Engineering Inc. - January/February 2007 - 13

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CoNGREss New Playing Field By Melanie Eversley P olitical experts believe
that the new power structure in Congress will have a farreaching impact on
some of the nation’s most significant national issues. There is concern
among some business and industry advocates that the smooth ride they
enjoyed under Republican rule will vanish. Jennifer Duffy, editor of the
Washington-based Cook Political Report, predicts heightened efforts to
enact changes to benefit working people, but not necessarily small
business or corporations, including attempts to roll back tax cuts, raise
the minimum wage and loosen restrictions on immigrants. Groups less
successful under the previous Congress are cautiously optimistic that
their Jennifer Duffy long-ignored measures finally will get a clear—or
at least a clearer—route to the voting floor. Many experts believe that
although Democrats control both chambers of Congress, the number of
Democrats is so close to the number of Republ i c a n s that most
legislation will not “slide” through to a vote and passage, and Chuck
Todd lawmakers will still be forced to negotiate and compromise.
Additionally, a growing number of Democrats lean toward the moderate side
and are willing—sometimes even eager—to work with Republicans. Chuck
Todd, a noted politi- cal analyst and executive editor at the National
Journal, believes big business really wants to see a highly partisan
government that agrees on little. He says this is the sort of Congress
that will generate little movement and make few changes. “I think Wall
Street loves a divided government,” Todd says. “They think no one can
get tax increases or nobody can get in too many crazy spending programs.
It becomes a frozenin-place atmosphere.” Others don’t agree. They say
that while Democrats still are enjoying their Novemb e r victory, they are
well aware of all the assertions from political experts that Americans are
turned off by partisan bickering. They may have won a majority, but, says
Duffy, they are “less likely to gloat than to try to work with their
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Engineering Inc. - January/February 2007

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