Predictions for 2013

California goes the way of Greece. Michele Bachmann becomes Speaker of the House. Washington Post opinion writers anticipate the news in the year to come. We welcome reader predictions in the comments.

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George Will predicts:

Sometime soon, and 2013 may be the time, some home-grown Greece -- California, perhaps, although Illinois is even more likely -- will come to Washington as a mendicant, its begging bowl in hand, seeking to off-load its public employees' pension obligations on the nation's taxpayers. Then we shall again see the beauty of the Senate, in which two senators from Wyoming (population 568,000) can nullify two from California (population 37,692,000).

JOHN KOLESIDIS / REUTERS

Dana Milbank predicts:

Michele Bachmann will be elected Speaker of the House. Congress will approve an increase in the debt ceiling after President Obama threatens drone strikes on the GOP leadership. Republican House oversight committee chairman Darrell Issa will launch a comprehensive probe of the Obama administration "just because." Iran will agree to cease its nuclear program if Secretary of State John Kerry "will stop talking so much." In Washington, nothing productive will be accomplished.

Melina Mara / The Washington Post

Jennifer Rubin predicts:

Christie will be re-elected overwhelmingly, with little serious opposition. In Virginia, however, Republican Ken Cuccinelli will lose narrowly to Democrat Terry McAuliffe, despite modest assistance from sitting Gov. Bob McDonnell. Throughout the race, Cuccinelli will be dogged by the prospect of a third-party candidate. Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, Scott Brown will be preparing to run yet again for the Senate and will jump out to an early lead in the polls. No one will ask: “What happened to Rick Santorum?”

/ BOB BROWN, STEVE HELBER

Greg Sargent predicts:

In 2013, the blister won't pop. It will only swell. Last summer, Obama predicted that winning reelection would lance the "blister" of GOP opposition. Not gonna happen. Dems will agree to weak filibuster reform that won't change much of anything, and Republicans will wage scorched-earth battles on the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling (yes, another hostage crisis), gun control and voting reform (both of which I predict Obama will attempt next year). The base won't want to let the GOP compromise even on immigration reform, and the need to adapt to changing demographics will spark intra-party war. In other words, lots more of the same!

Melina Mara / THE WASHINGTON POST

EJ Dionne predicts:

Somewhere in the course of the year, there will be a groundswell of support for a constitutional amendment requiring all members of Congress to have accounting degrees. The only thing Congress seems to want to do is move from one artificially-created deadline to another, arguing from dawn to dusk about budgets, fiscal cliffs and debt ceilings. Why not, then, just put green eye shades on everybody? The far riskier prediction would see members of Congress finally acting on large national problems such as gun violence, broadly and fairly distributed economic growth, education, immigration, infrastructure and climate change. If they don’t want to do any of that, bring on the accountants.

SAUL LOEB / AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Erik Wemple predicts:

In 2013, newspapers and television networks and online news services will collectively make plans to duplicate Nate Silver's electoral forecasting model, the better to share in the web-traffic bonanza that he steered toward the New York Times in 2012. CNN will retool, rejigger and revamp a goodly portion of its flagship offerings, only to find that viewer habits are more stubborn than Piers Morgan in a gun-control conversation. Fox News will rename the Fox Business Network the Fox Benghazi Network. And media critics will go so bananas over paywalls that they'll start installing them in their homes.

Nam Y. Huh / AP

Eugene Robinson predicts:

The hemisphere's most iconic and charismatic leaders, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, are likely to pass away in 2013. If these deaths were to occur -- Castro's from old age, Chavez's from metastatic cancer -- the right U.S. reaction could help to set Venezuela and even Cuba on paths toward genuine reform. My reading is that majorities in both countries would like better relations with Washington, but will insist on being able to chart their own social and economic paths. If U.S. officials insist that a post-Fidel Cuba and a post-Chavez Venezuela transform themselves overnight into what we consider model capitalist democracies, we'll be playing into the next generation of would-be strongmen's hands.

STR / AFP/Getty Images

Jonathan Capehart predicts:

The Supreme Court will hand down a ruling on marriage equality that will make it legal where it is already legal. The court will also declare the so-called Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional -- thus creating an untenable situation where equal protection under the law for same-sex couples and their families will depend on which state they live in. It will be left to a future case challenging such unfairness to make the nation whole. Of course, I hope my prediction is proven to be overly pessimistic.

