WASHINGTON -- For all the lamenting about gridlock on Capitol Hill this year, Congress's tortured year did create some winners: the companies and industries that avoided tax increases and subsidy cuts as legislation was blocked or narrowed.

From cigarette makers and hedge-fund managers to health insurers and oil companies, many of the business interests targeted by Democrats when they took control of Congress made it through the year without taking financial hits. Intensive lobbying by the affected industries was a factor,...