The New York Times (NYT) tells MHProNews that for Democrats, Saturday’s outcome was yet another sobering reminder of their party’s declining prospects in the South, a region they dominated for much of the 20th century. There is now only Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, the only Democrat between Texas to South Carolina and south.
Mr. Cassidy said: “This victory happened because people in Louisiana voted for a government which serves us but does not tell us what to do. Thank y’all.”
Ms. Landrieu, voted for The Affordable Care Act (ACA). By contrast, Cassidy plans to repeal and replace it. In one of his campaign ads he states: “Most in Congress who voted for ObamaCare never read the bill, I read the bill. It was clear there would be canceled plans, expensive premiums, no guarantee you could keep your doctor. I voted no.” The ACA, say many business owners, harms job creation and full time employment.
The Nov. 4 midterm losses meant Democrats lost their majority in the Senate. That meant Ms. Landrieu would no longer chair the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Senate Republicans promised Mr. Cassidy a spot on the Energy Committee if he were to win, further undermining Senator Landrieu’s ability to claim that she was uniquely positioned to protect oil jobs in their state, or push for the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Much of the focus for both parties in the mid-terms was on the Affordable Care Act – aka ObamaCare – and not as much on the Economy or Jobs. Meanwhile, the NYT, AP and others point to the growing income gap between the wealthy and the middle class, which expanded in the past decade under both Democratic and Republican administrations. In a story covered by the Daily Business News, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer recently lamented that his party blew it by focusing on health care reform, as important as that may be, vs. the economy, middle class and jobs, which Schumer said was what voters wanted from their party in 2008.
Half the Democratic Senators who voted for the ACA are now out of office.
Election Impact on MH?
Manufactured Housing (MH) is a trans-partisan issue, as MHARR, MHI and state associations have said. There are Democrats who signed onto HR 1779 and S 1828, the industry’s main effort to make CFPB regulations less burdensome for MH. But most supporters of reforming Dodd-Frank have been Republicans. So the visible split among Dems and the increase number in the GOP in the House and Senate, signal improved odds in 2015 for pro-MH legislation modifying Dodd-Frank to pass.
The odds for pro-energy bills improves too, which could also be good for MH in a number of states.
The MH Industry’s quality affordable homes are a bi-partisan or non-partisan issue, but even the wealthy have a keen interest in there being good homes that the poor or middle class can afford.
As one more post-election footnote, CNN reported recently that black Republicans like Mia Love (U.S. House – Utah) and Tim Scott (U.S. Senate – South Carolina) have done well. Quoting: “Black turnout for certain Republican candidates this year hit double-digits in Florida (12%), in Arkansas, South Carolina and Wisconsin (10%) and in Ohio, where Republican Gov. John Kasich won 26 percent of the black vote.”
How that and other emerging trends will play out for economic and political strategy and its impact on housing will be an issue to watch. ##
(Photo Credit: Jonathan Bachman/Reuters.)
Article submitted by Josie Thompson to – Daily Business News – MHProNews.
