ESCAPE VELOCITY

The congress and the president will shift radically towards expanding the size and scope of the federal government. This will satisfy both the liberals and the conservatives.

Military and police powers will grow satisfying the conservatives.

The weflare state, both domestic and international, will expand, satisfying the liberals.

Both sides will endorse military adventurism overseas. This is the most important of my predictions.

Policy changes could prevent all of the previous predicitions from occuring. Unfortunately, that will not occur. In due course, the Constitution will continue to be steadily undermined, and the American republic further weakened. During the next decade, the American people will become poorer and less free, while they become more dependent on the government for economic security.

The war will prove to be divisive, with emotions and hatred growing between the various factions and special interests that drive our policies in the Middle East. Agitations for more class warfare will succeed in dividing us domestically. And believe it or not, I expect lobbyists will thrive more than ever during the dangerous period of chaos.

I have no timetable for these predictions. but just in case, keep them around and look at them in 5 to 10 years. Let's hope and pray that I'm wrong on all accounts. If so, I will be very pleased.