Posted on 08/05/2011 6:03:09 PM PDT by GQuagmire
The US Postal Service warned on Friday that it could default on payments it owes the federal government, just days after the US government itself narrowly averted a default.
The government's mail service said it lost $3.1 billion in the period from April to June, blaming "the anemic state of the economy" and the growing popularity of electronic communications over old-fashioned letters.
As a result of its mounting losses, the US Postal Service said it would not be able to make a legally required $5.5 billion payment in September to a health-benefits trust fund.
"Absent substantial legislative change, the Postal Service will be forced to default on payments to the federal government," it said in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
It doesn’t say how big and expensive it has to be does it?
An email saying “Your letter is at the post office in town, come and get it” would be perfectly acceptable.
Give more money to teachers or your kids will be stupid
Pay firefighters more or your house will burn down
Give pols more money or the Country will fall apart
We the people can no longer afford public servants. The state will have to find something else to do with the vast army of incompetent boobs they own
Paying letter carriers or counter people 90K just doesn’t add up.
Pray for America
Actually it says the congress shall have the power to establish post offices and post roads. It doesn’t require that they exercise that power. In addition it doesn’t require door to door delivery. The interstates are in my mind post roads, but the offices are not required to door to door service.
>Cut them loose. Let it go.<
Half-agree...
I personally know buds who own Ebay accounts as power sellers and the USPS international rates for their USPS Express and Priority Mail are at least 60% cheaper than Fedex and UPS, believe it or not. IF you knew the Fedex and UPS rates for international, you will know it’s highway robbery. There are things that USPS is good at..mostly nothing but some of their services are beneficial for small biz.
One more reminder: the postal service is authorized by the Constitution.
Is the EPA, Depts. of (mis)Education, Energy, HUD, and so on?
USPS brings in revenue. Do any of the others?
The dirty little secret of the delivery business is that no one can deliver the last mile as cheaply as the USPS because it is so heavily subsidized/underpriced at that price point.
If time isn’t a factor, you can’t beat the USPS on price.
You would think people on FR would be more knowledgeable about the USPS. Or at least do some simple research before posting. The ignorance is astounding. But, the USPS is more visible than 99% of what most freepers do for a living. Too bad we can’t critique what everyone else does for a living. Anyone want to start? Teachers? Farmers? Anyone?
Sadly, a Postal Service is mandated in the Constitution.
It is PERMITTED. Congress is given the power “To establish Post Offices and post Roads.”
The other day I saw an ad by the Letter Carriers Union (or some similar crap union) that said the USPS was paid for completely by stamps. Would the Post Office people lie to the public? Shocked ... yes I’m shocked. Next I won’t be able to trust the spewings of the Federal Reserve, or EPA, or Congress.
Do you know any of us overpaid, underworked worthless carriers and window clerks who make 90k a year? And I sure don’t know any 3-day-a-weekers, whomever that might be, making 40k. I have 24 years with the only company that sends their letter across the country for 44 cents. How about you?
People hear what they want to hear. How many years has the Postal Service been telling the public that we are self-supporting and do not use “their” taxes. Quit making us prepay the healthcare for retirees and give us back our overpayment. Let us make a decision without having to go to Congress for permission to blow our nose, since we know how well they run the country.
Maybe you ought to do a little research. The Postal Service is paid for completely by our sales. The only government agency that is not getting taxpayer dollars. Quit making us prepay retiree healthcare (which Congress makes no other agency do) and give us back our overpayment into pension plans and we could be ok.
And why must we run an office in every little 4 man town so all the locals can catch up on their gossip? We are a business, not a charity!
The USPS could charge first class rates for junk mail. That would cut the amount of junk mail, and cut the corruption that permits junk mail to saturate the system.
Well thank god we raised the debt ceiling so we can bail them out. :)
Bravo!
The democrats would also want to charge for emails, like one of the Postmaster Generals was mulling over a few years ago... Gore ropes us in with the internet, and the Demonrats clean up once again. On the other hand, if the Post Office mail carriers go away, all dogs will have to bite someone else...
Well, actually, I think I could do without the Post Office and never know the difference. Cut it to two days a week, just like garbage pickup.
It hasn’t been funded by taxes since Nixon’s administration. Evidently your memo to that effect got lost in the mail.
>> Stop Saturday delivery and lay some postal workers off.
I agree. Also cut managers’ salaries.
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