Posted on 05/19/2019 2:38:39 PM PDT by Patriot777
OPINION | FINANCE May 17, 2019 - 04:00 PM EDT Financial collapse of the United States Postal Service is coming
BY KEVIN KOSAR, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill TWEET SHARE EMAIL
The United States Postal Service (USPS) will run out of cash in five years. Postmaster General Megan Brennan shared this news in testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee earlier this month. The immediate consequence of USPS becoming insolvent would be that the world's largest postal system - which moves 150 billion mail pieces per year, or 412 million pieces per day - would be dead in the water. This is something that has never occurred in the Postal Service's long and storied history.
If you think these primary effects would be devastating, the secondary effects would be catastrophic. More than half a million postal workers would be without wages. Magazine companies, which send millions of glossies per month, would be stuck trying to find local deliverers. Retailers - particularly those that sell via catalogs - would see their main advertising medium vanish. The paper and printing companies they work with would see their revenues plunge. Prescription drug deliveries would be disrupted as sellers scrambled to find alternate means for delivery. Jury summons, voting materials (including ballots for overseas troops), and international mail and shipments would stop flowing.
During the hearing, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) demanded USPS produce a turnaround plan by July that would save the Postal Service. To date, the agency's plan has consisted of trying to trim costs, mostly by reducing the hours worked by employees, and reaping more revenue by delivering more.
(Excerpt) Read more at om.cdn.ampproject.org ...
If you go to a “stamp and coin show” today you can generally buy US stamps at below face value.
Same time as comic books & baseball cards saturated the market.
and eBay shippers.
The day it happens to you, and your account is drained and the bank says they have to investigate and it will take 14 to 20 business days to get your money back if they find you were not at fault ... you will be going back to mail right quick ... and throwing away your bank debit/credit card.
That was one of the worst times in my life. We were lucky to have a saving account in another bank to live off.
Nothing is secure, anything can be hacked. Thieves are too lazy to steal mail and “wash” checks so it still is the best way to pay your bills.
You couldn’t live for three weeks without access to your checking account? That’s more of an issue, don’t you think?
As a retired postal employee it is time to privatize the postal service. There are a lot of good employees but management is woeful, redundant and un-creative. The union is a liberal group that will keep the worst employees on the dole. I just don’t think reformation will work. The constitutional mandate was for a time when it was the main way to communicate long distance. That is no longer the case.
>>How many US corporations would still be in business if they were obligated to pre-fund their retiree healthcare benefits out to 75 years and be given 10 years to accomplish that task?
Yes exactly.
(I am a postal worker)
We could really raise prices but we can only raise them so much. It has to only go up with basic cost of living. So, make stamps 60 cents and pay off the debt? No, we can’t.
We also cannot strike. We are government employees, and essential. When was the last time you heard, “Well the Coast Guard strike enters its second week...”
Yes. As kindling in your fireplace .
“...and go to a 401(k)...”
Psst, Gordy, they did that, 35 years ago.
Couldn’t pay bills ... had to go to the offices of the phone, gas, and cable companies to pay bills with cash from the Savings account.
Who carries around enough cash to pay for things for 3 weeks?
Now I practically do carry around that much cash for gas, food/groceries, etc...
well it shows that every piece of mail that you receive is tracked.
their employees are in some sort of tiered system of seniority.
Many of them work very very hard for little or no pay in a system that is punishing.
I actually love the postal service.
I like sending and receiving mail.
ups and fedex deliver to the post office and the usps deliver the rest of the way.
not so atypical.
I pay all my bills by mail.
what are you talking about?
How many people keep their mortgage payments and car payments in cash at home???
We let 500,000 walk across out border every 6 months without wages.
Yep. 1984 scary.
We don’t need the post office in this day and age. We have the internet, email, etc., not to mention the telephone. I bought 10 forever stamps five years ago and I only used 2! All I get is garbage in the mail anyway. I post my bills online and don’t even use checks anymore. Time to retire the post office.
Get a safe.
Get rid of your mortgage and car payments.
Life is a lot easier when you aren’t a debt slave.
I have half a month’s expenses in rolled quarters from pocket change over the past couple of years. What would you do if the government declared a bank holiday again?
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