When it was all said and done, the voters ushered in change for the 2010 elections exactly as many pundits had predicted: a House of Representatives that had been swept into Republican control, a Senate whose Democratic numbers had been significantly eroded and a president whose stature on the Hill had significantly weakened. The result: gridlock for at least the next two years.
As the well-worn joke goes, Wall Street and Main Street prefer a do-nothing Washington. However, gridlock is too pat of an answer (although clearly the days of ambitious legislation for the Democratic party and President Barack Obama are over with, for the time being at least).
Even with just the House under its control, the Republicans can affect some changes. It will be a tricky dance, though, warns Andrew Raines of Los Angeles law firm Raines Feldman LLP. For the most part, Republicans are favorably predisposed to the issues dear to the real estate industry’s heart, he says. “But they are also highly cognizant of the general populist disgust with Wall Street and financial institutions. They will not want to be seen as catering to this group too much.” In the more arcane issues, however, he foresees Republicans taking a freer hand.
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