House Democrats Punished for Senate's Failures

But, at its most simplistic, the Democrats lost the House, and Nancy Pelosi the Speaker's gavel, because of the Senate's dysfunction. Many, if not most, I would wager, of the 400+ bills passed by the House had simple majorities in the Senate.

Enter, stage right, the filibuster. The Republicans abused it. Had there been no, or a quite different, filibuster rule, or had the Republicans behaved normally as a loyal opposition, many of those bills would have improved the economy, provided aid or addressed social problems that would have contained the anger stirred and then propelled by FOX and Republican hit groups from spreading as widely through the populace as it did.

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The process of passing the Affordable Health Care Act would not have been as long, tedious, and required as much horse-trading. The Republicans derisively call it "Obamacare", but the negative taint it carries arises much more from the long, drawn-out process than from its specific provisions, most of which are so popular that Republicans pledge to re-pass them after repealing the current Act! (Sure, they will). Moreover, the Republicans lied and continue to lie about healthcare reform, but its approval rating--those that approve + those who believe it should have gone further--is nearly 60%, and most of the good stuff has yet to be implemented.

A public option would have been included in the Act, resulting in lower costs and greater savings to the budget...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/house-democrats-punished_b_778770.html