"Bottom line is simply this - 2017 could be a very good year indeed. Don't be disappointed if everything which has been promised is not delivered."
New year, new page. Out with the old and end with the new. Like most of us, I know many of the old adages for bringing in the new year. But I am much more interested in looking forward. To take a peek out over the horizon and then make a few prognostications (or guesses) for 2017. Here goes:
- The Western World will get very serious about the seemingly endless War on Terror. And that would be for the first time since 9/11. Look for simultaneous fronts to open up against Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, ISIL, and any other Islamic Terror organization which is brutalizing innocents. President Trump will give General Mattis (with the blessing of Congress) carte blanche authority to clean this mess up.
- There will be no massive stimulus package to upgrade and fix our infrastructure. The House simply will not fund it. It is a noble idea for sure, and one which is long overdue. However, there is just not enough tea in China to do it. Translation = we have no money, and very little national will to explode the national debt any further.
- President Elect Trump will put an end to sole source or single source contracting. That is, unless there are overwhelming reasons why to continue it for a procurement. Our incoming President believes the country has been getting hosed by contractors taking advantage of this practice. I happen to agree with him.
- ObamaCare will not be repealed. It will be fixed - and it will take a massive fix at that. As much as many of us would like to see this evil program pulled up by its roots, it is simply embedded too deep. The unacceptable risk of killing it outright would be this - people losing any coverage for a period of time. Our last best chance to kill this thing would have been 2012. My fear is it may not even be fixable now.
- The IRS will have its teeth pulled out. It will still exist, but be a shadow of its former self. The crap which went on with Lois Lerner and Commission Koskinen has not been forgotten. Many are still after their scalps. Along with much needed reform of this agency will be a massive re-write of our nation's tax code. Don't look for a flat tax or fair tax - just lower rates across the board with fewer deductions.
- The VA will also under go massive changes. The malfeasance and mismanagement of that organization has gone on much, much too long. President Trump will put someone in charge of that organization (and empower that person) to "kick butt and take names". Our vets deserve so very much better!
- On a personal note, the Very Angry Bird will continue to pontificate and spew. Early in the year, he will pen his 2,000 article and shortly thereafter (based on 2016 trends), he will hit the 200,000 view mark. As always, he is very grateful for each and every reader who takes time out of the day to read his daily rant.
I disagree. You are repeating conventional wisdom, and Trump is by all accounts unconventional. Therefore:
ReplyDelete-- ISIS will get cleaned out but we'll do it the smart way-- letting others do the battle while fighting the safe undermining-the-ideology battle from here. Also, we'll reduce their ability to attack us here by "extreme vetting."
-- Obamacare will be repealed in its entirety, or anything that costs money or spends money will be yanked, which is essentially the same thing, but there will be one small revision in the repeal bill that says "if you like your Obamacare plan, you can keep your Obamacare plan." In the meantime, the replacement bill will offer much cheaper and better insurance, free from all the mandates, and Ocare will wither away quickly.
-- I much prefer the FAIR tax, it has so many advantages compared even to the flat tax it's a no-brainer. Of course, that's just the kind of thing Congress tries to avoid. :-/