Rhino
11-09-2006, 03:09 PM
Dems Pledge to Scrutinize Big Business
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
By BRAD FOSS, AP Business Writer
WASHINGTON — The new masters of the House, the Democrats, are promoting an economic agenda that would put more money in the pockets of ordinary citizens and government, while leading to greater oversight of big business.
California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who is in line to become speaker, has promised to fight early on in the next Congress to lower the price of prescription drugs available through Medicare. Efforts to curb military spending are also likely, political and financial analysts said, following an election whose outcome was influenced in large part by voters'dissatisfaction with the handling of the war in Iraq.
But with the two parties stalemated in the Senate, where it usually takes 60 votes to pass major legislation, the pharmaceutical and defense industries may find themselves beset more by unwelcome rhetoric in Congress than any hurtful changes in law.
To be sure, few major changes in corporate America are expected to result from Democrat-led initiatives over the next two years _ with the exception of a proposed increase in the minimum wage that may get substantial Republican support.
The long-term outlook for companies in the biotechnology and homeland security businesses may benefit, analysts said, from anticipated Democratic efforts to promote stem-cell research and inspect more cargo containers at ports. And the alternative energy sector could also get a boost.
But heightened scrutiny of other sectors, ranging from drugs to defense to hedge funds, could darken their prospects on Wall Street......http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Nov08/0,4670,ELNElectionBusiness,00.html
Let the communist purges begin.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
By BRAD FOSS, AP Business Writer
WASHINGTON — The new masters of the House, the Democrats, are promoting an economic agenda that would put more money in the pockets of ordinary citizens and government, while leading to greater oversight of big business.
California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who is in line to become speaker, has promised to fight early on in the next Congress to lower the price of prescription drugs available through Medicare. Efforts to curb military spending are also likely, political and financial analysts said, following an election whose outcome was influenced in large part by voters'dissatisfaction with the handling of the war in Iraq.
But with the two parties stalemated in the Senate, where it usually takes 60 votes to pass major legislation, the pharmaceutical and defense industries may find themselves beset more by unwelcome rhetoric in Congress than any hurtful changes in law.
To be sure, few major changes in corporate America are expected to result from Democrat-led initiatives over the next two years _ with the exception of a proposed increase in the minimum wage that may get substantial Republican support.
The long-term outlook for companies in the biotechnology and homeland security businesses may benefit, analysts said, from anticipated Democratic efforts to promote stem-cell research and inspect more cargo containers at ports. And the alternative energy sector could also get a boost.
But heightened scrutiny of other sectors, ranging from drugs to defense to hedge funds, could darken their prospects on Wall Street......http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Nov08/0,4670,ELNElectionBusiness,00.html
Let the communist purges begin.