Members of Congress don't agree on much, but there is bipartisan support for a few pending measures that could boost job creation. What is interesting about those measures is that they focus not on what government should do itself, but on government fostering conditions to encourage private-sector economic activity.
* Congress is considering free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. The agreements would open markets to U.S. goods, aiding eonomic growth here.
* And Congress is considering a big overhaul of the U.S. patent system, which would speed the process for getting patents for inventions -- some of which could become big sellers worldwide, also creating benefits for the United States. (At present, there is a backlog of well over 1 million patents pending.)
Often what our economy needs to grow is for government not to "get in the middle of things" but to "get out of the way" of the free market.