2015 . What we hope for (sort of ).

WELL *** It's 2015. We will think happy thoughts about what we hope will happen in 2015. So far I had dwell past wise on the negative part of the news giving my opinion. It’s hard at this pleasant, anticipatory time of year to dwell on grim news about our politicians .The new year ought to bring with it new hope and optimism for the time to come. But it's hard to feel positive after a 2014 marked by so much conflict and tragedy. Scanning the globe, here are World Views' gloomy predictions for how things may get worse in 2015. My biggest hope for 2015 is to see leaders at all levels reject outrage and embrace understanding so we can be united instead of divided on big issues. It's run it's time in Congress . The divisiveness in our foreign policy has to be undone with regards to Russia . End the new cold war.God knows that there are enough people with enough problems – and people for whom 2014 has been a tough year, with more misery in store, can our government not fail them? OBVIOUSLY we have issues with race that still needs amends . In 2014  The midterm elections were a disaster for supporters of public education, especially at the  certain states .Several anti-education governors were re-elected. There is always next time. American history tends to move in cycles, and we must work together to hasten the end of the current cycle of greed and indifference to suffering. We must restore

a healthy belief in democracy and ward off the forces of autocracy. 2015 looks like a sleepy year,if you are tired of hearing that bipartisanship is dead; weary of media reports of dysfunction in government; tired of listening to pundits who tell us that our nation’s lawmakers are beyond the ability to legislate. This is for those who would like to hear something different — that there is reason for hope. Rest assured that you are not alone.  . The Republican field for the White House is wide open, with no clear front-runner or heir apparent. Jeb Bush claimed a lot of oxygen with a surprise announcement that he’ll “seriously consider” a run. But there are many reasons to believe today’s GOP won’t nominate him, even if he raises more money than everyone else. Obama enters the final two years of his presidency with a Republican-controlled Senate, further limiting his ability to pass big legislation. But perhaps term limits and a foil on Capitol Hill will liberate him, as seen with recent executive actions on immigration and relations with Cuba.Hillary Clinton is the presumed front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination -- by a mile. But her position could change if Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) begins to show signs she is also interested in running. We still have problems with Immigration: For all the anger over Obama's solo actions, some Republicans still want to address what they call a broken immigration system. But both sides remain far apart, and Obama has said "temperatures need to cool a little bit." An overhaul is a long shot.I think it is evident the Pax Americana brand of democracy is losing its power and influence in the world. US foreign policy debacles in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East in general have discredited our image greatly and only made a horrendous situation worse. Even within our own country democracy is starting to seriously fray around the edges with wanton gun violence, a dysfunctional political establishment, the militarization of our police forces, accelerating economic inequality and a malaise of racial injustice that never goes away. In 2014 "truth, justice and the American way" rang hollower than ever, I doubt 2015 will see much improvement. 


NOTES AND COMMENTS:

***2015 is the staging ground for 2016, so we need as many predictions as we can find. President Barack Obama might be heading into it with better polling numbers—CNN now finds him at 48 percent—but Republicans are now in charge of both the House and Senate, a reality that promises many headaches for the term-ending president, including another shutdown showdown.Midterm elections may be over, but a Democratic Party in hot-mess disarray will be spending most of 2015 remaking itself. Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush might be their party establishments’ hands-down favorites for 2016 presidential-nominee nods, but Clinton heads into the new year already rescripting in an effort to outmaneuver Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) rising populism, while Bush will have a packed field of outliers and perpetrating, anti-Washington extremists to worry about.