Posted on 09/05/2011 6:03:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
“Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds.” But unless Congress steps in, bankruptcy will.
The New York Times reports that unless the House and Senate take drastic action in the next few months, one of the nation's oldest institutions — which employs 574,000 Americans — may be forced to shut down.
A combination of labor costs and a declining number of packages and letters has the United States Postal Service running short on cash. The independent government agency will be unable to make a $5.5 billion payment to its employee healthcare plan by the Sept. 30 due date.
“Our situation is extremely serious,” the postmaster general, Patrick R. Donahoe, told the Times. “If Congress doesn’t act, we will default.”
To avoid insolvency, Donahoe says needs Congress to approve the elimination of Saturday delivery and the undoing of the agency's contract with its union to allow it to layoff up to 120,000 works. The Post Office is also planning to close 3,700 locations.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Less “bailout” and more “funding the USPS like they’re supposed to,” innit?
I mean, it’s the mail. You might as well say that DOT fixing up I-95 is a bailout of socialist roadways.
Close it down!
The DOT is not an independent service that is supposed to break even. The USPS is not supposed to be funded.
Let the current USPS crash: create another USPS without a union.
No sweat, the bailout will be authorized, with a few cosmetic conditions. (My prediction).
90% or more of what I receive in the mail is junk.
Isn’t having a monopoly on transmission of letters enough of an advantage? Think if the only legal way of sending a letter was through Fedex or UPS. The problem is inflexible union work rules and Congressionally mandated service levels.
D’oh. Brainfart. Haven’t had my legal addictive stimulants yet.
Anyone know if the USPS has ever been audited?
if there were no post office, there might be homes without mailboxes. If there were homes without mailboxes, the federal government wouldn’t be able to send everyone important documents from the IRS and the selective service system; ergo, there will always be a post office. It is not a federal service but a mechanism of federal control.
The USPS served a great purpose for many, many years and, to a certain extent, still does today. But times have changed and the old USPS is a dinosaur in today’s world. It needs to be pruned dramatically, restructured and refocused. I’m not sure that ANY government run agency can run efficiently but without change, the USPS will cease to exist.
Oh, and the elephant in the room is the ENORMOUS pension plan scheme the USPS has in place. That, as much as changing technology, is killing them.
Kharis13
p.s. I never really understood why you could send a letter across town or across country for the same price.
“”
Ending Saturday delivery would only cut about two percent of the agency’s budget — and is vigorously opposed by many lawmakers from states with large rural populations. They would rather the agency recover the $60 billion it has overpaid into its employee pension plans and pursue less drastic restructuring””
Interesting that the Post Office Pension Plan is overfunded to the tune of $60 Billion. In today’s economic climate it is probably the only pension plan in the USA that is overfunded.
I don’t mind not getting 100% of my mail but if the government does this to healthcare (if it isn’t hopefully repealed) this country is in great doo-doo. I can’t think of one government endeavor that ended in success.
But — but — Obama wants us to go green!
Yeah, they would have to take over the internet or something!
The letter to Santa with return to sender says it all. They must know Santa doesn’t use unionized elves.
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