Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1040159
palletcentral.com PalletCentral • September-October 2018 37 H Why it Matters If Hall were to win, the wooden and pallet and container industry would lose a strong ally in our space. Walorski has earned her way onto the powerful Ways and Means Committee, responsible for our nation's tax laws. The Bottom Line Unforeseen events could occur, but history shows that between mid-summer and November, mid-term waves remain constant or grow in size, and have not reversed direction or diminished. Still, this is where the GOP's wall comes into play. In the House, the wall is comprised of congressional-district boundaries, drawn in many states by Republican legislatures and governors at the beginning of this decade. Many state legislative boundaries were drawn to the GOP's advantage then as well. There are exceptions of course, like Illinois and Maryland, where Democrats had the gerrymander pens in their hands, but those are rare. At the end of the day, statistics and history are over- whelmingly in the favor of Democrats in the mid-term. What does this mean? If the Democrats take the House, there will be more uncertainty in Washington, DC as most likely articles of impeachment will be pursued by the House. The President won't actually be impeached, as that is the decision of the Senate. Mathematically, it is highly unlikely the Senate will vote as a majority to impeach the President. Federally and Congressionally, the manufacturing sector will see a continuation of the past two years. President Trump will continue to pursue deregulation, and Congress will be in grid lock with a Democratic House and Republican Senate. If the Republicans hold onto the House, we will see a reflection of the past two years for the next two years. As a small business owner, you will be unlikely to see sweeping change at the Congressional level. The President will continue to pursue a pro-business agenda, but his unpredictable policy trajectory will continue to cause disruptions. PC (Resources compiled for this article are courtesy of the National Journal and The Cook Political Report.) Patrick Atagi is vice president of advocacy and external affairs for NWPCA. He may be reached at patagi@palletcentral.com or 703-519-6104.