What would you have said a few years ago if I told you we were going to essentially win the war in Iraq? You're lucky I don't have the software to pull up old predictions here.

We can play that game all day.

What's depressing me right now is that the root causes of our economic issues are not understood by either party. Obama is a socialist, and McCain's grasp of basic conservative economic principles are, to put it charitably, limited (think Nixon with a sense of honor). With some limited exceptions in the House, the same is true of the legislature.

Both candidates backed the bailout.

The root cause of the mortgage problem was the idea that market forces should have nothing to do with whether or not someone should be able to finance a house. This found expression in many laws and government-subsidized mortgage industries, all placing the U.S. Treasury behind the loan industry. Theoretically freed of the real penalties of risk, lenders started acting like there was no risk. Remember the "deregulation" of Savings and Loans that left the FDIC safety net in place?

Nobody is going to deal with that part of the problem. Either party. Ever.

So what's going to happen is a lot more "fixing the computer by hitting it with a hammer." If the Democrats take all three branches of government, the only difference is that they'll be using a sledge.