only two of the seven "failed" bills you linked to have less than 50 votes. we have been reduced to needing 60 votes in the US Senate to get anything passed because some republicans have promised a filibuster on anything and everything that obama proposes (is that better for your complaint?). under normal circumstances, only 51 votes are needed to pass something in the Senate. ask yourself who is responsible for making 60 votes the new majority. i'll give you a hint: it starts with re and ends with publican.

as for cowardice, we are talking about a select number of republicans who promised to filibuster the DEBATE of the bills, much less the actual vote on those bills. we are talking about a major piece of legislation being prevented from debate by a promise of a filibuster. in other words, the lobbying efforts of groups like the NRA has these specific republicans so afraid of losing their seats by voting for bills which 90% of the public supports that they won't even allow them to be discussed. yes, i will continue to call this cowardice because that is precisely what it is.