Predictions for 2020

UPDATED Happy New Year! We hope 2020 brings health and happiness. As we have done over the years, we have invited several indiv...





UPDATED

Happy New Year! We hope 2020 brings health and happiness.

As we have done over the years, we have invited several individuals to participate in our annual New Years predictions. We realize this is a busy time of year, so we truly appreciate the predictions by our prognosticating participants. 

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Before I provide any prediction  I  would like to say that I have worked on both sides of the aisle for the last 20 years assisting the US government/UN in various pro bono projects. My personal history has been to vote both as a Democrat, Independent or Republican during my lifetime. 

I believe the new president for 2020 will be Elizabeth Warren. (Biden will make it to the finish line but Warren will prevail as Democratic candidate)

When elected Warren will be facing severe financial crisis.

Again passing a bill in a political Senate will be difficult; It may be easier to get the Senate to support her bills as Mitch McConnell will ultimately be rendered ineffective or gone.

I don't believe that Trump will be impeached as it is a political fight in the Senate and has nothing to do with truth or protection of American values. Trump will try everything in the book to remain president, but more evidence of his financial secrets/deception and womanizing will resurface late 2020. 

He will attempt to draw attention away from his proclivities and fight without scruples, much like a cornered animal. It will be a fight till the finish. 

Watch out for civil unrest and his attempt to distract us with disruptive foreign policy and an attempt to involve us in war.

He has the luck and values of a true narcissist but ultimately will step down, unfortunately not without first creating mayhem.

More important: Belief provided by my daughter:

Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart through my eyes. 

Note: Always remember to pay forward; in that way we create a better world for our children.

Judith Wing, Houston, Texas

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Ya Gotta Be Schmittin’ Me’ Predictions for 2020




1. The world will continue to warm, as 2020 will be hotter than 2019, all the while our current, temporary president will continue to fiddle.

2. New research will confirm what all previous research has shown: reading to children before they get to school is a key indicator of academic success.

3. The Sacramento Bee, once a fairly decent daily newspaper, will continue its slide down the slope of mediocrity and irrelevancy.

4. The dollar will continue its strength compared to the Euro, and many people in the Elk Grove area will want to take advantage of that and travel to Switzerland and Italy in the autumn of 2020. If interested, email me at  rathabo @ frontiernet.net!

5. At least one of the owners of the many Elk Grove micro-breweries will finally get a clue and start serving Pabst or Miller Light!

Dan Schmitt, 
Podcaster; Ya Gotta Be Schmittin' Me 
Elk Grove

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I predict that Sacramento County will emerge from transportation gridlock to modern transportation that transforms our county to be its best.

Glenda Marsh 
Sacramento

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Grounded for most of 2020? 


1. The Boeing Max won't be approved to fly until Q4 2020, and less than 40-percent of the population will be willing to book a flight

2. Cybercrime will happen more often on soft targets

3. There will be an undercount of the population during the 2020 census because of the fear Trump has generated in ethnic communities


4. There will be a triple crown winning horse this year


5. A new war in the Middle East due to Trump's carelessness and his big mouth


6. A water crisis in a major city, could be flooding in Miami or tainted contaminated water, etc., in a major urban area (much like Flint, Mich.)

7. An unusually high number of tornadoes in the northern tier state's


Suzanne Gougherty
Southfield, Michigan

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Jacklyn Moreno will run for the Elk Grove City Council District 1 seat and win.

Construction on the Wilton Rancheria resort casino will not start as promised in 2020

The Swimmin' Hole will face possible closures this summer because of poor designs by Willdan

In an effort to regain relevancy, former Elk Grove Mayor Gary Davis will revive his coffee shop with branches at the Swimmin' Hole and Elk Grove Honda

Marieza Calip
Elk Grove  

***

Rarely have human beings been able to anticipate that a certain year would change history. The secession of southern states in 1861 caught everyone, including the South, by surprise, but it precipitated the bloodiest battles ever on U.S. soil. The year 2001 was generally uneventful... then 9-11 happened.

