As We Head Towards Home...

 ...and begin preparing for the New year, we need to loo back, and reflect on the changes needed in the new year.

1. Trump seems to have made one significant change - Ivanka and her husband, Jared, have returned to NYC. I'm not complete sure whether Jared was more self-serving than incompetent, but his influence (led by Trump's fondness for his daughter) led to some mis-steps in his first term. He had his uses - the Israeli-Arab agreements would likely not have been as successful without him. But, I always thought he had his eye on what would profit HIM, rather than the Trump administration policies. And, Ivanka's semi-Wokeness was a major hindrance to administration effectiveness.
2. Trump has narrowed his inner circle. Good. I've always thought those staff members were an empire-building bunch, and, with a smaller circle, there is less leakage.
3. The Deep State is tottering. Trump has issued orders making their continued status less unassailable, and flat-out removed some of the more obstructionist elements, both in the administrative side, and in the military component. Frankly, a LOT of excess bloat in the officer ranks needs to be RIF'd. The ones left need to be too busy to cause trouble.
4. Right now, I'm cautiously hopeful that there WILL be a second term. That's the time when the Deep State should be sheared - reduce ALL bureaucracy by at least 25-30% imediately. Freeze all raises and pension increases - and NO bonuses or ability to inflate the last year's salary by accrued sick/vacation days.
5. Suspend ALL COLAs for ALL pensioners/SS recipients (yes, that will hit me, too). Set the rule - as long as unemployment is over a certain percentage, NO COLA. And, government employment (or that supplemented by government money) does NOT count as a reduction. Private employment is the goal.
6. Anyone on government assistance for more than 2 years needs to be brought in, and evaluated to see why:
1. Do they have some legitimate reason for that assistance (personal disability, or that of a family member sufficient to justify their not working)?
2. Have they complied with all conditions?
3. Have them been working under the table?
4. Do they really need assistance, or would just health care subsidy to the family suffice? A lot of people fall into that category.
5. Are they basically a basket case of addiction or mental illness - or both? Don't leave them in a situation that is not improving their long-term status. That's cruel. Get them help, if necessary in long-term care (allowing someone to bounce in and out of treatment is not a kindness).
7. We need to stop using COLA as a one-way rachet. If the cost of living is lower, the recipients need to lose that portion of the benefit.
8. EVERYBODY needs to pay income tax. NO ONE should be exempt, even if it's as little as 1% of their income. Everyone needs to have skin in the game. And, that means that NO ONE should be getting back more than they paid in. It's time to retire the income credit provisions, that give people money they didn't earn. It's a cheap excuse for bypassing welfare restrictions.

Personally?

1. Organize/clean/get my home and life under control. No more procrastination; no more excuses.
2. Stop making excuses for not following a decent diet. For not exercising.
3. Dedicate at least 1 hour a day to clearing out the paper mess in my life. Use the scanner to digitize, and - if necessary - pay for one of those services that organize receipts and papers.
4. Plant that garden this year - ON TIME (as a Yankee, I'm notorious for waiting until too late to get started - for me, it's not really time to start putting the seeds into the pots until nearly Easter). And, set up a watering system (I know I will be traveling/too busy to do it by hand most of the time).

Life creeps up on you. We all put off tackling the big jobs, those tedious tasks that would improve our lives, but that are boring. But, sooner or later, we all have to either make those changes, or wish we had.