Before Inauguration

I try to not talk politics. I am still relatively young and my blood pressure should not become a concern. With that being said, we are only two weeks from the inauguration of a new POTUS, who will be accompanied by a relatively unchanged congress who, as it were, managed to uphold an 11% approval rating over the past 2 years.
I understand that the President does not write law, but he does have influence over the houses of congress, being a sort of final vote- overriding veto and the supreme court making it "sort of" (checks and balances!) So let me offer this piece of advice that has slipped the minds (or left with them) of congress and the President:
If every problem was a river to be crossed, then why do we build a bridge on the near bank and then try to lay it over the river? I know, I know.... comprehensive reform is a tantalizing idea, and if we could solve a 7 part problem with 1 bill, then we would have time to address several other problems, but the fact is that, being a bipartisan congress filled with people who want to work in a bipartisan manner, how is it that they all fail to see that by agreeing on each individual step, each portion of bridge across the river, a resolution is more likely to come about. Instead they bicker and moan about the lack of bipartisan while touting their ideas on "meet the press" (I rarely see a Senator or Congressman begin an answer by not starting with, "Well, I did this.." or "I helped write this bill...") By building a bridge a portion at a time, you are able to adequately account for the depth of the river, the current, and the weight to be supported by it. Also, individual portions are more likely to pass in a vote. The number of "nays" increases relative to the number ideas a bill is written to address.
So, stop bickering; stop being self-serving; stop wasting time and money.
And so help me, if we give money for world healthcare (proposed at the U.N.) before we solve some of the outstanding problems here at home (i.e. defecit) I am going to run for public office. Nobody wants that.
Good luck Mr. President Elect, we all eagerly await your promised change.

For the great mass of mankind, the only saving grace needed is a steady fidelity to what is
nearest to hand and heart for the short moment of each human effort. -Joseph Conrad