2012: My Predictions for America

We will have rung in the New Year by the time this columns posts and will be well on our way to discovering what this New Year has in store for us. I am not a psychic, of course (and I am pretty sure that no one else is either), but it is possible to make some reasonable guesses, based on knowledge of the past.

The biggest concern for the New Year is our economy. In this past year, we saw the worldwide collapse of more banks and the imminent collapse of significant countries’ economies. When I first started talking about the economic crisis in America as a candidate for United States Congress, we were facing a debt crisis of about 8 trillion dollars. As I continued to hammer away about our surging debt for the past three years, I had to continually adjust that number upward. Trillions of dollars are added rapidly to our national debt, now giving us an absolutely staggering 15 trillion dollar deficit and growing.

My prediction is that the debt will reach 20 trillion dollars by the end of 2012 putting the United States at greater risk of financial collapse than it has ever been. Please remember the often used analogy that if one were to spend one million dollars per day from the time Christ was born until now, we would only have spent 750 billion dollars. That means that spending 20 million dollars per day from the time Christ was born would leave us 25% short of paying off the debt. To my thinking, there is no salvation for America without controlling our spending.

A major concern for our future pivots on personal freedoms. One of the Fox News anchors made a statement that really caught my attention. He said that it seems the more technology we develop, the more we seem to have restrictions on our freedoms. The reason for his statement was the tragic accident that killed several children on a school bus because of a teenager who was texting. This horrific accident led to the proposal of new legislation to ban any kind of distraction while driving.

Personally, I am appalled that people choose to text while driving, but there are better solutions for these problems than trying to legislate away rights and freedoms. American politicians still see every problem as a potential law rather than an opportunity to find new and innovative ways to correct problems. As I have said repeatedly in my Congressional campaigns – if the only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail. If the only tool you have is lawmaking, then every problem looks like a law. It is time to repeal some laws, not make more. Unfortunately, my prediction is that more laws will be produced that limit our rights and freedoms.

 I am thankful that we brought home our troops from Iraq. It is unfortunate that we are not able to do the same in Pakistan at this time. My fear, however, is that the world continues to become a more volatile place as more radical governments acquire nuclear weapons and missiles.

Iran continues to be a huge threat to Israel and Middle East peace. North Korea continues its threatening posturing to such extremes as threatening South Korea if their Christmas lights could be seen in North Korea. North Korea remains a threat to South Korea and Japan.

The collapse of several key European economies threatens to destroy the Euro and brings about the threat of war in Europe. Muslim extremists continue to promulgate terrorism everywhere in the world. Therefore, it is an easy prediction that this will not be a year of military peace. We must maintain military superiority and, unfortunately, an armed presence in many parts of the world regardless of Ron Paul’s idealistic (however desirable) stand down from all military activity around the world.

Although there are a few indications that jobs are becoming more available, I do not see a prolonged economic recovery. We still have jobs moving to other countries, salaries decreasing, American business closing stores, continued troubles in the housing market, and huge numbers of people out of work. Sears (a 125 year old American business that dominated American retail sales for most of that time) announced the closing of Sears and K-Mart stores in approximately 25 states. The reason for these actions is the need for cash. Clearly, American business in most sectors is reducing rather than expanding and this is a crisis for American economy and jobs. My prediction is that 2012 will not see any significant increase in jobs or in the economy.

The controversy over the control of illegal immigration persists. The federal government continues to fight the growing number of states who attempt to affect control over the invasion of America by enormous numbers of Mexicans every day. Stopping the flow of illegals would be an easy thing for our federal government to effect; however, they have no desire to do so. My prediction here is that regardless of the president that we have in 2012, the problem of illegal immigration will continue relatively unabated.

At this particular time, many are looking forward to the presidential election and the end of the Obama administration. In spite of the less than exciting Republican candidates who represent the same old “good-ole-boy” politics as usual mentality, there is good reason to expect that Republicans will be able to pull off a narrow margin of victory over the president. If there were a better candidate, that would increase our chances of victory. Of course, should Ron Paul run as an independent, it is unlikely that Obama could be unseated. My prediction is that there will be a Republican victory for the 2012 election by a very narrow margin.

This year, we’ll vote for congressional and Senate seats. I find it disappointing that Americans do not take a closer look at their candidates. When one considers the lack of voter self-education and the hostile treatment by the liberal media, there is not much motivation for real conservatives, such as myself to run for office. The result is that we continue to be entrenched in politics as usual. Until America is willing to elect people who really stand for something – people with genuinely altruistic goals – we will not see anything different in Washington.

The most important thing to remember is that the people hold the real power. We can make this world the kind of world that we really want. We can make America a profitable place with the high standard of living that we once enjoyed. The power is still with the people and we must continue to demand adherence to States’ Rights.

My fellow Americans, may we enjoy a prosperous and happy 2012 as a blessing from God. The future is not yet written. Let each us roar into that future with our voices clearly heard. Not voices of division, but voices of unity.

John Wayne Tucker

http://johnwaynetucker.com/congress

© TBP Publishing 2012, The Bold Pursuit®. All Rights Reserved.

Comments

[Nicholas]

Excellent article. Every point is valid and is also a major concern for me. The economy, immigration, excessive spending. The world is becoming more volatile by the moment, and it worries me. Our only hope is to get Obama out and get back to this Country's roots. The Founding Fathers are rolling over in thier graves!!!

[John Wayne Tucker]

Thank you for the comments Nicholas. You are correct that we have left the values of the founding fathers about as far as we possibly can. Unfortunately, just getting our current president out of office will not solve our mirad problems. It is Congress that makes the laws and there are far too many there that need to be replaced as well. Also, we need to elect people who have a true understanding of the problems as well as a true desire to make America better, not worse. The way we choose who will get to have the opportunity to run for office is as flawed as the rest of the system, so you seldom see the kind of candidates who will provide the leadership that we actually need.

John