[muawiyah]

It's an $80 billion per year company, more or less. A less than 10% loan is pretty much within the range of such things.

BTW, if loans are subsidies then what's your mortgage?

[vbmoneyspender]

If the USPS didn't have a monopoly along with the implicit backing of the federal gov't, bankers would have real questions about whether the USPS can continue to operate. In fact, even with the monopoly, serious questions exist about the continued viability of the USPS - which is on the GAO's 'high risk' list of federal agencies.

The U.S. Postal Service urgently needs restructuring to meet rapidly declining mail volume and must immediately cut costs, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office. The Congressional auditing agency today added the nation's mail delivery service to its list of "high risk" federal government agencies and programs that either need a massive overhaul or cost taxpayers billions of dollars in waste, fraud, abuse or mismanagement.

“There are serious and significant structural financial challenges currently facing the Postal Service," acting GAO director Gene L. Dodaro said in a statement.

The mail service has suffered as customers continue to choose e-mail and online bill payment programs over snail mail and as the recession has cut overall business spending. The Postal Service also faces significant infrastructural and personnel costs, including hefty payments to a retiree benefits program, Dodaro noted.