The Republicans decided that they needed to fight Obama on everything.

"On the night of Barack Obama’s inauguration, a group of top GOP luminaries quietly gathered in a Washington steakhouse to lick their wounds and ultimately create the outline of a plan for how to deal with the incoming administration. 

"'The room was filled. It was a who’s who of ranking members who had at one point been committee chairmen, or in the majority, who now wondered out loud whether they were in the permanent minority,' Frank Luntz, who organized the event, told FRONTLINE. 

"Among them were Senate power brokers Jim DeMint, Jon Kyl and Tom Coburn, and conservative congressmen Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan. 

"After three hours of strategizing, they decided they needed to fight Obama on everything. The new president had no idea what the Republicans were planning."

Inside Obama's Presidency (Frontline)