What New Wonders, or Horrors, Will It Present to Us

January 2, 2026, and I read a post by Robert Reich on Facebook this morning that reinforces what my daughter had said to me about the Trump presidency. Since the beginning of the electoral cycle prior to the election, she has told me that the country needed him, to show us all how the government has gone awry. Reich corroborated this statement: “…About a year ago, at the start of the Trump regime, a woman was about to pass me on the sidewalk and then stopped, turned toward me, and almost shouted, “It’s a fucking nightmare! It has been a “fucking nightmare.” But sometimes a nation needs a nightmare before it can fully awaken to long-simmering crises.”…”America had to come to this point. We couldn’t go on as we were, even under Democratic presidents. For 40 years, a narrow economic elite has been siphoning off ever more wealth and power….”

All true, IMHO! When the rich hoard even more wealth every year while the average citizen becomes more impoverished, there is something radically wrong. Today’s Sun-Gazette has as its one headline that Pennsylvania’s current governor is now the highest paid governor in the country. I know many voters were thrilled when he was elected; I had my reservations and still do. Some unions, such as SEIU668 among others, that are supposed to represent their members appear, in reality, to be little more than PACs. According to this article titled “Largest public-sector unions spent eye-popping amount on left-wing politics — 86% funded by member dues” at https://www.aol.com/articles/largest-public-sector-unions-spent-233109253.html, “The country’s four largest public-sector unions spent a combined $915 million on elections and progressive political activism during the 2024 election cycle, 86% of which came from member dues.

The Commonwealth Foundation, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit promoting free-market policies, highlighted the massive political spending by the National Education Association (NEA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in a new report released this week….The report’s findings, particularly that 86% of the unions’ nearly $1 billion in political spending stems from membership dues, underscore criticism that these entities work more to push a political agenda than support their members….”

In fairness, I did not vet these stats, but the union web info states that member dues are not used for this purpose. If true, where does the political financial support largess come from? I know that Governor Shapiro was one of the recipients of the union support, as is/was John Fetterman. We have all seen how Fetterman has changed his feathers! It remains to be seen if anything changes as the year plays out. I’m not sure I trust certain politicians who follow the weather.

As to the governor, his administration does not seem to be scandal-free. There have been a number of potential issues that have arisen since his election, some financial. Not sure how the wind will continue to blow there. Again, with the financial issues faced by many constituents in Pennsylvania, I’m not sure of the automatic raise justifications for the governing population. The tired argument is that we need to pay to get good people to run. How’s that working out?

I shudder to even contemplate what may be ahead for all of us with state and federal government.