An end of the year message from John McGinness
With your continued support, I will begin the twelfth year of the John McGinness Show on KFBK. My promise to you is to endeavor to identify areas in which change is needed, give credit to those who serve the public interest to a satisfactory degree and call out bad public policy without being personal. Robust criticism of bad policy is critical to success. Refrain from personal attacks that dilute the value of legitimate analysis and debate. I wish each of you a safe, healthy and happy 2022.
- COVID-19 deaths will decline substantially due to the diminished threat of serious illness or death as the result of exposure to the Omicron Variant.Conflicting messaging, inconsistency and incompetence will impose a drain on what should be a prompt recovery, but a frustrated and increasingly impatient public will prevail in recognition of the positive developments, and begin to put the COVID crisis in the rear view mirror.
- Inflation will continue – the trend born out of too many dollars chasing too few goods, coupled with unprecedented financial benefits disseminated to the masses will continue to adversely impact individual abilities to pursue their dreams.Inflation will likely decline to some degree, but continue to outpace wages and burden families.
- The Supreme Court of the United States will not overturn Rowe v Wade, but will decide in a manner that will provide greater discretion among the states in terms of abortion laws.
- The GOP will attain a 1 to 3 seat majority in the US Senate, and a double-digit majority (likely 30 seats +/-) in the US House of Representatives.
- California voters will make some change in the November elections, but not sufficient to change the balance of power.However, voters and even politicians frustrated with the explosive increases in crime and violence will embrace some level of change in public policy to mitigate the current toxic trends. Watch for some enhancements in statutory law that will increase the penalty for two or more persons acting in concert to engage in retail theft (not necessarily rising to conspiracy), or restoring the ability to enhance penalties based upon prior criminal history.It might not happen in 2022, but there will be movement in that direction, without significant opposition.
- Sufficient rain and snowfall will ease the concerns of the multi-year drought in California.Regrettably, significant progress will not be made in the area of implementing infrastructure necessary to mitigate the adverse impact of future droughts, or floods, both of which are inevitable.Other parts of the continent will continue to have irregular weather patterns … because weather has been irregular and changing since the earliest recorded history.California has infrastructure for a population of approximately eighteen million people, while the current population approaches forty million people.Policy makers in Sacramento will make no significant gains in bridging that gap, despite clearly illustrated need, and sufficient resources available to initiate legitimate progress in that regard.
- Thien Ho will be elected Sacramento County District Attorney.
- Jim Barnes will be elected Sacramento County Sheriff.