and for the existing Republican leadership in the state - a leadership structure that controls Georgia pretty much from top to bottom - that would entail a stripping away of almost all streams of revenue for state and local governments coupled with a further consolidation of power in Atlanta. And the latter should be particularly troubling considering the recent fervor under the Gold Dome by some, including Rep. Bob Smith, to levy every measure of blame on locally elected officials.

That is, quite simply, the reality of the matter.

It isn't as if this would result in the necessary tax reform the state needs, but rather a pre-planned agenda aimed at dismantling our current system and crammed through in a manner set up outside the existing process we have in place to conduct said business.

Ideologues are hollering about a taxpayer revolt, and I can sympathize ... but in another way. It's beyond time that we recognize that paying taxes isn't a bad thing, is backed by public support when allocated toward our basic needs and investments, is proven to be an effective tool in a state's toolbox for economic development and is essential for the provision and delivery of public services.

I'm not suggesting we don't need tax reform because, arguably, we do. Our income tax code hasn't been updated in a significant way since the 1930s, meaning everyone earning more than $10,000 is taxed at the top rate. We have no means to track the effectiveness of our various tax exemptions and tax credits, meaning we could giving away money for nothing at a time when the state budget is imploding. Our property tax assessment process is obviously flawed and needs to be dealt with in a rational way (not in the crazy way advocated by Rep. Jerry Keen).

Could a convention address these things? Of course, but the fear is that it wouldn't address them so much as ignore them in lieu of a partisan-tinged, anti-tax agenda. We have in place a structure designed to address our tax code and, every two years, we elect representatives to handle manners like this.
 
Smith seems willing to ignore that existing structure so he can dismantle our public services and stick a thumb in the eye of local communities.