Former economic adviser says Obama should have 'mea culpa' on tone

President Obama's former economic adviser said Sunday that the president should "have a mea culpa" over the bitter tone in Washington, noting that the partisanship today does not live up to the coming-together message of the 2008 campaign.

Austan Goolsbee, former head of the Council of Economic Advisers, addressed that tone during a discussion on ABC's "This Week" about tackling America's fiscal crisis.

He said he agreed when political analyst Matthew Dowd said it's time for Obama to reset the debate with a "mea culpa" over polarization in Washington.

"The president should have a mea culpa," Goolsbee said, "that we have gotten into a place that was very different from what the campaign wanted it to be from 2008 ... and, look, I think you could blame more the Republicans, but I'm sure the Republicans would say more you blame the president."

He said the country has "got to back away from that."

"Otherwise, we're not going to be able to confront this pretty serious challenge at the time when we could do it," Goolsbee said. "If there is someone on the other side that's willing to meet the president there, I think that they could get a deal. You saw the glimpse of that last year."