Well, the founding fathers did intend for the Senate to be the saucer to cool the hot coffee from the House, so it makes sense the Senate is the one barrier to complete dictatorial powers by any one party.

Nancy Pelosi is openly critical of the Senate now.

Frustrated by lack of legislative progress in the Senate, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is increasingly touting Democratic achievements in the House.

Her statements represent a significant shift from the stance she took six months ago. In March, the Speaker celebrated the first 100 days of the congressional majority by stating, “Democrats have brought the winds of change to the Capitol.”

These days, she’s confined to claiming those winds are blowing on her side of the building. In the minds of her caucus members, the Senate is in the doldrums and House members are paying the price for Senate inaction on Democratic priorities.

When pressed on the slow progress of spending bills during ABC’s Sunday morning talk show “This Week,” Pelosi passed the buck to the Senate, saying, “In the House we’ve passed every one of our bills.”

The change in talking points at the top reflects a deepening frustration among House Democrats, who are irritated with lack of progress in the Senate and are starting to publicly press their Senate counterparts to stop letting Republicans use procedural tactics and instead force Republicans to carry out a filibuster, if that’s what it takes.

Pelosi’s shift in rhetoric is also strategic. There are 61 House Democrats serving in districts that President Bush carried in 2004, and many will face challenging reelection races. Senate Democrats have less to worry about as only a couple of them are considered serious targets this cycle.

“I think it would be important for the American people to get a more concrete understanding of the lengths Republicans will go to in order to hold these things up,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).

I’d say it’s the same lengths the Democrats went to in the last Congress.

I’d also give a piece of advice to the Democrats in the Senate, just as I said about the Republicans under Frist. Get a new leader and see if he can work out compromises so you can pass your bills. Without compromise nothing will pass.