It’s a far cry from the partisan rancor that immediately followed the Nov. 2 election, when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the GOP’s top priority over the next two years is to deny Obama a second term. Other hardliners on both sides of the aisle vowed they would never support legislative efforts offered by their political opponents.

I can’t help but wonder if the outcome of last month’s election would have been different if some of the above topics had been taken up first, rather then the devisive health-care debate.

As we first saw with the tax cut/unemployment aid extension, the art of compromise is still alive in Washington.

So here’s my advice for Obama and Congress: tamp down the rhetoric and partisan name-calling (the GOP are not hostage-takers, and Obama is not a radical socialist/fascist/Nazi/whatever), plug your ears to the rants of the far right and the far left and just about every pundit now on cable television or talk radio, and focus on getting America back to work.

Once Americans are employed again, many of today’s vexing issues will begin to resolve themselves. Rising tax revenues will help erode the federal deficit. A stronger economy reduces the need for federal stimulative spending, and reduces benefits needed by the unemployed and underemployed. Working families will pay down their debt, and will spark increased retail sales. And a steady paycheck will keep more and more Americans in their homes, and provide much-needed stability to the nation’s anemic housing market.

There’s still plenty to be done: paring the deficit and national debt; solving the immigration issue; strengthening Social Security; protecting the environment; weaning ourselves away from OPEC; battling terrorists who would destroy us; honoring our commitment to those who defend this nation; keeping college affordable; and so much more.  

The message for our leaders in D.C. is a simple one: You were sent to Washington to do a job for the American people, not to sabotage your political opponents. Get to work.