As each year comes to an end, my wife and I prepare a list of everything we are thankful for that occurred during the year and things we are hopeful for in the coming year.

Among the many things we are thankful for this year are the following: We are thankful for once again having a president that we can all be proud of; a President who has dramatically begun restoring our good name and standing in the world while at the same time making us all safer through his wise, thoughtful foreign policy and his decision to stop torturing our adversaries; a president who rightly deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor that all Americans should be proud of; and a president whose domestic policies are intended to benefit all Americans, not just the wealthy few – equal pay for equal work for women; removing embryonic stem cell research restrictions; new consumer protections from credit card company predatory practices; expanded SCHIP coverage to an additional 4 million children; the auto industry rescue plan; the housing market rescue plan; increased spending to improve our crumbling infrastructure while also creating jobs; and the improvement of VA benefits for all veterans; to name just a few.

We are thankful for a Congress that fought back against the special interests to get health care reform bills to conference committee. While certainly not perfect in its current form, health care reform is going to happen sooner rather than later. Lastly, we are thankful for a president whose inspirational leadership, incredible intellect, sincere humility, and heartfelt good will proves that greatness comes from deeds, not birthright.

We are hopeful that this year Congress will pass legislation using reconciliation procedures to expand Medicare coverage to include everyone 55 years of age and older. We are hopeful that Medicare will finally be able to negotiate lower prescription drug prices and that the importation of safe prescription drugs will finally be authorized.

We are hopeful that this country will finally get serious about the devastating effects of pollution on the planet’s climate and start implementing meaningful measures to begin the slow process of reversing the terrible ecological mess we have all contributed to.

We are hopeful that the worlds best and brightest entrepreneurs (Americans all) will take the lead in developing green technologies for the next century. There is simply no reason that this country should lag behind other developed nations in this limitless field, and to do so would be economically devastating to our country in the long run.

We are hopeful that the dramatic turn around we are seeing in the stock market and in home sales, and the upward trend we are starting to see in the job market will continue their upward rise.

In short, we are hopeful that all the positive effects we are seeing from our president’s enlightened policies will continue unabated, and that Americans will realize when they go to the polls next November that our president needs even larger majorities in the House and Senate (especially in the Senate) in order to continue his steady uphill climb leading us out of the wilderness and back into the light.

That’s not hoping for too much is it?

Nels Kelstrom

Clinton