Are we in a Recovery, or falling off a cliff?

[Jnap1]

My predictions:
1. WE will continue to recover but it will be slow; kind of like 2010.
2. I base this on the performance of GE, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Utilities stocks, oil, and the market as a whole.
3. My wealth is up and I recovered all I lost in 2008 during 2009. In 2010 had a 7.5% return on investments. I mostly just hung on to what I had in my portfolio in 2007 and bought a few high dividend stocks. 2010 produced 5.5% return on cash investments and 11.6% in market investments.
4. The Federal Government did not raise taxes, as they should have, so we will continue to add to the deficit.
5. The deficit spending will act as a stimulus and keep the economy slowly growing.
6. The Republicans do not have the guts to reduce spending, much, because it will affect jobs in their respective States. Not much is going to change in congress in 2011.
7. Many firms follow the GE business model. GE is going to spend a billion dollars re-doing there appliance division. The model is to build everything they need to make appliances in the same facility. No outsourcing! If this works other manufactures will follow.
8. Wages are down because jobs are scarce. This is an ideal time to hire because you can pick and chose and get people to work for less.
9. The health care reform package will ultimately help small business. If a company employing more than 50 people does not want to continue paying for health insurance for their employees they can pay the penalty which in many cases will be less than providing insurance. It is also expected that because of certain provisions the double digit increases in insurance premiums will be lessened in the coming years. Just getting the healthy, uninsured, into the pool should help just as good drivers help bring down the overall cost of auto insurance.
10. Failure is not an option. The US economy has recovered from every single recession and depression it is has ever had. While we as a nation may have serious problems, compared to most other countries, we are not in that bad of shape. As for the deficit, two things are going to happen very soon (within two or three years): Taxes will go up, inflation will increase, and spending will come down. I also predict that the political parties will find a way to work together and the Tea Party will fade away. The last prediction is based on the fact that I and many others are tired of hearing the BS. Let’s just stop the crap and get on with doing what is right for the country which is somewhere, politically, in the middle ground.