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Congressional Democrats insist they are not to be taken for granted. And for all of the talk about cooperation and bipartisanship which spews like a geyser at the beginning of a Congress, the first two weeks of the year revealed Democrats throwing up roadblocks and protecting their causes. It created a lot of headaches for Republicans who now hold majorities in both bodies.

Lets start with the Senate. The calendar may have just flipped to 2015. But believe it or not, its really 2016.

And not in the way you might think.

Yes, theres plenty of chatter about Jeb and Christie and Rand. Oh, what is Huckabee up to? Theres talk of Hillary and OMalley and Biden and Webb. Better keep an eye on that dark horse Pence.

But on Capitol Hill, the 2016 Congressional elections are already in full-force.

To wit:

There are two fundamental essences of the United State Senate: unlimited debate and an unlimited amendment process. During the last Congress under Democratic control, Republicans brayed at how then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) would use privileges afforded him to halt debate and short-circuit the opportunity to offer amendments. When the GOP seized control this year, new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he wanted the Senate to work and he would offer an open amendment process. Democrats are sure taking advantage of that, offering a slew of amendments to a bill to approve the Keystone pipeline.

This is by design. And it all has to do with 2016.

Certainly some of those amendments reflect the true values of Democrats when discussing Keystone. Theres an amendment which looks at whether burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming. Theres another amendment suggesting the U.S. transition from fossil fuels. These amendments highlight the key differences between the parties on Keystone.

Consider this for a moment: 24 Senate Republicans are up in 2016. A scant ten Democrats face re-election. Now study some of the first-term GOP senators who will be on the ballot next year. Sens. Mark Kirk (R-IL), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Rob Portman (R-OH). All were elected in 2010, a banner, midterm election year for Republicans. And all are from swing states. Swing states in 2016, a presidential election year. This inherently complicates their re-election plans. And Democrats are there to make things even tougher.

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For GOP to get to 'yes' in Congress, they will have to deal with Democrats