A New Year With the Same Problems

By: Erick Erickson
Having managed to work every day of my vacation, getting back into the swing of things isn’t really swinging. I hope you all had a Happy New Year.
As we cross over into 2014, there is not a lot that has changed these past couple of weeks. People will not fully feel the effects of Obamacare. The economy is still “recovering.” And New York has gone full Marxist.
Republicans are still cowards. The Chamber of Commerce has decided to fight in Republican Primaries against conservatives. But the polling for the Democrats continues to go down. And that’s the thing.
The Democrats have decided they’ll make 2014 about the minimum wage. It’s a Democratic mimicking of the GOP’s efforts in 2004 to put gay marriage initiatives on the ballot. Democrats think people will go to the polls to vote for them and for increased wages. I suspect they won’t be so successful.

People are about to feel the tax bite of Obamacare. The out of pocket costs for many are going to go up. Businesses are still going to make adjustments that hurt workers — and businesses affected by minimum wage increases will make even more adjustments. Democrats would have you believe that 2014 will not be about Obamacare. I happen to think they are right.
I think 2014 will first be about the disastrous Obama foreign policy coming back to bite America. And then it’ll be about Obamacare. I would not be surprised to see the Middle East implode and the Sea of Japan fall into turmoil. The catastrophic ramifications of both will draw American attention out of our preferred isolationism. On top of that, the economic drain from Obamacare will ripple through the economy.
I’d like to think that 2014 would be better than 2013. But I think we’re on a glide path to Gomorrah and only Jesus saves.
On the bright side, Ragnarok comes on February 22nd.
Happy New Year.