Our economy has gone through a difficult time during the recent recession. The partisan divide has increased, and Republicans and Democrats appear to be further apart on issues than ever before.

Instead of bad-mouthing each other, and bringing government to a standstill, however, we really need more elected officials who are willing to set aside labels, and work for the good of the American people, to effectively solve many of the issues facing the American people today.

The Democrats in the Senate have made a move toward implementing reasonable standards for decision-making. Both houses of Congress are supposed to operate on majority rule, but for too long the Senate has allowed filibustering, where one or more members who oppose an appointment or action could prevent any vote taking place.

At least now, the Senate has clamped down on filibusters of many appointments, except for the Supreme Court, so that judicial and executive positions that have long been open can be filled. Republicans were even using the filibuster to prevent moderate candidates for federal courts from being accepted, just so President Obama could not make any appointments.

That is wrong. It is not conservative. It is just bull-headed. And it hurts the Republican Party more than it hurts the Democratic Party. Now, at least some appointments will be able to be approved.

While the Republicans seem to be trying to shrink their party, Democrats are trying to expand their numbers. They hope to gain strength in younger voters from 20 to 30 years of age, who are more liberal than older Americans. Democrats also see potential growth in voting support from hispanics, blacks and Asians, if these groups increase their numbers and voting turnouts in the midterm 2014 elections. This could lead to even greater Democratic votes in the 2016 presidential election.

Right now, about 4 million private health insurance policies have been canceled by insurers, some on the questionable premise that new government regulations were not being met. Some other insurance companies allegedly used this excuse to drop sick or unprofitable clients, including many senior citizens. The bad part is a lot of those canceled policies will need to be replaced at higher rates, if at all.

It will take time to adjust the necessary corrections, revise or eliminate the excessive regulations and lower insurance costs in the future, both to businesses and American families.

The Affordable Care Act needs to succeed for the Democratic Party to grow. Interestingly, even knowledgeable health care experts who oppose the act do not believe it can be undone now. The health care website delays still needs improvement, but improvement will come as time goes on. As it improves, it will gain more voter approval, just as Medicare has. It is an important issue, the focal point of the administration’s issues for poor and even many middle class families.

President Obama is a very smart man. He needs to reverse his passive leadership style, and engage himself in a hands-on, bipartisan collaboration, to assure that our new health act will work well for everyone, so that we regain public trust in our federal government.

The president needs to do this without constantly invoking class issues. Sure, those who have more should pay more in taxes than poorer Americans. But being financially successful is not a sin. Most people who have made a lot of money earned it through hard work and years of effort. The greatest thing about America is the freedom it gives people to move up in the world, and keep a reasonable share of what they have earned.

As both parties come together to negotiate how to deal with our budget deficits, they need to negotiate for tax increases and settle in exchange for reduced entitlement programs, to work down our heavy debt.

Social Security benefits should be increased, not cut back. We need to protect our senior citizens in their retirement years. Payroll tax revenues should not be lent out for use by other government agencies, nor changed by means testing.

Working out our tax and budget problems is very important, but we need good decisions that keep us on a level playing field to one and all, not at the expense of a few.

— Bernard Featherman is a business columnist for the Journal Tribune and former president of the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce.