المستخلص: |
The economic situation was the main driving force behind the U.S. voters who voted in favour of the Republican Party in the mid-term elections, in which 37 senators out of 100 and 37 governors out of 50 were elected among the whole Congress members totaling 435 congressmen. The Republicans won 239 seats in the House, which is more than the 210 needed for control. As to the Senate, the Democrats kept their majority. The defeat of the Democrats is mainly due to the state of the economy which is facing difficulties to recover with the depression hanging over in the horizon. Unemployment has reached an unprecedented rate of about 10%. Thus, President Barack Obama's economic programs will be seriously hindered if not blocked. The victory that the Republicans achieved in the Congress will enhance the ability of some giant U.S. companies such as "Goldman Sachs" and "WillPoint" to weaken the President's ability to go ahead in implementing his commercial, financial and tax programs. It is not strange that the Republicans will fight financing some parts of the "Health Care" program which is strongly opposed by businessmen, and will call for cutting on government spending to decrease the budget deficit. Moreover, they will call for extending tax cuts that were enacted during President Bush’s era, which benefits households earning more than $ 250,000 annually, in addition to trying to block Obama's proposals for increasing taxes on income generated by US companies operating abroad. Moreover, these elections have put the Republicans in confrontation with the "Financial Services Committee" of the Congress, which is headed by the Democrat Barney Frank who is working hard to enact a law aimed at dealing with the 2008 financial crisis. The Republicans can obstruct 240 articles of that law. They are instead trying, in both Houses, to submit 30 draft laws aimed at revoking the "Health Care" program. In doing so, they will enable health insurance companies and medical equipment manufacturers to evade tax increases totaling $ 20 billion over the next decade. Many other companies in various sectors will also benefit from such laws, if approved, among which are "Goldman Sachs", "G.B. Morgan" and "Bank of America" in the banking sector; "Fanny May” and "Freddie Mac" in the real estate financing sector; and the holding company "United Continental" and "Delta Airlines" in the aviation sector, along with many others . In conclusion, the recent elections and their outcome could be viewed not as to what they will do to Obama's strategies but as a necessary threshold for both parties in preparing for the Presidential Elections of 2012.
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