If the Senate minority party didn't exist, would it be necessary to create one?

At Americablog, Joe Sudbay notes that Senate Republican votes are the basis of an emerging rift between the social-issue conservatives (who want the nomination of pro-choice Kathleen Sebelius to head HHS blocked) and the anti-tax conservatives (who, while anti-tax, were obviously never anti-spend, and don't want to alienate the source of a lot of federal money for their states).

And meanwhile, in another corner of the room, the neocon faction of the Senate Republicans could care less about either of those other groups; they're primarily concerned with making sure that papers documenting Bush-Cheney involvement in the policy and practice of torture never see the light of day.

It's almost as if America had no serious problems that required their attention at the moment.