Wishes for 2010
For more than a decade, we’ve been presenting our hopes for the coming year on New Year’s Day. We don’t have a very good record. If five or so wishes come true, it’s considered a good year. In 2009, 10 were granted, making it a great year.
There was some fudging in the scoring. We gave ourselves half a point for wishes that sort of came true, such as “For gays and lesbians to be free to marry whom they choose” (yes in Washington, D.C.; no in Maine). And success in some cases was a little subjective. We wished, for example, for “less makeup on the vampires in the movie sequels to ‘Twilight.’ ” Our tween correspondents inform us that the bloodsuckers were, indeed, less pasty-faced in “New Moon,” but few members of the editorial board could be persuaded to do the research needed to confirm this.
As is traditional, our first wish is for even more wishes to come true. We also wish for:
* Global warming deniers to have a banner year as the Arctic ice pack returns to its normal size. Unfortunately, we’re not holding our breath on this one.
* The U.S. Senate to pass a climate bill that puts a price on carbon emissions, a critical step in preventing a catastrophic rise in global temperatures.
* California’s Legislature and governor to finally get real about the prison crisis and approve a sensible plan for reducing the inmate population without endangering the public.
* A smart, funny sitcom. Yeah, we’re going to keep wishing for this until it comes true.
* Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. (Another hardy perennial.)
* Plenty of rainfall and a healthy snowpack. Isn’t that what Californians wish for every year?
* The University of California and California State University to put a halt to fee increases, after 32% tuition hikes this year.
* A better response from banks to the relentless rise in mortgage defaults. Although the nature of the problem has shifted from poorly underwritten loans to high unemployment, the result hasn’t changed: Too many homes are going into foreclosure.
* The L.A. Unified School District to get to work implementing the grand reforms it has announced: better evaluation of teachers, turning around Fremont High, and fairly and apolitically arranging for the takeover of perhaps 250 new and failing schools by outside managers.
* Markham Middle School in Watts to find -- and be allowed to hire -- enough qualified teachers for all of its openings.
* The U.S. Forest Service to get serious about restoring the fire-ravaged Angeles National Forest.
* The U.N. Security Council to impose real sanctions, with teeth, to discourage Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
* Congress to close the “gun-show loophole,” which allows sales of used guns without federal background checks.
* California’s Legislature to impose a severance tax on oil extraction, as all other states do, and use the money to help balance the budget (and not divert it to any particular program).
* Another championship for the Lakers.
* State lawmakers to keep their hands off Los Angeles County welfare, foster care and senior services funding.
* The closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.
* An end to “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
* A civil, not-too-costly, not-too-pandering race for governor. Oh, forget that one. Some things are too unimaginable even to be wished for.
* The question of whether Los Angeles is or isn’t an NFL town to be settled.
* A sizable chunk of L.A. commuters to switch from cars to bikes, buses or trains.
* A unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to enter the 20th century (that’s right) and allow its arguments to be televised.
* Erstwhile Vice President Dick Cheney to return to a secure, remote location.
* Advancements in battery technology that would make electric cars a viable alternative to the internal combustion engine.
* A presidential commission that would try to discover the difference between Facebook’s “Live Feed” and “News Feed.”
* A new approach by Washington to regulating the banking industry. Instead of providing a backstop to companies deemed too big to fail, we’d like Congress to create mechanisms that enable troubled companies to go bankrupt without endangering the entire financial system.
* A reality show in which contestants compete to expand their knowledge rather than reduce their waistlines. Call it “The Biggest Reader.”
* State Controller John Chiang to remodel his office and find about $21 billion lying around under the old furniture.
* Film production companies to remember that Vancouver and Toronto have more stringent labor laws than Los Angeles.
* State Assembly Speaker-elect John Pérez to use his union background to confront public-sector labor unions over their budget demands.
* Passage of a comprehensive healthcare reform bill that slows the increase in costs, sharply reduces the number of uninsured and improves the quality of care.
* Congressional Democrats and Republicans to join forces in developing a plan to bring the federal budget back into balance.
* A spike in newspaper circulation.