Now It's the GOP's Turn

Now that the Republicans have gained control of the Senate, it will be instructive to see what legislative agenda will unfold. We have lived with a Republican House and Democratic Senate for the last two years. Three-hundred-and-seventy bills were passed by the House, some significantly bipartisan, and sent to the Senate for action.

The Senate's leader, Harry Reid, has prevented the bills from being debated and voted on. His purposeful logjam gave President Obama the excuse to proclaim that since Congress could not act, he had to unilaterally and unconstitutionally change laws or make his own. The Republicans were branded unfairly as the Party of No when the exact opposite was true. Now that the obdurate Harry Reid is no longer in power, we will hopefully see well-drafted, critically needed House legislation being voted on in the Senate.

It was encouraging to hear Vice President Biden state that with the new Senate, compromise will be possible. There could be no compromise in the last two years when the Senate refused to act.