If there's a GOP Senate ...

FREE PRESS RECOMMENDATIONSIn contested races in today's election, the Chattanooga Free Press recommends:• Tennessee governor: Bill Haslam• Georgia governor: Nathan Deal• Tennessee U.S. senator: Lamar Alexander• Georgia U.S. senator: David Perdue• Tennessee U.S. representative (3rd District): Chuck Fleischmann• Tennessee U.S. representative (4th District): Scott DesJarlais• Tennessee state representative (27th District): Patsy Hazelwood• Wine in grocery stores: For• Tennessee state constitution Amendment 1: For (a yes vote)• Tennessee state constitution Amendment 2: For (a yes vote)• Tennessee state constitution Amendment 3: Against (a no vote)• Tennessee state constitution Amendment 4: For (a yes vote)

GOT QUESTIONS?Still undecided about which candidate to support or what the proposed amendments to the Tennessee Constitution mean?For more information about what is on the ballot, go to www.timesfreepress.com/voterguide before you head to the polls today.Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Tennessee and 7 a.m to 7 p.m. in Georgia.

Republicans have been salivating over the prospects of a GOP-led United States Senate for months, but they should be careful what they wish for.

In a non-hyper partisan world, a Democratic president and a Republican Congress might do good things. Think back only 20 years when the results of such a forced courtship were a federal budget surplus and welfare reform.

But Barack Obama is not Bill Clinton, though the two entered their presidencies with an eye on tacking the country well to the left. But where the Republican revolution of 1994 caused Clinton to remark that "the era of big government is over," the tea party revolution of 2010 only caused Obama to double down on Democratic desires.

And if 2014 turns out to another devastating midterm for Democrats, as pundits are predicting, don't expect the president to come hat in hand to a new congressional majority.

So where does that leave the final two years of Obama's term?

If the president were to issue an executive order on immigration shortly after results of the election are known, giving 4 million or more illegal immigrants green cards and visas, that is at least a signal he has no intention of compromising on immigration legislation specifically and on serious policy matters in general.

That act alone would set the tone of his last two years, making the country even more partisan and a divided Congress less open to compromise on even common-sense legislation.

"I don't see how [that act on immigration] is a good thing," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said in a recent editorial board meeting with the Times Free Press, but "where we are is untenable."

On the other hand, if Obama were to leave immigration alone and get on board the Keystone crude oil pipeline, offering the possibility of thousands of jobs, it might signal a willingness to compromise on legislation and shape a final two years that would improve the possibility of a positive legacy.

But, whether the president's recalcitrant or open, if Republicans do win the Senate and hold the House as expected, they would be expected to propose meaningful legislation.

"Republicans," Corker said, "would have to be responsible" and would "fully own" the "kind of solutions we put forth."

One of his particular interests is reforming the Highway Trust Fund. Although in the summer he proposed a rise in the gas tax (combined with permanently lowering several other taxes), he said there are other permanent fixes being floated, and he was "open to all of the above" that would end the current, kick-the-ball-down-the-road solutions.

"Having low-cost energy is important," Corker said.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who is expected to win a second term today, also has a few items he believes could find bipartisan support. Among those is an increased user fee for barge companies, something he says the barge owners are "insisting on." An increased fee, he said, would help speed up the time frame in which work on the new Chickamauga Dam lock could get restarted.

He also believes there might be votes to reform the 108-page FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) that he said is a "waste of time and money" and keeps some families from even attempting to enroll their children in college. Such a form, he said, could become "card size."

If the Republicans win control, he said, "we will make the Senate work." Unlike the current Senate gridlocked by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., bills would go through committees, be put on the floor and be voted on, he said.

But if the 2015 congressional term becomes synonymous with inaction, voters can't vote against Obama in 2016 and may take it out on Republicans. That could lead to a Democratic president and the loss of one or both houses of Congress in 2016. So a Republican Congress must lead confidently but carefully in an effort to get the country moving again.

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