New Year's Resolutions

I am not much for New Year's resolutions.  Maybe it is my underlying cynicism that prevents me from holding out much hope that something that I promise today is going to hold much sway over me months down the road.  Now that I think about it, that is the biggest obstacle for me--it is the thing that prevents me from being all that gung-ho on marriage.  How do I know that I will feel like a relationship is a good idea years down the road?  And will that promise alone prevent me from moving on?  Well, so far I was wrong about promises, me, and marriage.  2012 marked 25 years of marriage for me, and 31 years with the same man, so I have stuck with that promise.  There may be hope for me yet.

What would I wish for in 2013, if I really believed in that sort of thing?
Of course I hope that no one that I know and love would become ill or undergo undue hardship.  I would hope all my children find some joy in school this year, and choose long term careers and relationships that make them happy and balanced.

But what about America?  What do I hope for there?  I wish that either Congress start earning their keep and crank out some work rather than rhetoric, and if that is impossible to do, that the President start exercising his executive power up to and until someone stops him.  Enough of elected officials, who make more that 98% of Americans,  not doing the work they were hired to do.  I hope that we can refocus on infrastructure for the future--we need to acknowledge that climate change is real and start deciding how we are going to prepare for it.  Bury the power lines.  Invest in renewable energy--if Iowa can generate more that 20% of it's electricity from wind, why is the country only generating 1-2%?  Make electric cars a viable alternative--we need power outlets to make that happen.  Upgrade the nations power grid.  Let's get out of the business of war and into the business of making this a better country.  That is what I would like to see.  Oh, and no guns.  That would be nice too.