My Crystal Ball
Here is what the crystal ball is projecting for the coming two years.
The most significant domestic event will be one vacancy, maybe two, on the Supreme Court.
Obama’s first nominee will be Eric Holder. This will touch off the first major battle between the Senate and the President.
After a short, raucous committee hearing, Holder will not be confirmed.
The President’s second choice will be a Black female lawyer leaning further left than Holder. After her nomination is rejected by the Senate, the President will be satisfied that his point has been made and come back with a moderate, middle of the roader, whom the Senate will approve.
If there is a second vacancy, a moderate will be Obama’s first choice.
The main street media rarely mentions that when Congress adjourned earlier this month, more than 300 bills passed by the House of Representatives were languishing in the Senate. Reid misused the Senate rules to keep these bills from even rising to committee hearing level.
Committee hearings might have resulted in claims that Democrats were more obstructionists than Republicans. In addition, bottling up all the legislation kept the President from having to decide whether to approve or veto and fueled the flames of criticism that the Republican controlled House was a “do nothing” legislative body.
On January 6, the wraps will come off. Much of the legislation left languishing in the bowels of the Senate will be revived in the House and sent back to the Senate.
This time around, most of that legislation will be considered and passed by the Senate.
After Obama offers some lip balm to the environmentalists, he will sign the bill. This will result in a tiny uptick in the economy and employment rate. If Congress and the White House then follow with legislation to speed the permitting and construction of natural gas liquidation plants for exporting the nation’s vast supply of gas, the long term effects on the economy will be substantial.
Ignoring the facts was apparent in Houston on Christmas night. An armed black man was shooting a pistol in a bar’s parking lot. The police arrived in response to a call about a fight at the bar. As the police were approaching, the man fired the pistol into the front of the bar then turned and pointed the weapon at the police.
The black bar owner, who witnessed the incident, told Houston TV Channel 2 reporters that, “The police were fully justified in killing their assailant.”
Not withstanding these facts, there was a minor demonstration in the area about the police picking on blacks.
On a more positive note, and as already noted, the Congress will cease being dysfunctional. The problems of a stagnant economy, a bloated budget, and a ruinous 17 trillion dollar debt will be addressed. None of these problems will or can be solved over night, but some progress will be made.
There will be a little thawing in the relations between the White House and Congress on these issues, but the tables will be turned. The White House veto will become the blocker of any significant reforms.
Races for the White House in 2017 have already begun. The Republicans will be in high gear by summer and, just like in 2012, the candidates will be engaged in trench warfare against each other. The battles, as always, will be who is the most socially conservative, not about who is best qualified to manage the real economic and security problems facing the world.
Short of an actual declaration of war, there is no way for Congress to force Obama to engage in a realistic war against terror. He will continue to show his bravado by calling the growing faction in Syria and Iraq ISiI rather than ISIS and treating domestic acts of terrorism as mere civil crimes. This will permit ISIS, al Qaeda, the Taliban, el Shabab and other sinister armies to grow at alarming rates throughout much of the world.
So here’s the perspective.
Have a Happy New Year. This, too, shall pass.
enough
