The USPS is struggling for the first time since its creation in 1775 with Benjamin Franklin as Postmaster General. Even in the electronic age of e-mail & online bill paying, it is still a sustainable business, employing many hard working Americans.
In 2006, President Bush signed a law that requires the USPS to pre-fund 75 years worth of retirees benefits - to the tune of 5.5 billion a year. Since then the USPS has struggled to make these payments & its a burden no other company or agency has to bear.
The USPS is one of the few government agencies
explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. While the USPS is a government agency, it is a private company, getting ALL of its funds from postage & postal products. The USPS does not get one dime from the government for operations, yet Congress controls it. The fact is, without the 2006 law, the USPS would still be profitable even with the declining mail volumes.
H.R. 1351, was introduced by Stephen Lynch (D-MA), and if passed it will relieve a lot of the USPS's burden by redirecting surpluses in the retirement system accounts to the retiree health benefit fund. This will effectively clear out the pre-fund obligation that is killing the USPS.
If this burden is not lifted, the USPS Postmaster General has proposed service cuts (5 days of delivery, not 6), layoffs & closing many post offices. If these were enacted, not only would the true financial problem not be fixed, but it would be the undoing of the USPS. There are many businesses who rely on the 6-day delivery. If the USPS drops to 5 days, they will look elsewhere to get their mail delivered, costing the USPS stable revenue & worsening the problem. Less workers & post offices mean more hassle for the customers, which could easy equate into less revenue. Less revenue will create more issues for the USPS. H.R. 1351 will relieve the pre-fund burden, allowing the USPS to use its revenue where it belongs - in running its business!
Urge your Congressman to support H.R. 1351! It is the true way to save the USPS from demise!
