EDITORIALS

Looking back on it . . .

What a year 2013 was-or could be

— A FRIEND reminds us that 2012 wasn’t so bad. She says that, for her, the year had its sweet moments and even miracles. Thanks for the reminder, young lady. Cynicism is the occupational hazard of our highly opinionated trade. We depend on the well-balanced to lend us a little perspective.

Lest we forget, a new year brings new hopes. Something, or some things, wonderful could happen. It is, after all, a wonderful life.

Another friend reminds us that there are worse things than being cynical, or even outraged on a daily basis-like being jaded. Think of all the editorials it would be a pleasure to write over the next 12 months: JANUARY 20th, 2013: Wow, what a display of leadership! As many Americans used to say circa 1775-1783, Long Live the Continental Congress! And some folks thought this president wasn’t serious about the deficits and the national debt. Boy, were some of us proved wrong!

Entitlement reform that actually is. Some of us never thought we’d see the day. Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid are saved for those who need it the most! When you think about it, it only made sense to raise the retirement age. Folks are living a lot longer than they did when Social Security came along in 1935. Sixty-five isn’t old age any longer. Just ask somebody who’s 65.

It all makes perfect sense, even if it also made perfect sense six months ago. What do you suppose made all the hot-shots in Washington come together and actually get something done? Maybe the good Lord really does look after the United States of America.

And tax reform that’s actually tax reform! And not just tax increases. Who saw that one coming?

Sure, it’s going to take years to grow out of the debt this nation has accumulated. Years of economic growth, that is. And as the economy expands, as deficits turn to surpluses, that debt will start to fall again . . . .

MARCH 2nd, 2013: We’re going to have to stop calling the state legislature The Ledge, as in something to fall off of. From now on, it’s the General Assembly. It’s earned its proper title.

Some of us are still trying to figure out how they did it. ObamaCare may still be a mind-numbing, never-ending, Kafkaesque nightmare, but in only a few months, the ladies and gentlemen-and we mean that-at the state legislature figured out a way to expand Medicaid without putting the state’s taxpayers in hock for the next several generations. (Happily, the Constitution forbids involuntary servitude for citizens who’ve committed no crime.)

Whatever happened to that $138-million Medicaid deficit? Or was it $298 million? It’s disappeared, and not just in theory. And it wasn’t just handed off to the feds so we’d all have to pay for it as U.S. citizens and taxpayers. Hospitals and nursing homes will remain open, as we all knew they would. Now another quarter-million Arkansas residents are to be eligible for Medicaid, but the state won’t risk having to pay an ever growing percentage of the cost as the years go by and the feds play their usual tricks. And the Ledge-pardon us, the General Assembly-did all this by economizing on other state programs. And it didn’t even need a special session to pull this off, and so saving even more tax dollars.

Everybody deserves to be re-elected Even the governor, and he’s term-limited.

JUNE 25th, 2013: It must be something in the water. Researchers all over the planet are flocking to Arkansas to find out just why so many people here have stopped smoking . . . .

JULY 3rd, 2013: The Arkansas Lottery has finally shut down. The folks running that official, legalized scam say they just can’t afford to print tickets if nobody’s buying. It seems that most of us in Arkansas have wised up and realized the odds have always been against us. . . .

AUGUST 25th, 2013: This has been the coolest summer on record, with temperatures reaching only 90 once, back on July 4th, when everybody was out on the lakes. . . .

NOVEMBER 7th, 2013: The stock market finally went over 16,000. Folks with 401(k)s are dancing in the streets. Add that to Arkansas’ 4 percent unemployment rate, $1.89 gasoline, and rising home values, and it’s no wonder Consumer Confidence is at an all-time high . . . .

DECEMBER 31st, 2013: Another year has come and gone, and you, Dear Reader, have stayed with us all the way through. Sure, there have been troubles here and there, but 2013 will probably go down as The Good Old Days many years hence.

Homicides in this country have fallen to record lows. Not a single school shooting. Tornadoes knocked down a few trees in Dallas County last spring, but every downed tree landed on an unoccupied, insured barn. That was the extent of bad weather in Arkansas. It rained when the farmers needed it, and stopped when they no longer did. And the weather people report that it never rained on a Saturday-all year.

The Razorbacks are on their way to the National Championship game next week. If they beat USC, they’ll join their brothers and sisters on campus who won both brackets in March Madness in the spring, along with the College World Series. Not to mention all the championships in swimming, golf, volleyball and softball. Other schools in the state-from ASU to SAU-are having to expand their trophy cases, too.

Congratulations to all of Arkansas’ public school students, who set records for improved test scores. And a big, respectful, thankful nod to their teachers. No wonder President Obama sent a delegation from Washington to take notes on how we did it. You can’t blame him for wanting to pass the information on to other, less fortunate states.

It’s been a wonderful year. Certainly better than the one before. Let’’s see if 2014 can top that!

Editorial, Pages 10 on 01/01/2013

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