Is a GOP U.S. Senate majority necessary?

It appears that the GOP is likely to take control of the House in January 2011.  What is not so clear is whether the GOP will succeed in winning the remaining 3-4 seats necessary for control of the U.S. Senate.  With this in mind I ask you, is GOP control of the U.S. Senate necessary
or is a House majority, a majority of state Governorships, and a 48 to 52 seat or 49 to 51 seat democrat Senate majority sufficient for now?

With control of the House the GOP can put the brakes on additional tax increases, additional regulation, and will be in a position to cut funding for the additional IRS agents needed to enforce the new health care laws.  With control of a majority of Governorships the GOP will also have far greater control and influence over state property taxes, state regulation, redistricting for 2012, and implementation of the new health laws.

The Democrats retaining a slim majority in the Senate will also allow the GOP to argue that, since the Democrats have control of the White House and the Senate, they are still the governing party in D.C.  This works against the Democrats in the 2012 election cycle because they will continue to get the brunt of the blame should the economy not pick up by then. 

The way I see it there are two disadvantages to this scenario.  The first disadvantage is with control of the U.S. Supreme Court.  Though a slim Democrat majority in the Senate will make it tougher for them to put in more liberal Justices, it does still give them control of the Senate committees that screen out Supreme Court picks.  The current conservative majority in the U.S. Supreme Court could be put at risk should another Justice resign.  This is a very big risk to take considering the long-term impact a liberal majority in the Supreme Court could have on the country.

The second disadvantage is the opposite of the second advantage that I noted earlier in this post.  With Democrat control of the White House, and of the U.S. Senate, the Democrats would be the governing party in D.C. This would allow the Democrats to take credit for the economy should it improve dramatically before the 2012 election.

My thought is that we need to put the brakes on the Obama agenda now.  Though there are potential political advantages for 2012 if the Democrats maintain a majority in the Senate, the disadvantages far outweigh the potential political advantages.  The GOP will need control of both the House and Senate to send a message to this president that he went too far and that he needs to listen to the public and pull back his agenda.