Predictions - Better, worse, the same or who cares?

[Marie17]

Okay - As of now the Democrats are going to be holding all the cards for legislation. I know they "officially" haven't declared Virginia but I guess by the time the day is done it will be called so - the majority goes to the Democrats for both parties.
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How do you feel we as a nation are going to be by this time next year? Economically?

How do you feel as an individual/family going to be by this time next year? Economically?

Employment up or down?

Any different response if something happens with terrorism?

Iraq? Do you think we will still have troops over there?

Handling a loss at election time? Republicans or Democrats?
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My answers:

Nationally - it truly depends what happens with the direction of the Congress. Economically - I think a little worse off than we are now. Dow might not have as much growth.

Personally - hopefully much better and I do mean much better off because I truly believe I can kiss all my tax cuts goodbye. And I think I can most probably kiss my child tax credit goodbye too.

Employment - I think will have to go up. I do think the minimum wage that will most probably pass (quite easily now) will do harm to the small business owner. Not the employee's check though but whenever they buy something everybody will now pay a little more so in essence buying power is diminished. Unemployment at 4.4% now (unbelievable!) - most probably based on that it can barely go any lower it most probably be at 4.8-5.1%

Terrorism response - I only hope that we will not allow any country or individual to attack us without a major response of retaliation. At least from 9/11 we were united against the terrorists - I just honestly don't know if we would be so fast in acting now (we might need to have hearings and debates) call me a little cynical but ...

Iraq - Troops over there - I believe they will still be there and I have no idea how Bob Gates feels about the situation.

Losing an election - Republicans by and far seem to handle concession speeches better and with a little more dignity. Don't seem to want to "lawyerize" the vote, so much easier to deal with an election without all that.

 

[shmoogrrrl]

Nothing huge is going to change on any front, I would suspect. If President Bush has any sort of intellegence and support for whoever runs after him, he will go to the Right and stand firm on issues that mean a lot to Republicans, especially since his willingness to go middle/left on some issues kept some Republicans home yesterday. I think we will see him Veto things and go to the American People with EVERYTHING. They want a change in Iraq? What are they going to do? Stop funding the Military while they are overseas? I think not. If Bush doesn't stand firm, then he is a HUGE idiot. If I were him and the Republicans in the House and Senate, I would make all the so-called 'Conservative Democrats' face every issue that they claim to be conservative on over the next two years and have them have to make a decision as to where they really stand. Get'em on the record. The Conservatives will either get their way or show the newbies for what they probably are.

Democrats aren't likely to go wild either. They have to think down the road to 2008 just as much as the Republicans do. I know that there is already talk of raising taxes, abortion and the Fetal Stem Cell thing, but I think it would be a HUGE mistake if they actually did it. It would just confirm exactly what people always say about them and would make great fodder in two years. Things like Impeachment also won't really happen. It didn't work for the Republicans and I think the Democrats are smart enough to realize that it isn't likely to work for them either. Especially since they don't have a real clear impeachable offense to claim like the Republicans did.

I DO think that the Iraq situation will change, but I think that it would have changed no matter WHO won last night.

After every election the winner (no matter which party they are from) claims that the Country is shifting to their side, but eventually, nothing really changes and everyone goes back to the other side. That is just the way things go. If you listened to Republicans over the past 6 years, you would have thought that Republicans would be in power forever, and obviously it didn't pan out. The Democrats did the same before them, and have already started it again now. I guess it is human nature.

 

[Fitswimmer]

Nationally-I believe that we will be paying more for goods and services across the board because of tax increases on businesses and "the rich". In case nobody has noticed, rich people own the businesses. They're not just going to start taking smaller bonuses and reducing profits to pay those higher taxes. They'll be passing those costs on to us.
Immigration reform might go well, the President's plan and the Democrats plan was not that far apart so we may see some movement there. That's a good thing.

Personally-I will be poorer, both because of the higher prices for goods and services and the wage freeze that my rich CEO will put into place due to the tax increase. I will also have to put more $$ away for retirement because now I will have to fight illegal aliens for Social Security.

Employment-down. Businesses will not be hiring because of (you guessed it) tax increases

Terrorism-this one scares me a bit. The Democratic party has a history of being soft on criminals, but Hillary Clinton has more power now and she's been very active on Homeland Security in NY. Hopefully, she and Joe Lieberman can help keep some sanity on that issue.

Iraq-today is a good start, Rummy is out. I'm interested to see what the Baker commission comes out with.

 

[What the Heck]

I hope we are still doing well. If the minimum wage goes up though, ain't no doubt in my mind what will happen to the economy though.

I work for a company that is the 2nd largest employer in a small town. If the minimum wage goes up, that will no longer be the case - we couldn't afford to keep it open. How much do workers get if they are not working?

 

[Chicago526]

How do you feel we as a nation are going to be by this time next year? Economically?

I'll take the economic part first. Likely the economy will keep on growing, but predicting the economy is extremly difficult, there are a lot of factors beyond the control of government that can drastic effects. I doubt any partial repeal of Bush's tax cuts to the wealthy and the corporations will move the economy one way or the other by themselves. Corporations can't just raise prices just because they feel like it, they still have to compete for customers just like always.

As a whole, I don't see huge changes, many of the Dems voted in are moderates and the marjority in the Senate is razor thin. I do think more bills will get passed since everyone will now be forced to compromise more.

