http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-15/u-s-postal-service-on-tightrope-loses-15-9-billion.html The U.S. Postal Service said its net loss last year widened to $15.9 billion, more than the $15 billion it had projected, as mail volume continued to drop, falling 5 percent. Without action by Congress, the service will run out of cash on Oct. 15, 2013, after it makes a required workers compensation payment to the U.S. Labor Department and before revenue typically jumps with holiday season mailing, Chief Financial Officer Joe Corbett said. Why do we keep subsidizing this mess? Its failed, time to slim and trim, and move on.
we let it go on because Congress decided it had to be the only entity in the US that had to prefund it's pensions. not just for current workers that will be there long enough to retire, but for employees it didn't even have yet (75 years in the future). were does that money go? Treasury bonds. the feds are using the post office to finance itself.
This is a fiction. No one has the infrastructure it takes to collect and move mail around the country that the Post Office (a constitutionally appointed organization, by the way) has. If congress lets the P.O. fund their retirees the way everyone else does it then problem solved. But to think someone else could deliver a letter from Alaska to Alabama for a mere .45 cents is absurd.
i don't think anyone can do much better. if it's run like a utility (which it is) one state will have one company, and a different one next door, you'll need a stamp for each. if it's run like UPS...oh, it already is...and UPS costs much more than USPS.
UPS employees have less job stress. have you ever head of someone going "big brown"? (they also give their part timers health insurance).
The Post Office isn't delivering a letter for 45 cents, either. That's why they are 16 billion in debt. Why do Post Office employees get pensions, by the way? The public sector shouldn't get pensions if the private sector (who pays for the public sector) is not getting pensions.
That's great. But Brewski's implication that the private sector will absorb all those unemployed people is a big a pile of horse*&%$ as it was back in 2008.
Another "too large to fail" enterprise. Let's keep funding a broke service of Government because we can't afford more unemployed people.
Oh, really? That's what I pay for mailing my letters. What do you pay? There are a variety of reasons why they are in debt, the major reason being the way congress forces them to fund their retirees. If you think someone else can pick up a letter in Alaska and deliver it to Alabama for .45 cents I'd like to hear how they plan to do it. Because workers put in 25-30 years on the job paying towards their retirement. Why shouldn't they get a pension? Lot's of people in the private sector do have pensions (UPS, for example). It depends where you work.
Without the USPS, our economy would fail. This notion from RWers that we can just stop one institution and move over to another with ease is as ignorant about running a nation as one can get.
Why do liberals continue to want to invest in a broken system? Let private business do the US mail. It would be cheaper, faster, and reduction in junk mail. On top of that you would have competition; FedEx vs UPS, etc, etc, etc.
It's irrelevant what you pay for it. The Post Office is in debt 16 billion dollars. The true cost is higher than 45 cents, obviously. It's impossible, even for the Government. Not sure why you feel the Government is magically able to do accomplish something like this. I guess it's the same mentality that thinks the Government would be great at lowering health care costs too if it was the only provider. Pensions were once the norm in the private sector, now they are the exception. Employers discovered that it was unsustainable to continue paying an employee after they retire, especially with people living longer. In a globalized world, companies need to be able to compete or else they die. This is hard to do with a backlog of retirees demanding monthly checks even though they no longer work there. If the private sector can't afford pensions, why should the Government be able to afford them, considering they are paid by the private sector?
Were did you get that, because that is so far from the truth. Take them out and replace them with private business. Stuff like that has happened before and it didn’t fail. And in some place it got better. Look at the public safety on military posts. The fire protection and security guards at the gates used to be military. No they are civilian private business.
The free market is the way to go. You can't have the gov't picking up the tab and doing everything. Like at the USSR, N. Korea, all of Europe or at least most of it. Competition is good, it is healthy for the economy. The problem is right now you are not seeing anything for it.
If we ever do get a universal health care system, it'll be interesting to hear the arguments even from some "conservatives". "Wow, I got a heart transplant for $1,000! That must mean the Government has the infracstructure in place to keep the costs low! How efficient!" Nevermind the fact that the operation cost the taxpayers $75,000. Just charge it on the credit card and pay it later.