No law they pass will get through the House next year.
And their hold on the Senate (so far) going in to the 2012 election is shakey.
These rule changes could come back to haunt them.
You seem ill-informed. The Constitution, Art. 1, Sections 3-5, clearly allows the Senate to make its rules. Have you actually read the Constitution?
This has nothing to do with the House or laws or the President.
I'll bet you are wrong. If they change the rules for their own chamber, the House GOP will simply accept it. This lame-duck session established a pattern: defiant talk followed by acquiescence in whatever the Dems wanted. It's a pattern we're likely to see next session.
Those 22 or so Senate democrats up for election in 2012 might want to speak up loud and clear on their position of this change.