When there is divided government, or your party is in the minority, preventing "bad" bills is a big accomplishment. But when you have substantial majorities in both houses, and hold the executive as well, it is reasonable to expect that you will do more than simply keep things status quo for your side.
IMHO, the problem is that while we have a lot of so called "Republicans" we don't have all that many legislators who really, truly, are Republican. So our apparent majorities aren't what they might appear to be.