All I can do is speak for myself. It's not the re-election of President Obama itself, it's what his re-election represents. I couldn't give two shits about Barack; he's always been a preening narcissist who isn't smart enough to know what he doesn't know.
What this election was a statement of is that the country has decided to go in a radically different direction. We're turning away from a country based on community and self-reliance to one that will first look to the government to solve our problems. In short, the takers are now greater than the makers. Those takers will now vote themselves ever more benefits and demand someone else pay for them.
As it relates to business, it means the chosen big businesses will do just fine. The more politically connected your firm is, the better your business prospects will be. Those will be the one receiving the loopholes and will have business guided to them. Sure, they'll be less competitive with Obamacare, but they'll get tradeoffs of protectionism to make up for it. It's small businesses that are going to get slaughtered. More regulations, more difficult to grow, rising expenses, less demand due to more money going to the government resulting in a sputtering economy all point to difficult circumstances.
For the consumer, taxes are going up (perhaps not tax rates for everyone, but there will be plenty of new taxes for everyone to enjoy) and with new regulations, energy costs are increasing. With wages flat, it means we have less to spend. With credit already stretched, there's no slack to afford additional goods and services.
That's why I'm distressed about the direction of the country. I've lived in Europe (both north and south) and I see the sclerosis a lack of opportunity and a cradle to grave social safety net has on a society. It makes me sad my son will grow up in a very different country than the one I did.
