The New Year Ahead

Before we get into the meat of this rant let me answer a question that probably each of you has: what is that fool doing up blogging at this hour (1:30 a.m. EST)? The short answer is insomnia. So its really not anything to worry about but a time of day when everyone except me is sleeping and I feel like expressing myself.

Back to the topic above. I am not going to give you an Amazing Kreskin prognostication but just an opinion of what I think will happen next year and why.

In the past couple of weeks there have been a number of politicians on the national scene that are giving me the distinct impression that they finally get it. They understand the root to our national financial crisis and what it is going to take to fix it. Granted these are the Republican version of today's maggot politician so they theoretically had a shorter distance to get there but, considering the way the GOP has been acting in the past 6 years, their epiphany is significant. As with most addicts the baseline for recovery is the self awareness of your problem. Just because they are addicted to spending it is nonetheless an addition. The most encouraging thing is that many of these same politicians are in leadership in the new congress and will be in a position to effect a change. Granted they will be going against a Democratically controlled Senate and Executive branch. So as I see it they worst case will be gridlock and the best case might mean that we can get some meaningful progress toward that long range goal of fiscal responsibility.

One of the big questions in the mix for 2011 is what will Obama do after the butt-whipping he and his fellow Democrats took in November? All of the pundits and his sycophants in the mainstream media expect him to move to the center in anticipation of his run for re-election in 2012. That would be the smart thing to do. The problem is that I just don't think he has it in him! He is the most liberal president we have ever had and it's hard to change that. Already he is taking steps to implement his agenda by executive order and bureaucratic regulation where it is obvious that he will not get it done legislatively. That might have worked 20 years ago before the 24 hour news cycle but not now. Bloggers and "alternative" news organizations will report this information and the mainstream press will be forced to as well. Otherwise they face the real prospects of losing what legitimacy they still have. So the long and short of it is that I believe the American electorate was fooled in 2008 but will send Obama home after one term.

On the opposite side of the table I expect a strong candidate for 2012 to emerge for the Republican nomination. One I really like is Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma. He just won re-election and has self-imposed a limit of two terms in office. He has been one of the leading voices over the years in sounding the alarms about our looming fiscal crisis. There are a couple of others like Mike Huckabee that may be attractive as populists candidates but I question their commitment to making the hard choices that will need to be made when dealing with the reforms of Social Security and Medicare. It is a sure thing that Obama will never touch those programs so it is crucial to elect someone in 2012 that can make the tough, unpopular decisions needed to reduce our spending. Someone has to be the adult in this national family and I pray such a candidate steps forward.

I am hoping that we start putting some people back to work in this country. It is appalling the number of able-bodied young people I see every day that are not working. Most of these are men that choose to stay home while they send their wives out to make a living. Or at least try. They rationalize it by saving on daycare costs by him taking care of the kids, which really means he is taking them to Grandma to take care of while he drinks or cheats on his wife. Meanwhile he draws unemployment on some job he got fired from two years ago. In many cases there is not a marriage but just a shack-up situation which allows for the multitude of government programs kicking in "for the children". It is past time for these "boys" to become men and get out there and get a job! If that means stopping unemployment benefits after 26 weeks, which was the limit for many years, then so be it! If it means throwing their sorry asses in jail for non-payment of child support that's okay too. Whatever will make taking responsibility for your actions, or inactions, the more attractive route I am in favor of it. Government programs are rewarding bad behavior and it's time to put an end to it! In our new austerity the federal funds backing these local and state programs will not be available and the states will need to cut these as well.

A final topic for this blog entry is health care reform. As we all know Obama's signature piece of legislation was passed and now we are reaping it's benefit. It is becoming increasingly apparent that it is going to cost much more than we were told and that many things in the bill are just now coming to light. While it is unlikely that Obama would every sign a bill to repeal what was passed it is crucial that all of the incremental program implementations going forward be fought aggressively at every chance. With Republicans being in charge of the House and that being where all budgetary funding begins they can refuse to fund these new programs in their appropriations bills. Of course the Senate and/or the President can disagree and nothing gets done. Gridlock! I anticipate at least one government shutdown due to budgetary disagreements in 2011. Great! I believe the Dems and the President will blink for the sake of their sacred government operations. They will trot out every senior citizen and unwed mother they can find to tell the woes brought down on them by those evil Republicans. The key factor is whether this new group taking over the House on Wednesday can take the heat.

These are just a few things I have been thinking about. I am on vacation for the next week so don't be surprised to see some more.