How do you feel as an individual/family going to be by this time next year? Economically?

My family should do fine, neither my job nor my husband's is tied into the economy much. DH basicly can only be fired if he hauled off and decked his boss. My job isn't quite as secure, but if I got layed off it wouldn't be due to the economy or anything that the government would be doing. Internal company politics plays more of a role for me! And since we are middle class, the Dems have said they will not increase our taxes or put the mariage penalty back (the one part of the Bush tax cut that I did like!) so tax wise we should be fine.

Employment up or down?

Again, there are a huge number of factors other than the government on employement, but since I feel the economy will continue to grow, job growth should be okay too.

Any different response if something happens with terrorism?

I can't imagine any other response then going after those responsible (either directly or indirectly) with guns blazing. Those that think we'll roll over and play dead are fooling themselves. America was 100% Bush going into Afganistan to get the Taliban after 9/11, D's and R's, Libs and Cons alike all wanted the terrorists bombed back to the stone age. I don't see that changing.

Iraq? Do you think we will still have troops over there?

Unfortunatly, yes. As much as I'm against going in to begin with, we made this mess, now we get to clean it up. I hope we have fewer troops there, though!

 

[snowy76]

I think overall, things will stay pretty much the same. I'm looking at it this way: if the Dems can make some changes that do some good, good for them. If not, in two years we'll probably see the voters respond by putting another Republican in the White House.

I was not surprised yesterday to see ABC already talking about Hillary's chances in '08, before she was even re-elected in '06. The next two years are the Democrats' chance to show their stuff, but I think if they blow it, Hillary will not have a chance.

 

[mrsltg]

Pretty much the same. I can't see the Democratic party being dumb enough to raise taxes in the 2 year period between interims and a presidential election. That would be near political suicide.

Iraq won't change though it better. Especially if the Dem's control both Houses of Congress. Unless the President has a checkbook in the Oval Office and pays for whatever he wants, he should be out of luck. The Democrats should stick to their promises. Cut funding completely and bring every soldier, sailor, and airman, home. Otherwise, they are no better than what they are promising to change.

Employment/Economy - I like Ben Bernanke. He has a good feel for the economy and as long as he's left alone he should be ok. Employment could be completely different. The minimum wage needs to be left alone or abolished altogether. Why capitalism is such a dirty word I have no idea, but there it is.

The best outcome I can see is complete and total gridlock. Nothing in, nothing out.

 

[Carl]

Personally - hopefully much better and I do mean much better off because I truly believe I can kiss all my tax cuts goodbye. And I think I can most probably kiss my child tax credit goodbye too.

How will you be better off if you kiss your tax cuts and child tax credits goodbye?

 

[The Mayor]

I see the worst coming but the optimist in me hopes for the best

 

[Bob Slydell]

How will you be better off if you kiss your tax cuts and child tax credits goodbye?

Increase gross wages high enough to cover the extra taxes you have to pay.

 

[Crankyshank]

Economically? - I think we're going to be in a similar position. One year just isn't enough time to turn the tide on the economy especially with so many variables. I think the price of oil is going to continue to have a major factor in how much we pay for goods and services. Min wage is all ready higher here than it is nationally, so raising the national min wage is going to have no real effect on my local economy.

How do you feel as an individual/family going to be by this time next year? Economically? Probably about the same. We all ready have a serious illegal immigration problem in my area affecting my cost of living and health care. My job is not based on the economy at all and DH's job is in a state of turmoil that has nothing to do with who is in office. If I am in a worse economic state, it's because of mismanagement at his company. If he's laid off, then I'm screwed because unemployment is pretty bad here.

Employment up or down? Up in some business (like service industry) down in others

Any different response if something happens with terrorism? No

Iraq? Do you think we will still have troops over there? Yes but I think we'll have less troops there.

Handling a loss at election time? Republicans or Democrats? It all depends.

I truly think it's going to be SSDD this time next year. Instead of the Republicans in charge, it's the Democrats. One party controlling everything is bad - no matter what party it is.

 

[Bucsfan]

I seriously doubt if a single thing changes. Bush will just veto anything they pass and they won't have the votes to override.

The good news is anything that does gets done by definition will have to be bi-partisan because of the situation. Either they work together or nothiing will get done.

 

[mill4023]

It will be interesting to see if Pelosi will be smart enough to put on the moderate act. If she tries to push her true agenda, I think she'll destroy the democrats hopes for '08.

 

[Chicago526]

It will be interesting to see if Pelosi will be smart enough to put on the moderate act. If she tries to push her true agenda, I think she'll destroy the democrats hopes for '08.

She might be liberal, but she ain't stupid! Many of the Dems are moderate and even conservative, she knows she can't do anything without them, between them and the Reps she has to compromise with, she'll stay towards the middle.

 

[Marie17]

How will you be better off if you kiss your tax cuts and child tax credits goodbye?

No, we won't be better off if the tax credits are gone. I'm hoping that my hubby will get about a 15-20% annual raise. I figure with that amount it will be just about right to cover the cost of other goods rising due to wage increases and the tax credit. We have 5 kids - so $5,000 plus the regular tax credit - we need to have a GREAT pay raise to cover it.

 

[Laurajean1014]

I predict the VETO stamp will be used often.