I agree that the proposition system, whatever purpose it may have served to rein in the railroads BITD, is now a horrible destructive anachronism; but I don't t

I agree that the proposition system, whatever purpose it may have served to rein in the railroads BITD, is now a horrible destructive anachronism; but I don't think you need to make a moral argument against Prop 13; a purely functional one works just as well. Proposition 13 has crippled all polities below the state level -- the reason that California has budgets determined almost exclusively by constitutional amendment is that local governments have no funding authority to speak of. So what could be localized solutions to problems become statewide, and ill-fitting, and you end up with basically no discretionary financial ability at the state level.