President Obama Predictions

This is a blog about poker and my life, but on this momentous occasion, I feel a strange need to write a few things down. Poker stuff will resume shortly.

In no particular order, here are my thoughts:

• President Obama may go down as the best orator since Reagan. In fact, he may be better. He's got a good speech writer, and he likes being on camera. Expect to see him a lot.
• History will note that his was the first acceptance speech to mention gays. Not a prediction I guess, but a glimpse at direction and priorities.
  
• Roe v Wade is safe
• Socialism. This has been on my mind a lot lately. The most liberal president in history is taking office at a time where the government is taking over - actually BUYING - businesses and banks. However well intentioned he may be, socialism is insidious. It may not take complete control during his administration, but as government lackeys get more and more power to control business decisions, they will begin to do what they do best - seek more control. At some point, we may all look back and ask, "How did we let this happen?" The answer will be multifactorial, of course, but temporally it will all point back to this time in history.

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society.

• I predict my portfolio will surge in the coming months. Well, if not surge, it should at least go back to close to where it was a few months ago. I'm not certain we would have seen the same effect with a President McCain.
• I predict that world opinion of America will improve in the Obama administration.
• I also predict that as some countries are praising the new direction America is taking, they will be scrambling to find ways to take advantage of us. It doesn't always pay to be the nice guy.
  
• I predict most of my friends will be home from Iraq by the end of Obama's first term, but we will also have a presence there throughout his administration, even if he's reelected in 4 years.
• I predict Obama will be reelected in 4 years.
  
• I predict that I will see a decrease in reimbursements in healthcare. Doctors will lose money while big business, laywers and insurance companies make out like bandits.
• Say goodbye to tort reform. Liberals LOVE pain and suffering damages. It's like winning the lottery. Hell, I've met more than a few people who secretly hope that their doctor screws something up so they can be "set for life."
  
• I predict it's a good time to be working for the government.
• Finally, I predict that it's a good time to be a poker player. Well, let me clarify. I predict that the UIGEA will be repealed. I don't think it will happen in Obama's first administration unless there is serious lobbying. Look to the beginning of his second term for the act to be repealed or significantly reformed.
  

You may now return to your lives. Enjoy the swell of American pride. Despite the fact that I preferred McCain, I too am enjoying this moment in history. It's good to be an American.