I think the economy is heading for a recession no matter what, primarily due to the housing crash. So regardless of what policies change under the Democrats it will have minimal effect on the economy in the next two years.

Probably in two years Rush and all his chronies will be blaming the Democrats for the recession.

answer's here

DemocratIC party

Ha, that’s funny. My brother-in-law was complaining about the exact same thing this morning. Was it a news piece somewhere?

I’d never noticed, but I don’t listen to right-wing media types much (but I guess a lot of lefties do?). I suspect it might also have something to do with the general decay in the use of the English language (hell, I think I’m getting pretty bad myself).

No, it has nothing to do with general decay of the language. Every single time you hear a representative of the GOP refer to the Democratic party, they’ll call it the Democrat party. It’s possibly a Karl Rove invention, but it is definitely GOP policy. For example, our president even uses the wrong name for the party. Just yesterday when asked about the election, President Bush said:

“It’s clear the Democrat Party had a good night”.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110906Q.shtml

Democrats are good for increasing the price of gold since they, like the compassionate conservates before them, like to spend money and inflate the currency.

The effects of the Democratic controlled congress will be minimal.

Lacking enough of a majority to override vetos, and having only a small majority in the Senate, the only significant changes they will be able to create will be those with significant public support. At present, I see those as decreased military presence in Iraq, increased minimum wage, and increased scrutiny of Big Pharma.

Generally, divided governments are good for the economy. Almost perversely they encourage fiscal responsibility, as both tax cuts and spending increases will be limited. Decreased military spending will help the economy, a lot. I don’t believe in trickle down economics, nor do I believe in trickle up. A minimum wage increase will have a small effect in redistributing wealth from the very richest americans to the very poorest. In states like California and others, the minimum or market minimum wage are higher than any potential increase.

As for housing, there may be less scrutiny on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and their lenient lending policies. This may lead to more of a slow release than popping of the housing bubble. Or, it could artificially prop it up, leading to a sudden collapse. Or, market forces may just overwhelm any small efforts.

In short, don’t expect major changes in the next two years, as Bush still has veto power, and moderate Democrats like Casey and Lieberman in the Senate would have to be willing to support any legislation even to get it on Bush’s desk.

The Democratics in congress will:

– not raise taxes because they will be too busy raising Social Security contributions which everyone knows are not taxes
– make huge defense cuts with what is left going to Alcee Hastings and Florida because Nancy is mad at Jane
– rename No Child Left Behind, increase funding and dispose of the accountability requirements which will make the program hugely popular with educators and administrators
– do a phased withdrawal, er redeployment, from Iraq ending in October 2008 – probably with Republic support.

and a lament: why did I not take my father’s advice and sell my Pfizer last week?