Notes From Norm Thursday December 29th: Top Story of the Year
As the year comes to a close, and we begin to prepare for 2012, I’d like to hear from you what you consider to be the most critical and important stories from 2011.
While I will have my own list to publish before the year’s end, it would be fascinating to hear from you what story or issue you consider to have had the most impact – for better or worse – on the future of the United States.
It doesn’t have to be politics – and it doesn’t have to be a policy. Perhaps it was something more personal and more local to you and your family.
In my own life this year, I lost my Mom – who I miss every single day. She was 84 years old, and the light of my own life, and that of those around her. As I posted on my Facebook page after her passing, even after a long and meaningful life, it seemed like she had so much more life to live:
"Moms always die to soon. And no matter how old and accomplished we are, we feel like little kids who have lost our way in the world when our parents are gone. Oh, how sorrow pursues us."
Locally, in Minnesota, we saw the Minnesota government shut-down as the Governor and GOP lawmakers battled over what course of action to take to balance the state’s budget. The Governor wanted to raise taxes – the Legislature did not – and, in the end, taxes were not raised, the budget was balanced and commonsense government prevailed.
In Saint Paul, local taxpayers have begun to rise up as double-digit property tax increases, coupled with collapsing home values, are driving what’s left of the City’s middle class further and further away from the City.
It’s the same kind of “perfect storm” that compelled me to run for Mayor in 1993, and to turn the focus away from government being the answer to the challenges facing the City – to embracing the power of the private sector and citizens to create jobs, fight crime and restore confidence and investment in Saint Paul.
Nationally, there are so many different stories to choose from, it’s hard to imagine that any single story could have a life-changing impact. However, for nearly 14 million Americans without jobs – and millions more who we can’t even calculate because they’ve simply given up looking for work because there are no jobs to find – nearly everything Congress and the President do – and don’t do – is impacting their lives.
Globally, I believe there have been fundamental changes in the world that will define the future of the human race for the next fifty years. Whether those changes will be better or worse for the world, and for the people of the United States, remains to be seen. Some of those changes will be immediate; others will take decades to manifest themselves. All of them will alter the course of human events long after those of us seeing them take place today have gone to our graves.
So, what’s your top story of the year? Please share your thoughts with us as we begin to come to the close of another historic year in the life of our country and the future of our world.
