TY BOB SHAFER/FOLIO By Dana Wilkie TIME DO ENGINEERING FIRMS FARE BETTER WHEN REPUBLICANS OR DEMOCRATS ARE IN CONTROL? OR DOES IT EVEN MATTER? S ome people, including many in the engineering industry, believe it is far better for business to have a Republican rather than a Democrat in the White House. But that conventional wisdom doesn't always hold up in the complicated, capricious and sometimes confusing world of Washington politics. In today's Washington, where Republicans now c o n t r o l the White House and thanks to gains in the 2002 election both the House and Senate, it is generally true that Republi- cans favor the tax changes, tort reform and regulatory streamlining that many believe will help businesses thrive. But historically, Demo- crats in the White House and Congress have proved significantly sympathetic to infrastruc- ture funding and to the higher taxes some- times necessary to pay for it. January l February 2004 ENGINEERING INC. 1 3