But 2020 is different. We know it will be memorable, but we don’t know what that will look like. Here’s what we do know:

5G wireless technology launched in December, offering unprecedented speed and access to information. There have been concerns about greater security risks and the possible dangers of electromagnetic radiation emitted by 5G devices. 5G is probably no more dangerous than 4G, but there will be more major hacking events and our personal privacy will be threatened in new ways in 2020. Savvy folks should consider two things: Use strong passwords for your Wi-Fi router and IoT devices like Alexa, smart locks, and connected cameras, and make a decision about whether you want major corporations like Google and Amazon to eavesdrop on your daily lives.

It looks like Brexit will happen. When? Possibly 2020. But a large number of Britons who voted for Boris Johnson in December thought Brexit would return the United Kingdom to a pre-1970 (whiter) world. Sorry, Johnson’s Tory party has no plans for that. The UK will probably continue to fray, with Scotland looking at leaving the union and the two Irelands possibly uniting. Meanwhile, Britain will continue to be a melting pot like all other western nations. Cue David Bowie’s song, “Changes.”

The Equal Rights Amendment is only one state away from being ratified, which could happen in 2020. Then the amendment heads to the courts for a decision on the original 1982 deadline set for the legislation. Another amendment, the 27th, took more than 200 years to be ratified, so 38 years isn’t that big of a deal. The ERA would be a good thing for our country because, for the first time, the Constitution would state that men and women have equal rights in life and work. It’s not a radical concept, and countless studies show that when women are treated equally, everyone makes more money and the world is more peaceful.

Home DNA tests were a hot gift item in 2019, but the Pentagon is warning military personnel not to use them because they might give inaccurate results and “expose personal and genetic information, and potentially create unintended security consequences.” Let me get this straight: The Pentagon can track me and everyone I know, and they’re recommending against home DNA tests that make it easier to track me and everyone I’m related to. I’ll heed their advice in 2020.

That brings me to the 2020 U.S. Presidential election. Here’s one possible scenario: Trump is re-elected and U.S. policy continues to skew conservative and nationalist, even though the most populous states in the union aren’t represented by that political philosophy. California and New York will probably continue making their own laws, like the California emissions standards, and ignore much of what comes from Washington. The Affordable Care Act will likely be shrunk until the government can “drown it in the bathtub,” to quote conservative Grover Norquist. Federal laws protecting women and minorities will continue to erode because of the conservative judicial branch, and we’ll probably see increasing urban and gun violence encouraged by nationalist rhetoric. The economy will start to tank by the middle of Trump’s second term.

Or, the Democrats will stop fretting about electability, grow some gonads, and boldly beat Trump in 2020 by re-energizing minorities and protecting voter rights. The economy will still begin to sputter by 2022, but Democrats are more likely to enact measures that benefit the average citizen in a downturn. The Democratic president probably won’t get much done in four years because he or she will spend most of their time cleaning up a big mess, kind of like Hoboken, New Jersey, after SantaCon. We’ll all be disappointed because nothing remarkable will happen during that time, but then again… a lot of us would be happy to be merely “disappointed” about our president.

Maybe the best we can hope for is a disappointing 2020 rather than a devastating one. I’ll drink to that. Cheers.

Kristen Berkery, Marketing consultant, Podcaster
Elk Grove, @KBDigiMarketing

***
I predict that at least five more states will legalize marijuana and that will be synonymous with a rise in fast-food stock prices.

Food delivery service will bounce back as a result.

And the first death from marijuana will occur once Monsanto and Bayer get in on the cash crop, which will lead them to declare, "We are bigger than US Steel."

Joseph "JayGee" Gougherty
Warren, Michigan

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1. District56 will continue to be plagued with an identity crisis and low attendance. Marketing ploys like making it a wedding venue will continue to be fodder for Elk Grove News readers and low-bidder construction defects will continue to arise.

2. Old Town will continue to flounder, even after the City has thrown millions of tax dollars at it. The new Old Town logo will be an elk stuffing money into a rabbit hole. The new public restroom that only appears to be open during Food Truck Mania events will be dedicated as a historic building in the year 2080!

3. The November district elections will yield no significant changes - the District 1 incumbent will win with fancy flyers and a long list of endorsements. Mayor Ly will once again buzz the skies with his campaign plane trailing a long banner.

