USPS running out of cash; may default on pensions

KGO ^ | 9/5/11 | KGO

[mdittmar]

The postal service says it's running out of cash and may not be able to make a $5.5 billion pension payment this month.

In fact, the postmaster general says things are so tight, the postal service may have to shut down this winter unless congress takes emergency action to stabilize its finances.

[mdittmar]

To big to fail?

[unixfox]

They just need more money! /sarc

[HarleyD]

Their solution-GIVE US MONEY OR WE’LL SHUT DOWN.

[VoiceOfBruck]

God forbid they actually try to figure out how to do their work more efficiently.

I for one would be perfectly happy to get mail delivered 3x per week.

[freespirited]

LOL. More like too important to Congress to fail.

[Cheetahcat]

Their Pensions are ludicrous,How did they get that kind of money given to them?

[Dilbert San Diego]

Another mess which will fall on Obama’s plate.

Obama will blame it on the failures of Bush to deal with this problem.

I will never understand why it has been okay, for almost three years now, for Obama to say he inherited problems, yadda, yadda, yadda, and the liberals and MSM lap it all up.

Every president in history has inherited problems from the previous administration, and/or, had to deal with onoing problems which festered and were not dealt with. You might think that true leadership would be to come up with your plans to solve these problems, rather than complain about them.

And that’s especially true when you consider the grueling process involved in running for president in the first place. Obama wanted that job badly, and things fell into place for him in the primaries, and the general election. Being president is an honor, a priviledge, and a ton of hard work. But if you are a real leader, you will not sit around and complain, you will come up with plans to deal with the issues of the day.

I’m sure Obama will say that we have to have a solvent postal service, blame Bush for not solving this problem, then call for a tax increase to pay for it all.

[Cheetahcat]

Well it is going to be up to our Next president NOT to pardon Zippy,He badly needs jailed!

[PGR88]

At this point, I don’t care. I will make do without the post office for the chance to see a Gov’t organization actually suffer the consequences it has brought on itself.

[papertyger]

The beginning of “the spiral?”

[Beowulf9]

Shouldn’t the pension fund have been in safe keeping somewhere?

[FlingWingFlyer]

But...but...but if the post office closes down, the policemen, firefighters, teachers, children and the elderly won't be able to get any mail! Those wascally Wepublicans! It's all their fault.

sarc/

[SkyPilot]

The average salary for these guys is $86,000 a year.

AVERAGE.

There are scores of thousands of uneducated boobs pulling in 6 figure jobs.

The average Federal salary (FBI agents, Dept of Defense employees, etc) is $63,000 a year - and many of these employees have masters degrees and specialized training.

The postal union has got away with murder in recent years. Their pensions are lavish. Our military heroes are not paid that generously in retirement!

Something has to give.

[ltrman61]

BS!!! Show the source of this misinformation.

[mdittmar]

Their Pensions are ludicrous,How did they get that kind of money given to them?

Unions of the AFL-CIO
American Postal Workers Union (APWU),National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC)

[federal__reserve]

Link please! Ii is hard to beleive average post office worker is getting paid $86,000. May be the managerial staff.

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

Can some current or former USPS employee explain to the rest of us just what the "reorganization" of the Post Office did? I believe the former civil service swamp of patronage jobs underwent what I thought was a "privatization" in the early 70's.

Prior to the changes the Postmaster General, a cabinet level position, was the dispenser of all political patronage jobs for the administration.

Regards,
GtG

[ltrman61]

The Postal Service is in trouble because of a Bush‐era (2006) law that requires the USPS to massively  prefund the cost of retiree health benefits over the next 75 years in just 10 years’ time. This cost covers  not only current employees, but employees who have yet to be hired – and it is on top of the cost for  health benefits for current retirees.  No other company or agency in America is required to pre‐fund  future retiree health benefits.  No rational company would choose to make pre‐funding future retiree health benefits the highest  corporate priority in today’s economy – and no company would use all its borrowing capacity to do so.   But that is precisely what the Postal Service has been forced to do.  As a result, it will soon exhaust its $15  billion borrowing authority ‐‐ a line of credit established in 1970 to permit the USPS to invest in its retail  and mail processing networks and to keep its huge vehicle fleet up to date.       In 2005, the Postal Service did not even have to use its borrowing authority. It had no outstanding debt;  today it has $13.2 billion in debt.  Virtually all this debt has been used to finance the pre‐funding of retiree  health benefits ‐‐ not to restructure the Postal Service’s network of facilities, or to replace its old vehicle  fleet, or to invest in new products and services to meet the emerging needs of the nation’s economy.    No other federal agency in any of the three branches of government is required to pre‐fund future retiree  health benefits.  Congress mandated prefunding for the USPS, but it does not pre‐fund and none of its  special agencies ‐‐ the General Accountability Office, the Congressional Research Service, the  Congressional Budget Office or the Library of Congress – do either.  The USPS is financially self‐sufficient.  It pays for its operations through the sale of postage and has not  received any taxpayer subsidy since 1982.  In 1971, before postal reorganization took effect, Treasury  appropriations covered nearly 25% of the P.O.D.’s budget.  In today’s dollars, that would cost taxpayers  approximately $16.25 billion.  So postal reorganization has saved taxpayers tens of billions of dollars since  1970.  The Postal Service delivers 40% of the world’s mail Critics complain that labor costs make up a higher percentage of total USPS costs (80%) than they do in  the private companies (50%‐65%).  But the comparison is misleading.  The USPS is a universal service  provider of basic services that requires daily delivery to 7 ‐8 times as many addresses each day than the  private companies, which focus on parcels and freight services that are targeted to a much narrower  range of recipients. The USPS function is inherently more labor intensive.  Indeed, the Postal Service’s last  mile delivery network is so efficient that the private companies rely on it to reach places they don’t serve.   The Parcel Select product allows private companies to drop ship to post offices for last mile delivery by  letter carriers – the Fed Ex version of this service, FedEx SmartPost is the fastest growing division within  the Memphis‐based company.   Facts...they are a terrible thing. Freepers with USPSDS should be ashamed of their ignorance. You look like a bunch of knee-jerk libs. Astounding! Conservatives claim to be against government mandates. Wonder what the response would be from Freepers if Obama mandated all companies with more than 250 employees follow the same mandate the USPS must follow on prefunding. Lets see any other company that can survive that mandate!

[ltrman61]

They want their OWN money BACK! Is it that hard to comprehend?

[mdittmar]

Shouldn’t the pension fund have been in safe keeping somewhere?

Like Social Security?