Beware the coming imperial President

2010-10-24T00:00:00-04:00

For years there have been promises of changing the tone in Washington. That promise has been kept, but not in the intended way. With President Obama presiding over a Democratic Congress, the mood has gone from nasty to nastier. But if you imagine what the next two years will be like if Republicans take control of the House, as is expected, with Obama as President and a closely divided Senate between them, one word comes to mind: gridlock.

To those currently groaning, it should be noted that after what this country just went through, gridlock can be a good thing. These very vocal and bloody checks and balances will stop massive stimulus bills and monstrous bailouts. We aren't likely to see another redesign of another portion of our economy with such deep divisions. That alone is welcome news.

As frustrating as it can be, gridlock also gives business owners and the markets certainty - something that they have desperately needed. The fear of the unknown has essentially crippled the business community and deterred risk taking - an integral component for entrepreneurs to foster growth. If next month's election produces a traffic jam, the private sector can at least have the certainty that no radical action will occur. History shows that more gains can then be expected for stock prices.

Of course, gridlock does have serious downsides.

There's the obvious fear that gridlock means more fighting and more partisan wars that an all-too-eager media is anxious to document, especially in the midst of a presidential election. It also means that action on key items like repealing Obamacare will become more fantasy than reality, at least for now. And it means the GOP will need to carefully manage expectations about its own gains.

So far Republicans have been savvy enough not to promise the public the world. But with little moving legislatively, it will be up to them to communicate to the angry masses that a majority in Congress is still facing a President with a veto pen and executive powers (ones he plans on using). This is the scariest, and most realistic, drawback of them all.

Though Obama recently admitted that he planned on using "hand to hand combat" with a Republican Congress, reports reveal a much sneakier strategy. According to the Los Angeles Times, "as President Obama remakes his senior staff, he is also shaping a new approach for the second half of his term: to advance his agenda through executive actions he can take on his own, rather than pushing plans through an increasingly hostile Congress."

Andrea Tantaros

Beware the coming imperial President