4. The City will bamboozle the Sacramento LAFCo with tall tales of expanding the City boundaries for job purposes and a soccer field. The reality is the home builders are sitting in Granite Bay waiting to cash in their campaign contribution chips and peddle more stucco boxes to priced-out Bay Area refugees.  

D.J Butarsky, Elk Grove
Blutarsky is a long time Elk Grove resident who tries to find the humor in things, especially City news that would otherwise be too painful to watch! His persona hearkens back to the infamous "Unknown Comic" of the 1970s Gong Show era. DJ would like to think of himself as Elk Grove's Unknown Comic! 

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For 2020, I stand with my prediction made for 2017.

Kevin Dayton
@DaytonPubPolicy
Monterey, California


***

I predict in 2020
By Michael Monasky

I predict that, in 2020, some bosses will persist in forcing female workers to express breast milk in a toilet stall, while employers will lobby the statehouse to offset penalties against violators to relocate their executive digs to earth-closets. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1976

On a brighter note, we and our leaders are oblivious to the time remaining before the holocaust. I predict that advanced US thermonuclear weapons will be detonated should North Korea fire its primitive nuclear missiles at Guam in 2020 (and Hawai’i? And California?) As a double whammy, we can blame former governor Jerry Brown, a board director at an apocalyptic think tank, for trying to inform a somnolent giant. https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/ While the US has about 4,000 thermonuclear weapons, detonating just one percent, about forty, will ensure a global, nuclear winter.

Speaking of so-called climate change, I predict the new year will see the USA continue in its superior role as the greatest planetary outlaw generating more greenhouse gases per capita than any other nation, including China. 

While Elk Grove has a medical school, I predict it will not build a hospital. The health care markets are collapsing, as average acute care hospital vacancy rates soar between 30-percent in cities, and nearly 50-percent in less populated rural regions. Meanwhile, skilled nursing rehabilitation facilities run full occupancy on razor-thin margins due to recent federal funding cuts demanding performance outcomes and abandoning fee for service reimbursements. A day does not go by where major scandal and massive bankruptcy do not plague this industry and its markets. Philadelphia is one such recent example. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-15/philadelphia-hospital-collapse-highlights-healthcare-anarchy

Finally, I predict Elk Grove will continue to follow the decline in 2020 of fictional character George Bailey’s homey Bedford Falls in descent to a penurious Pottersville. Due to lawsuits, the Indian casino will neither break ground in 2020 nor build for at least another few years. However, these delays will not deter the city fathers as they stand behind their impoverished Wilton-Miwok neighbors at their inevitable, annual press conferences. A one-armed bandit can accumulate a quarter-million dollars annually; the tribe contracted for 2,000 such pirates and anticipates over a half-billion in revenues, potentially paying off their loan in one year. They hope to abscond abundant discretionary assets from a multitude of disconsolate rubes playing to empty pockets.

There you have it, my happy predictions for a prosperous new year; at least for a few folks...

Michael Monasky, Elk Gove

***

1) Divisions in the Democrat Party will widen the gulf between traditional Democrats and Progressive socialists locally and nationally, while divisions in the GOP will continue to harden.

2) Like Spartans at Thermopylae, a valiant band of patriots will stand at the pass to defend Civility and free speech against the hordes of cancel-culture hate-warriors who are trapped in their ideological silos.  My hope is that we achieve more than a poem and movie about the sacrifice, but actually turn back the tide for the sake of the Republic. 

3) Despite massive spending, homelessness in CA and Sacramento will worsen as bureaucrats and politicians continue to use inaccurate data and poor money into NGOs and government agencies rather than addressing the problem: AB109, drugs, and mental health.

4) Co-joined with the homeless issue, the housing crisis will worsen as politicians continue to ignore economic facts and market solutions, and instead try to impose more mandates and price controls on housing.

5) If Sacramento County pursues another Measure A “Christmas tree” tax for transportation, it will fail by an even wider margin than the last two failed attempts - UNLESS the focus only on fixing roads and create real oversight to guarantee roads will actually get fixed.

