It’s over. Finally. After 16 days the government has finally reopened, subsequently bringing back the upwards of 800,000 workers who had since been furloughed, reinstating national institutions like parks and monuments, raising the federal borrowing limit, and avoiding default (for now). But what are the implications moving forward? What does this mean for our bipartisan way of legislating? And how has this shaped the American populace’s perspective on government?

Let’s take it one step at a time here, folks.

Last night both the Democratic Senate and Republican House of Representatives were able to agree on terms that shut down the shutdown without defunding or delaying the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). It’s important to realize, though, that it’s only a temporary solution.

The new measure does, in fact, continue to fund the government, but only through January 15. In similar regard, the debt ceiling has been raised allowing the government to continue borrowing money, but, again, only until the finite deadline of February 7. Political pundits have been quick to point out that this is nothing more than “kicking the can down the road.” Unless both sides are able to concoct a long-term resolution, both chambers of the bicameral legislature will again be forced to rally around the negotiating table, while the jobs and livelihoods of the American people hang in the balance.

Until that time, though, the American people have reason to be optimistic. The last 24 hours are proof enough that the night is always darkest just before the dawn, and that from here we can all anticipate Congress will begin fostering better bipartisan relations. After all, neither party was awarded everything they were hoping for in the negotiation process. The Senate was able to raise the debt ceiling while the GOP was able to push “for insurance marketplaces to confirm the income of those requesting health care subsidies since the Obama Administration scaled back the requirement months ago,” according to CNN.

President Obama spoke this morning of the resilience of the U.S. people, noting that “America is the bedrock of the global economy for a reason,” in turn challenging the rest of the world “to know that the full faith and credit of the United States remains unquestioned.”

Perhaps most importantly, he recognized that the events and means of leading up to the government shutdown will not be tolerated anymore.

“But to all my friends in Congress, understand that how business is done in this town has to change,” he continued, “because we’ve all got a lot of work to do on behalf of the American people – and that includes the hard work of regaining their trust.”

But that’s not to say this entire ordeal didn’t come without great cost.

Sure, those who were furloughed will be receiving retroactive pay for their time off. But they went without those paychecks for more than two weeks. Some live paycheck-to-paycheck and were surely affected deeply.

As a whole, Standard & Poor estimates the American economy lost out on $24 billion.

Now that President Obama has assured us that “this threat to our economy is removed,” how will Congress go about avoiding the same situation down the road?

The New York Times ponders the same thing, especially on the part of the GOP who more than the Dems has lost the faith of the American people, wondering “whether it has been so stung by the fallout that the conservatives who insisted on leading this fight will shy away in the months ahead when the government runs out of money and exhausts its borrowing authority yet again.”

The president has a three-pronged plan to prevent a Congressional relapse: collaborate on a budget, tighten the legalized immigration system to hold everyone accountable to pay taxes and generate more than $1 trillion in revenue, and pass a farm bill that “gives rural communities opportunities to grow and the long-term certainty that they deserve.”

Better still is his willingness to hear suggestions from all sides in achieving such. The latter two legislations have already passed the Senate and are now awaiting House approval before making their way to the Oval Office. Still, President Obama welcomes other perspectives. None of the above has been historically bipartisan, but from here on out things may change.

“If House Republicans have ideas that they think would improve the farm bill, let’s see them. Let’s negotiate. What are we waiting for?  Let’s get this done.”

You can check out the entire address in the video below and read the transcript right here.