Chip Somodevilla / GETTY IMAGES

David Ignatius predicts:

As tensions continue to spread in the Middle East during 2013, a quiet topic of debate will be whether the boundaries between Middle East states set by the 1916 Sykes-Picot pact between Britain and France and ratified by the Versailles Treaty in 1919 will continue to hold. This question will deepen in 2013 as Syria's civil war pushes its ethnic groups toward cantons -- places of refuge for Alawites, Druze, Kurds and Christians. My guess: The fabric of the existing nation states will stretch and fray, but not rip apart.

Mohammad Hannon / AP

Michael Gerson predicts:

Congressional Republicanism will continue to struggle under the influence of 40 to 50 House members who refuse compromise even when it immediately and dramatically undermines their own ideological goals and the negotiating power of their party. This will raise the question of whether any effective, responsible governing majority in the House is possible. But I also predict that serious Republican presidential prospects -- Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Bobby Jindal -- will continue the rediscovery of compassionate conservatism (however they rename it), since it is the only path to a national majority in 2016. This will produce a growing gap between rejectionist conservatives and reform conservatives -- essentially two parties competing to define the Republican brand.

Haraz N. Ghanbari / AP

Robert Samuelson predicts:

Sometime in the first half of the year, the price of oil -- which, depending on the type of crude, has hung stubbornly in the $90 to $120 a barrel range -- will drop sharply to between $60 to $80 a barrel. This will give the American and world economies a welcome jolt by reducing energy costs and increasing purchasing power. Lower gasoline prices will perk up Americans' spirits. Unfortunately, any subsequent improvement in the economy may make our political leaders even less likely to deal with the nation's long-term economic and budgetary problems.

Hasan Jamali / AP

Jonathan Bernstein predicts:

Democrats who are unhappy with legislative results will blame President Obama for not being tough enough and for not giving the proper types of speeches. Republicans who are unhappy with legislative results will blame John Boehner (or his replacement in the unlikely event that he leaves office) for not being a true conservative and for selling them out. But, in fact, it will be divided government that is frustrating them.

Carolyn Kaster / AP

Matt Miller predicts:

Paul Ryan will bolt from any eventual fiscal deal that raises marginal tax rates, setting himself up (as Newt Gingrich did in early 1990s) as the undisputed leader of the anti-tax wing of the GOP. Marco Rubio will squander his opportunity to recast the national debate (and outflank Democrats), because he’ll simply talk about upward mobility, instead of offering ambitious policies that would actually renew it. His star in the GOP will continue to rise precisely because of this choice. In his new role as president of Purdue University, Mitch Daniels will become a compelling spokesman for greater cost effectiveness in higher education, leading many who wished he’d run in 2012 to hope he’ll reconsider in 2016. The story with the highest stakes in 2013 will get relatively little media attention because it’s as dull as it is essential: the mad dash to get all those health exchanges ready to implement Obamacare successfully.

Mary Altaffer / AP

Charles Lane predicts:

Gov. Chris Christie will be re-elected, handily, in New Jersey, and emerge as a major player in national Republican politics. Christie's rise will please many in the party, but also heighten the internal contradictions between the GOP's Southern/Tea Party wing and its more moderate Northern wing. Yes, many party regulars are exasperated with his embrace of President Obama when Sandy hit in the last week of campaign 2012. But as time goes on, even his Republican critics will have to admit that Christie's can-do personality, less-confrontational approach to social issues and proven ability to pull votes north of the Mason-Dixon line would make him a strong presidential candidate in 2016.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Ed Rogers predicts:

If you have a job in the private sector, you will make less money in 2013 than you did in 2012. Brace yourself for tax increases, new regulatory costs, higher power bills and health-care costs. Happy New Year! See you at the inauguration.

Andrew Harrer / BLOOMBERG

Jo-Ann Armao predicts:

Sometime next year, it's probably safe to say, one of the members of the D.C. Council will do something that will further undermine public confidence in the institution. Chances are it will involve either a contract or a campaign contribution and that hopefully might finally spur the body to take the actions needed to reform campaign finance and the procurement system.

