What did you think of 2013, and what are your hopes for an improved 2014? According to Cathleen Decker of the Los Angeles Times, “If a cartoon balloon had floated atop President Obama’s head during his year-end news conference on Friday it would have said, succinctly: “Good riddance, 2013. Here’s hoping for a better 2014.” The president certainly noted some of the more positive developments in 2013: millions of jobs created, the economy growing more strongly, the unemployment rate at its lowest in five years. The deficit is down, energy production is up and healthcare cost increases have slowed.”

But as pitiful as these alleged results were, even this was an overreach. Of the millions of jobs created, the vast majority were low wage jobs in industries such as retail, fast food, and shipping. The excess energy being produced is couched in the new oil reserves being tapped in the Dakotas – not in the clean energy sector that the President promised would create new, middle class jobs while improving the environment. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the biggest corporate power grab in history looms ever nearer. The U6 unemployment* number is north of 13%. The ACA website, to be polite, glitched. NSA spying continues, both on U.S. citizens and our allies. And despite being considered a hero by many, Edward Snowden remains in exile for fear of retribution. The cost of waging war in the Middle East tipped the $6 trillion mark. 68,000 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan. Civil War in Syria now threatens a very tenuous peace in Iraq. Given all this, it should come as no shock to anyone that the President’s approval rating has dipped to an all-time low (41%), down 14 points from the beginning of the year.

Meanwhile, across town, the 113^th Congress fared no better. In total, only 60 laws were passed, making 2013 the least productive of any in modern congressional history. An embattled House grappled endlessly with the ACA, while automatically triggered austerity measures were enacted with little more than a whisper. Student loan interest rates doubled. Food stamp and other assistance programs shrank like a wool sweater in an electric dryer. Both parties played chicken with sequestration and The People paid the price of their folly. The federal government shut down for 16 days. And for many, Santa will bring nothing more than a lump of coal this year as emergency unemployment benefits go the way of the Dodo. Looking ahead to 2014, what, pray tell, can we do about the ultimate dysfunction in Washington? Better yet, what will we do?

*http://portalseven.com/employment/unemployment_rate_u6.jsp