What really infuriates me about this is that I remember last summer, when the debt limit was being argued over, and every Democrat was insistent that the US Postal Service was off limits because their budget was, I quote, “separate from the US budget.”
How separate are they now?
The U.S. Postal Service is often the butt of jokes, but there’s nothing funny about the agency’s bottom line.
The USPS is losing up to $25 million dollars a day. Until now, taxpayers have not been on the hook for its mounting losses, but that could be about to change. A bailout recently approved by the Senate would appropriate $34 billion in federal money.
“If the post office was a business, it would be in bankruptcy,” said Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla. “It’s insolvent.”
Ironically, however, Congress shares much of the blame. For years, the Postal Service begged Washington for the freedom to cut its own budget by closing post offices and cutting employees. But Congress, under pressure from rural constituents and labor unions, prevented the cuts, and the service continued to bleed red ink.
In December, the USPS said it wanted to close more than half of its mail processing centers, eliminate 28,000 jobs, end overnight delivery of first-class mail, close 3,700 local post offices and end Saturday delivery.
The Senate said no, prohibiting the Postmaster General from taking those actions altogether, or delaying them for two to three years.
For the time being, the Postal Service has a moratorium on office closings — but that moratorium expires on May 15, absent an elusive compromise between the House and Senate.
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what’s silly is the monopoly-by-choice the gubmint holds on mail. it’s illegal for anyone but usps to carry lettered mail – so other carriers can’t even attempt to compete. they can only carry express stuff and packages.
If they would charge the charities mail spammers full rate, they make it back.