In last week’s State of the Union address and in subsequent interviews, President Barack Obama blamed House and Senate Republicans for his inability to pass beneficial legislation.

The Republican response? It’s all Obama’s fault.

News flash: both sides are at fault. In what amounts to a nationally covered version of “the blame game” played between siblings in elementary school, neither the Democrats in the executive branch nor the Republicans in the legislative branch will take any accountability for a government moving at the speed of snail.

If you hadn’t noticed lately, nothing is happening in Congress. Though there are clear problems that exist and potential solutions to them available, Congress is more gridlocked than I-85 in Atlanta during rush hour. And it is everyone in Washington’s fault.

It takes two parties (no pun intended) to have a gridlock. If Congress and the president do not agree, stagnation in legislation often occurs.

This is much more common during periods of divided government like we have now, with the executive branch being controlled by the Democrats and the legislative branch being controlled by the Republicans.

It is ironic that both parties blamed each other for the gridlock. The pigheaded attitude of blaming the other side is what causes the lack of legislation in the first place.

The way Republicans and Democrats talk, they make it seem as if it is impossible to get anything done in government while it is divided. And they are right, provided the two sides are as stubborn as they are now.

To find good examples of positive legislation while parties shared Washington, you simply have to refer to Bill Clinton’s presidency in the 1990s.

Clinton and the Republican Congress — headed by Newt Gingrich — were able to pass a slew of laws that benefited Americans and helped to grow the economy.

Our government was able to pass a balanced budget during that time period. Now our government’s bank account looks more like Blockbuster’s.

All it takes to pass laws during periods of divided government is a little compromise and less blaming from both sides.

Congress, as it stands, works around a vicious cycle of antagonism that ends with both sides losing and nothing accomplished. It is time for both sides to place their egos aside and try to come to some meaningful compromises.

After all, this country was founded on compromise — do you really think everyone was happy with the bicameral legislature proposed in the Connecticut Compromise?

In fact, most were likely unhappy with it, but the law allowed both sides to have an input. It worked out — they put down their guns and actually accomplished something.

People are tired of a government that seems to care more about beating each other than helping a nation in need.

So Republicans and Democrats — whether they hold the presidency, House, Senate or all three — need to check their egos and start working together to fix the issues this country faces.

— Alex Urban is a public relations graduate student from Columbus, Ohio with a degree in political science