Posted on 09/25/2009 3:17:09 PM PDT by khnyny
The House approved a 30-day stop-gap spending bill Friday designed to keep the government operating through October and buy more time for the cash-strapped Postal Service to meet a $5.4 billion payment due next week for its retirees’ health benefits.
Adopted 217-190, the measure allows the Postal Service to pay only $1.4 billion on Sept. 30 and effectively amortize the remaining $4 billion after 2017. With $32 billion in the fund, the agency insists it is still able to meet its obligations, but the issue has been handled with such a political sleight-of-hand that conservatives worry it could come back to haunt taxpayers.
The House overwhelmingly endorsed the restructured payment plan for the Postal Service on a vote earlier this month. But the Senate has yet to act on the issue and will have little opportunity now to amend the short-term spending bill into which it has been inserted.
Under normal circumstances, such continuing resolutions — commonly called CRs — are fast-track, must-pass measures, leaving little time for debate before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. But in this case, Democrats have added a second protective shield of sorts by wrapping this CR into yet another budget measure, a legislative appropriations conference report which enjoys special privileges during floor debate.
The whole episode is an embarrassment for the Democratic leaders who began the year promising to pass appropriations bills without resorting to the parliamentary gimmicks they so often criticized when Republicans were in power. Yet despite solid majorities in both the House and Senate –and a new Democratic president—the annual process is still far behind schedule, making it more tempting to revert to old ploys.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
1. The Dems used the same tacky tactic that they wailed about the Repubs using.
2. The Post Office is broke - they just pushed off the debt to 2017.
3. This is a temporary measure because they can't get their act together and only guarantees that Congress and it's staffs get to continue working with no interruption over a pesky thing like money. All other departments, including defense - well, all bets are off.
4. The Dems have a majority in both Houses and a Dem POTUS and this is the best they could come up with - LOL.
The USPS needs to go private.
I'd like to do the same thing with my tax liability please.
They may have to very shortly.
I know this piece isn’t very “sexy”, but it really does show the incompetence and hypocrisy of our current Congress.
Obama said...
Fex Ex and UPS are doing great
It is the US Post Office that is failing.
WHAT HE DIDN’T SAY...
Anything the government touches they corrupt and bankrupt.
What a misleading headline. The BTD (but that's different) media covers for the Dems again.
Exactly. Full CYA mode.
But I know the USPS is not the most popular of governmental entities, and NO!! I do not want the same people who handle the mail to handle health care!
LOL You have to have a conscience and a sense of shame to be embarrassed.
I don't either. Do you know how filthy mail is? It's as bad as currency....
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