BONUS: As the public has grown more aware of the problems caused by AB109, Prop 47, and Prop 57, there will be an outcry for a return to accountability and truth in sentencing.

Tab Berg, political consultant 
Sacramento
TABcommunications.com 


***
Year of the Underdog in Elk Grove city council elections?

After starting their season 1-7, Martha Firestone Ford fires Matt Paricia and offers the Detroit Lions head coaching job to Urban Myers not realizing 'Urb' is coaching the Dallas Cowboys.
The City of Elk Grove's Innovation Czar Christopher "CJ" Jones will announce a major breakthrough that will "substantially reduce" traffic congestion.

Unlike past elections in Elk Grove, this year's race for the District 1 and 3 seats will be competitive. One of these races will be won by an underdog candidate - one who may even have not declared their candidacy - who was not expected to be victorious.

Like they have in the past with cases such as the P3 International "material breach" fiasco, city attorney will drop the construction defect lawsuit against Big B Construction and Arntz Construction. And for good measure, the city will be compelled to pay the defendants' legal fees.

One or two heads in the executive staff at the City of Elk Grove will roll as a result of the District56 aquatics center litigation.

Dan Gougherty, Elk Grove

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Nationwide fast-food indigestion?

1. During 2020 there will be a fight for public land, especially out west and it will play a big part of the presidential election

2. There will be multiple earthquakes on the West Coast and Alaska

3.  There is going to be food contamination at a fast-food chain.

4.  Tiger Woods will continue his winning streak and break a few records, even his own.


Tim Jobson, Roscommon, Michigan. 

***

My prediction for the New Year is also a resolution:  I only have one because it is that important to me, and readers, please repeat five times. 

Borrowed from Oprah Winfrey, especially as it applies for 2020 elections both nationally and locally: “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”

Connie Conley
Elk Grove


January 2 - UPDATED to included predictions from Tab Berg. 

Copyright by Elk Grove News © 2019. All right reserved.


 



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2 comments

Randy Bekker said...

I like Connie’s prediction the best, short sweet! To give a balance my predictions in 2020.
Without a clear front runner in Democratic Party it ends in a Ole style cigar filled room knock down drag out convention. Biden barely wins nomination as Bernie gets rejected again as his supporters leave the party to start a 3rd party. Trump wins electoral college an popular vote. Republicans take back the house an retains the Senate. Pelosi steps down retires in shame but before she goes she blames the progressive wing of the party as the moderate Democrats try to retain their control in their party as the progressives move to their new formed party. In local politics, Cooper wins easily. Ly is re-elected with no serious challenge. Suen is re-elected with no serious challenge even though their are those that would like to run against him but choose not to for personal reasons. Spease is elected in District # 3 even though he is challenged their efforts come up short as by District elections actually helps Spease compared to his challengers. CNU continues to be in the news but supports slips from CNU’s lack community support an project funding. Dignity is an embarrassment as the announcement of closure of Methodist with a proposed down sized hospital in Elk Grove. In Spring 2020 just after winter rains Wilton Rancheria an announces ground breaking of their Casino. The Casino floor will open by the end of the year with the rest of the project completion by 2022. Housing will continues to grow with more affordable housing projects in a District # 4. Transportation will continue to suffer as light rail to the south of the city is announced by end of year. No large employers are announced as the city continues its efforts. By end of the year conversations are taking place to explore the merger of CCSD an the city as an exploratory committee is formed.

D.J. Blutarsky said...

Ok, my crystal ball just revealed another 2020 event--well, technically to occur on January 1, 2021.

In an effort to put Elk Grove on the map as a destination city and to promote District56, Elk Grove will enter a float in the Rose Parade! The Economic Development Department will manage the project; the Innovation Department will round-up the stakeholders to build it; and Mayor Ly will be in charge of procuring the flowers.

The theme of the float will essentially be, "come to Elk Grove and let us spend your money". The float will be purchased from Universal Studios and is the Navy PBR boat that was used in the movie Apocalypse Now. There will be a cannon mounted on the bow that will shoot dollar bills into the crowd. In the rear of the float will be a small water slide with a sign reading "come get married at District56 and take a dip"

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