Stoneage Ramblings

By John R. Stone

Next year is going to be an interesting year. Maybe some of the stuff that will be unresolved at year’s end will get resolved in 2023.

The January 6 committee in the House of Representatives has completed its report and made referrals to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ, however is under no obligation to do anything and is apparently pursuing its own investigation in the matter with its own special counsel.

Most people are probably wondering if former President Donald J. Trump will face any charges for his role. Any charges would represent travel into new territory for the DOJ because it would be taken by many as being purely political.

We should find out what is going to happen in 2023.

The war in Ukraine has been drawing headlines since February when Russia invaded the country. The brave Ukrainians have put up quite a fight and are holding their own with the support of the US and European countries.

Will there be any resolution in 2023? It would appear that neither side can continue too far into the future. Some think that Russia is literally running out of ammunition. And Ukraine’s support from others nations has been strong to date but time has a way of making that support wane.

Will Vladimir Putin’s inner circle turn on him and put an end to the war? Will Russia pack up and go home? Will Ukraine concede some territory to get Russia out of its hair?

Next year is the year that 2024 presidential candidates start testing the waters. Former President Trump has already thrown his hat in the ring and current President Joe Biden has hinted he might run again but hasn’t formally announced anything. But he said he will early in 2023.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is fresh off a big win in the governor’s race and has been reportedly talking with people to see who would support his candidacy, especially with money. If President Biden decides not to run, who will step up for the Democrats? And who else might seek the Republican nod?

Congress will be interesting to watch. There is much speculating about how current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will fare in his bid to become Speaker of the House now that Republicans control the House of Representatives.

He needs to get 218 votes to get the job and the Republicans control over 220 seats at this point, However, five members have said they would not vote for him. If they stick to it what happens then?

What will be Republican priorities and how will they work with the Democratically controlled Senate and Democratically controlled White House? Rep. Jim Jordan, who will head the House Judiciary Committee, has already hinted he would like to run a bunch of investigations on everything from Hunter Biden to Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Perhaps most interesting locally will be the Minnesota Legislative session and what it choses to do with a $17 billion surplus.

There are all kinds of ideas on the table and Democrats have control of the governor’s office, House and Senate to some degree.

A variety of ideas of how to spend the money are on the table with Governor Tim Walz expressing interest in 4K (a pre-kindergarten program), possible elimination of the state income tax on Social Security benefits for all but the really wealthy, possible income tax cuts and other investments in the future.

Many other things are on the table, too. Will we have a recession? If so how bad? How much will housing prices drop?  Will we continue to see low unemployment numbers? How much will inflation drop in the coming year?

Maybe seeing all this stuff causes you to worry, I’m not trying to frighten you. There is a huge opportunity with so many things unresolved to see some real good things happen. Here’s hoping they do!

Happy New Year!