An unprecedented assertion of EPA power on the regulatory front, leading to drastically increased energy costs next Winter (Figuring that fuel contracts are mostly locked in for this one, and the necessary delay for publication notice and response to comments before new regulations take effect will move the effective date of new regs into the Spring). On the legislative front, taxation and the deficit will be the big battleground for the next year, which will suck all the oxygen out of the room for most other causes. Obamacare rolls forward unimpeded, with a lot of negative unintended consequences coming to light as it does.
Overseas, things are going to go from bad to worse.
European recession or stagnation is the only bright spot, since it makes our bonds relatively attractive, but anything that upsets that dynamic is going to lead to cascading fiscal crises for us.
The heyday of warfare-by-drone-strike is ending, as Islamist regimes fostered by our Administration take over in the countries where we mostly conduct them, and refuse to turn a blind eye to them any longer, as happened when the dictators who previously ruled regarded them as a plausibly-deniable aid to ridding their countries of annoying revolutionaries. A resurgent AQ will be much more careful about exposing themselves to strikes in any place that isn't a safe zone, and AQ attacks abroad, and possibly even something big here at home, are in the cards for us.
We will disengage on schedule from Afghanistan, because the schedule is more important than any other consideration, and the Taliban and AQ will immediately begin their campaign to retake the country, which will probably be largely successful before the 2016 election, at least in the southern half of the country.
Iran will BS Obama around until they finally get a successful weapons test and present the world with a fait accompli. He still won't do anything, which the Iranians will take as a sign of weakness which may empower them to consider some very rash actions. The Israelis will very likely feel compelled to act at that point, and Obama will still not know what to do, as he will not want to support them, nor directly attack Iran himself.
