We’re told that reaching across party lines and uniting a divided country and repairing the damage from a too-long campaign will be among the initial tasks of America’s next president. That’s not entirely accurate.

Yes, there is a responsibility for President Bush or John Kerry to do what Bush so spectacularly failed at in his first term: governing down the middle, where much of the country lies politically. But neither Bush nor Kerry bears all the burden for responsible representative government.

Too much attention has been placed on the executive race, when the people who write the bills have been as divisive as Bush or any member of his Cabinet or staff. In legislative houses as closely split as Congress, it’s not all on the person above to make government work.

It’s up to the party leaders, to the committee chairpersons, to the most junior U.S. representative to play nice and act in the best interest of — gasp! — his or her constituents.

Nowhere is the partisan bickering more obvious — and more senseless — than when it comes to economic policy.

Tax cuts for the wealthy. Tax cuts for everybody. Tax credits for parents and for the poor. Tax incentives for domestic business. New spending. More jobs. New spending. More jobs. New spending. More jobs. New spending. More jobs. More jobs.

There has to be a budget every year. There will always be people looking for work. This isn’t a situation where a gridlocked government is actually superior by virtue of not being able to muck things up.

It’d be nice to see a real and sincere attempt to address the competing goals of low taxes and well-supported programs and to see some sanity regarding the real links between unemployment and the business cycle (the “Bush inherited a recession” line isn’t a defensive posture; it’s the truth).

Such a congressional session would be the result of a cold shower, a deep breath and some economic sense in Washington, no matter what the composition of the presidency and Congress.

And if that happens, maybe we can have the Iowa delegation come home and try to teach some of the same skills in the Statehouse. But let’s not get all crazy.