Many Americans woke up today and were shocked by news that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will be ending regular mail service on Saturdays (package delivery will continue). In response to this announcement, the National Association of Letter Carriers, which represents postal employees, called on Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe to resign.
The move is supposed to save the Post Office $2 billion annually, something it claims it is being forced to do due to budget woes.
But the truth is, the Post Office’s budget wouldn’t have any problems if Congress hadn’t forced anAi??unnecessaryAi??and burdensome federal mandate onto it.
In 2006, the Congress passed theAi??Ai??Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006Ai??(PAEA). Under PAEA, USPS was forced to ai???prefund its future health care benefit payments to retirees for the next 75 years in an astonishing ten-year time spanai??? ai??i?? meaning that it had to put aside billions of dollars to pay for the health benefits of employees itAi??hasnai??i??t even hired yet, something ai???thatAi??no other government or private corporationAi??is required to do.ai???
In 2011, it was estimated that the Post Office would actually have a $1.5 billion surplus if PAEA was never enacted. Altering or repealing this poison pill legislation would allow the Postal Service to continue its services without being burdened by the 75 year pre-fund requirement. But that requires Congress to act.
Ai??UPDATE:Ai??As a historical anecdote as to how far back the conservative war on the Post Office goes, experts point out that the service delivered mail twice a day until 1950.
Please consider supporting this WH petition asking the President to champion repeal of the PAEA.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/call-congress-repeal-job-killing-usps-strangling-postal-accountability-and-enhancement-act-2006/3Z6t7m5q
This is a totally unnecessary move and is another Republican stab in the back of the American people. It will impact the hardest on those who unwittingly vote Republican. I hope our President will show his leadership skills to inspire people to reverse this decision and eliminate the totally unfair requirement that the PO pre-pay for retirement 75 years in advance. What is the point? And why is the USPS singled out as the only agency getting this treatment. Obviously the Republicans want to destroy the USPS and give its business to enrich already rich people in the private sector.
You realize that this bill was co-sponsored by a Republican as well as two Democrats right? And then Unanimously passed by the Senate, which means Democrats also voted for it.
Pull your partisan head out of your ass.
If it was unanimous then something is rotten in the state of Denmark. but the question is why they want the postal service to hoard funds in such a short time span. I could only theorize that those funds might be appropriated later for something only they had the inside track on.