Jonathan Newton / THE WASHINGTON POST

Colbert King predicts:

With four years remaining on his second term, D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi will resign in 2013 to pursue other interests. Two District elected officials, both residing east of Rock Creek Park, will also resign their seats in 2013, but not because they want to. The D.C. Office of Campaign Finance, under pressure from the Elections Board, will levy historic fines for campaign finance violations committed in the 2010 mayoral campaign. There will be at least six stories in the media about the city’s black-white racial gap -- all based on anecdotes and quotes from the same folks who have been serving up that narrative for the last 20 years. The Potomac River will continue to sparkle in the sunset, and spawn fish not fit for eating.

Astrid Riecken / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Alexandra Petri predicts:

"YOLO" will disappear from the nation's vocabulary. People will breathe a short-lived sigh of relief, before the word "moist" suddenly enjoys an inexplicable resurgence. After 2012's Lincoln mania, Chester A. Arthur will enjoy a box office hot streak. Mutton-chops will come back in.

/ UPI FILES

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WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 19: Vice President Joe Biden speaks before the Frederick Douglass statue now permanently placed in the US Capitol's Emancipation Hall in Washington, DC on June 19, 2013. The statue of the abolition leader was chosen by District residents to represent them in the Capitol because of his stance on self governance according to Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). The statue by artist Steven Weitzman, was blocked from it's placement in the Capitol for years, a victim of rules that stated that only the 50 states can display statues of their favored sons and daughters in the Capitol. The House and Senate passed a resolution last month allowing DC to be represented in Emancipation Hall which features statues of notable leaders nominated by each state. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post)

Frederick Douglass statue unveiled in the Capitol

The carving of the famed abolitionist and District advocate finds its place inside the halls of Congress.

TV presenter and conservationist Anneka Tanaka-Svenska wears a hat designed by Louis Mariette during the first day of Royal Ascot, in Berkshire, west of London, on June 18, 2013. The five-day meeting is one of the highlights of the horse racing calendar. Horse racing has been held at the famous Berkshire course since 1711 and tradition is a hallmark of the meeting. Top hats and tails remain compulsory in parts of the course while a daily procession of horse-drawn carriages brings the Queen to the course. AFP PHOTO / ADRIAN DENNISADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

Photos of the day

Royal Ascot, protests in Brazil, Lego exhibition, flooding in India, Cheetah-Cub robot and more.

Two-year old male rat named Dyatlik wears a costume during a rodent exhibition in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, June 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Animal views

Rodent exhibition, swimming with elephants, Mexico’s feline mayoral candidate and more.

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 18: Madonna attends the Dolce & Gabbana and The Cinema Society screening of the Epix World premiere of 'Madonna: The MDNA Tour' at The Paris Theatre on June 18, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Eye on entertainment

Madonna, Michael Buble, Barbara Streisand, Jackie Chan, Jerry Seinfeld, Estelle and other celebrities.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 14: Johnathon Carrington, valedictorian at Dunbar High School, laughs with family and friends after his school's graduation ceremony at Howard University on Friday, June 14, 2013, in Washington, DC. Carrington, who grew up in Tyler House public-housing apartments and is graduating from one of DC's low-performing high schoolsy, where academic expectations are high. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Johnathon’s journey

Johnathon Carrington graduated Friday as the valedictorian of his neighborhood school, Dunbar High, and is headed to Georgetown University. But Carrington, 17, is nervous, and so are...

In this June 8, 2013 photo, youth compete in the Sao Carlos slum local soccer tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The pitch is just dirt and the incandescent lights aren't so bright. But when the boys' feet strike the football in the Sao Carlos slum as night falls every Saturday, big league dreams glow, inflated by the hope of escaping the shantytown with sporting skills. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Brazil’s other soccer fields

With the Confederations Cup opening this week and the World Cup one year away, all eyes are on Brazil, where soccer is arguably played with more passion and art than anywhere else....

Inmates walk at a high-security male prison camp outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk May 14, 2013. High-security male prison camp number 17 is intended to house male inmates who are serving a sentence for the first time, and have been convicted for serious crimes. Prisoners at the facility work in wood and metal processing shops, manufacture furniture, sew clothes and do other kinds of work. They can also take part in educational, sport and cultural programs. Picture taken May 14, 2013. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: CRIME LAW SOCIETY) ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 4 OF 29 FOR PACKAGE 'INSIDE SIBERIA'S PRISONS' SEARCH 'ILYA PRISON' FOR ALL IMAGES

Life in a Siberian prison

A look inside a high-security prison camp outside Krasnoyarsk, Russia

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