November 12, 2012 8:00 AM, EST

Editorial: Get It Done

This Editorial appears in the Nov. 12 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

The people have spoken. And the answer to the question, “Who will lead us in Washington?” is — depending on your point of view — “all of the above” or “none of the above.”

Barack Obama will continue to be our president and head the government of the United States.

And the Democrats will continue to control the Senate.

And the Republicans will continue to control the House.

Now, the new primary question of the hour centers on whether we’re going to face years more of the gridlock that has slowed the movement of the federal government to a crawl. Or will both political parties see the voters’ choice to keep power in Washington divided as a demand that our elected leaders figure out a way to work together for the benefit of the nation?

The first big test is already upon us, in the form of the looming “fiscal cliff.”

The compromise that Congress and the White House agreed to last year in order to temporarily settle the last major budget stalemate — in the form of the Budget Control Act of 2011 — sets some major funding cutbacks and tax increases by the end of this year, unless a new compromise is reached.

There have been dire warnings from the business community and from economists in all quarters about the damaging impact those spending cuts and tax increases would have on the nation’s still shaky recovery from the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

The recent comments from Scott Davis, chairman and CEO of UPS Inc., are worth repeating to all the newly elected members of Congress and to the White House:

“Regardless of the outcome . . . [of the election] the United States is on the edge of a fiscal cliff, and there is concern whether politicians can reach an agreement that solves those issues. The lack of political will to fix our debt problems adds to uncertainty in our economy — just what we don’t need.”

Davis added that, on the other hand, “if solutions are in place to both reduce the deficit and eliminate the threat of a fiscal cliff, the United States will be in a better position for sustained growth.”

So, for the new Congress and the old White House, there is a choice looming, and it is one that could well set the tone for the next four years. Work together and we all prosper, or continue the partisan bickering and we all suffer.