Is the GOP to blame for the post office’s woes?
L.A. Times
2013/02/07 15:00:00
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On Wednesday, the USPS announced Saturday delivery of letters would be eliminated by August in order to save $2 billion annually. The Postal Service has been struggling financially for a long time, so this sort of cutback is hardly surprising. As the latest reduction in service is discussed and debated, though, it is worth remembering that the Postal Service’s troubles are not entirely a result of the historic shift in how Americans communicate with one another.
Sure, most people have not mailed a real letter for months, if not years, and prefer to send messages via email or text. And, yes, companies such as UPS and FedEx have stolen the more lucrative shares of the market from the venerable old post office. But the USPS might be in less dire straits if Republicans in Congress were not trying to kill it outright.
In 2006, the GOP Congress passed a bill that required the Postal Service to fully fund future retiree health benefits for the next 75 years and to accomplish this within a 10-year period. Republicans are always insisting that the USPS be run like a good capitalist enterprise, but few, if any, private businesses could bear the burden of funding three-quarters of a century of retired employees’ medical costs over just one decade.
Sure, most people have not mailed a real letter for months, if not years, and prefer to send messages via email or text. And, yes, companies such as UPS and FedEx have stolen the more lucrative shares of the market from the venerable old post office. But the USPS might be in less dire straits if Republicans in Congress were not trying to kill it outright.
In 2006, the GOP Congress passed a bill that required the Postal Service to fully fund future retiree health benefits for the next 75 years and to accomplish this within a 10-year period. Republicans are always insisting that the USPS be run like a good capitalist enterprise, but few, if any, private businesses could bear the burden of funding three-quarters of a century of retired employees’ medical costs over just one decade.
Read More: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/topoftheticke...
Top Opinion
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THE One and Only 2013/02/07 16:33:30
What I really fear is that they privatize USPS and hand that well funded retirement account over as a cash bonus instead of doing right by the workers. Liquidation of retirement accounts happens often enough in the corporate world.
http://www.washingtonpost.com...
They are forbidden by law from competing with FedEx and UPS on cartage. They are required by law to deliver to every address in the United States.
They cannot make a profit in certain business areas to make up for losses in others.
Its amazing that the post office was actually making money, until the 2006 law past by the GOP congress.
I do believe the GOP-backed retirement funding issues are overly onerous but they are not the only reason the USPS is hurting. The simple fact that mail rates must be approved by Congress is probably the biggest issue the USPS faces. By the time they are allowed to raise rates, the rate hikes are insufficient already.
One of my biggest complaints is that a bulk mail rate even exists. Raising the rates on bulk mail to match first class mail will go a long way to solving the USPS' money woes AND might reduce the amount of junk mail we get.
why is the USPS being asked to prefund retirements for people that may never qualify? Why are they required to prefund retirements at all since no other gov't agency is required to do so?
Oh, I dunno, try asking the lobbyists for FedEX and UPS that question.
And it fits right along with GOP's plan because the USPS has the largest union in the US. Can't beat the union? Kill the business.
By the way, the USPS has always been self funded. They get NO tax dollars. They don't need them. So why kill off something that has been profitable for the US instead of some other agency that only takes and gives nothing back? (like congress?)
Easy, to make room for other companies to step in and gouge the hell out of folks for their money.
Congratulations GOP, what a wonderful way to earn everyone's trust...
Petitions and such:
The post office isn't broke -- it's being robbed.
Congress: Stop Destroying Our Postal Service
When asked to close small post offices in areas within 2 miles of a larger city, they refused, repeatedly, so, staying top heavy and still offering mercedes style retirement is their problem, not the congress's problem.
(By way of comparison, FedEX posts 400m+ earnings a quarter)
200 million profit even after doing things like chartering private planes to fly mail out to residents of cities that UPS and FedEX simply will not service because of time, distance, and remoteness.
But the argument here is that they can do a better job? You can't force a private company to do business with anyone. To that end, they will NOT service those small towns because it won't be cost effective without jacking up the prices sky high.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
A little inconvenience is going to have to be born.
It is ONLY because of this requirement for them to prefund the retirements that they went from haf a billion PROFIT each year to 15 billion LOSS.
That was it. One law sunk the post office. You can thank the people in gov't who paid attention to fedex and UPS lobbyists instead of to the public good the post office was doing.
The problems of the USPS have been in the making since the mid 70's. While I agree the GOP "plan" for the USPS is foolish at best, the GOP is not SOLELY to blame.
As for shortsighted GOP policies in general, you are preaching to the choir.
GOP has a plan, that's a fact. Yea, there are others in on it other thent he GOP as well otherwise it wouldn't have had as much progress as it had already. And by standard deductive reasoning, who stands best to gain if the USPS fails?
The sad thing is now, workers are "human capital", to be cut if you can increase the profits by a fraction of a percent. To be hired on a part time basis to avoid paying them a middle class income.
The government workers are just the last to get dragged down into the pool.
"Necessity is the Mother of Invention" ~ Plato
the postal UNION........Number 3.....Inefficiency......like every other government project.....
they run in the red.........overspend....because it's NOT their money..and they think there's MORE where that came from.......Privatize or disappear.!!!