What are the main duties of the senate and the main duties of the house?

Question

Can anyone, in a fairly simple and concise way, tell me what the (main) responsibilities are of the Senate and the House? Which one of the two is more 'important' (has more demanding responsibilities, etc) and now that the Democrats are in control of both, how will that effect the President's ability to run the country? How much control does the President really have if both the House and the Senate are controlled by Democrats?

Answer 1

Both portions of the Congress pass bills. The President has to sign them to become law or there has to be a second vote after the veto with 2/3's majority in both House and Senate to override the veto.

The Senators were appointed by the governors of their respective states originally. The House is meant to be for the people more. It goes by population. Here in Montana where I live for instance, we have two Senators, like every other state, but were cut back to one Congressman after the census in 1990.

This could be an ugly and contentious political session. For a long time the Democrats were the majority, for about 40 years up until 1994. The Republicans didn't last long.

Answer 2

Relax and enjoy life at the tax payers' cost!