As President Barack Obama sets off on his second-term journey, we wish him well. In the weeklong "Road Forward" series that ends today on Inauguration Day, we've laid out the many challenges he faces to fulfill the promise of his presidency. We reminded him -- and ourselves -- that too much poverty and economic inequality remains; that too little progress on education, the environment and immigration has been made; that too many middle-class Americans are falling farther behind; that new laws are needed to translate into better health care and sound business regulation; that common sense is missing from our national budget; and that too much confusion plagues our ever-evolving foreign and defense policies. But today we stand back, sit quietly (in the cold, if you are on the National Mall) and appreciate this president and the country he and his office represent.

Without reform, we're doomed repeat and amplify the exasperating gridlock of the fiscal cliff and debt ceiling talks. That's why Senate Resolutions 4 and 6 need the support of Democratic senators and the White House. The American people strongly support overhauling the filibuster.

In many ways, the new Congress should look like the old one. Prospects for a grand bargain over taxes and spending remain dim. I also expect that congressional power will remain concentrated in the hands of party leaders, and that rank-and-file legislators will continue to grumble about it.