For more than a year Congress has taken an approach of “why solve today what can be pushed off until tomorrow,” hence the looming so-called “fiscal cliff” the country could plummet off if a greater commitment to compromise doesn’t take hold.

But, based on Friday’s meeting between Senate and House leaders and President Barack Obama, all parties may finally be ready to put politics aside and start finding a middle ground on the billions of automatic spending cuts and expiration of income tax breaks that are set for the end of the year.

Many Americans may believe this is really not their problem and doesn’t have anything to do with them.

They couldn’t be more wrong.

Both the cuts and the expiration of tax cuts could hurt the average citizen and economists warn might throw us back into a recession.

Democrats remain adamant that any plan must include the wealthy pickings up more of what is deemed to be their share of taxes. This is certainly a legitimate argument when you look at the tax rates paid by the wealthiest Americans compared to what is paid by the average citizen.

Republicans insist that any plan must include reform of entitlement programs, also a legitimate concern in order to ensure they remain solvent for years to come and aren’t being abused.

Much work remains to be done but for the first time in months, it seems that a possible solution is on the horizon.

This is what the American people want and what the economy needs.