Wall Street may be fretting that the U.S. economy is slowing down, but the aerospace and defense industries are hard pressed to figure out when their party will end…

…For defense firms, the main issue is whether a Democrat-controlled Congress will clampdown on Pentagon spending or clear the way for further increases.

“The Democrats are unlikely to want to appear weak on defense, so they’re not going to call for big cutbacks on defense spending,” said Cowen & Co. analyst Cai von Rumohr, in an interview this week with Reuters Television…

…The resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld — the chief architect of the Iraq war — may actually prompt a rise in spending, as Congress admits the war is costing much more than expected…

“…Budgeting for the equipment needed to rescue a ground-down, hollow military force … would have contradicted the administration’s ‘mission accomplished’ message,” he said.

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