Congress Bankrupts Postal Service
~Fritz Creek Post Office, about 10 miles from downtown Homer, Alaska
Every town and burg has some form of post office. In small towns, it’s often where folks see announcements for memorial services or spaghetti feed fundraisers. The flags are always flying, no matter how small the post office.
I remember one time the Homer post office had to call the Harris family because the horned toads their grandpa mailed them from Texas were loose. Boxes of baby chicks were a sign of spring. I remember the combination to our P.O. box in the 99556 office: 3-1-6. (I remembered it from Sunday school, John 3:16.) My grandmother sent us a letter once a week. “My dear children,” every one began. We didn’t have a phone. Our lifeline to loved ones and new school clothes was that little building with Miss Carol always remarking on how tall we were getting.
At one point, my post office was a little building on a floating dock for twice-a-week mail delivery. Anyone who has been here for a shake of time can wax on all day about their local post office and its central place in the community.
Which brings me to this. I’d like to smack half of Congress, particularly the Republican half.
The United States Postal Service has been a tremendous institution that linked every town in this country. You can’t buy anything for 45 cents any more — except a stamp. That 45 cents gives you planes, trains and automobiles for as many miles as it takes to deliver your mail. Businesses and politicians send out bulk mail every day.
Since 1971, not one dime of taxpayer money has funded the U.S. Postal Service. It is entirely self-sufficient and efficient; your stamps and payment for other services finance the 32,000 post offices across the country. For years we’ve been hearing from the GOP that the government is horrible — then they run for office and prove it. They couldn’t stand to have the USPS humming along, getting the job done day in and day out, so they gave it a poison pill.
In 2006, with all the wisdom of a walnut, a Republican Congress and the Bush White House decided to require the postal service to pre-fund health care for its employees. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act wasn’t just for current postal workers but for every employee for the next 75 years. Wait, I want you to understand this important fact: The USPS is required to pre-pay health care benefits for future employees who haven’t been born yet.
If any other company had been required by Congress to do the same, they’d have gone to court and slam-dunked it.
In 2002, a 40-year-old accounting error was discovered. The postal service had been overcharged by nearly $80 billion for payments into the Civil Service Retirement System.
Since 2007, the USPS has paid more than $20 billion to pre-fund the health benefits of employees. While banks were being bailed out, the postal service was being bent over.
This past week, the USPS defaulted on a $5.5 billion payment. It won’t be able to pay the $5.6 billion bill due next month, either.
This was completely avoidable.
You might feel a little guilt if you pay your bills online, use email and don’t remember the last time you actually mailed a birthday card — you know you’re not the postal customer you used to be.
But that isn’t what caused this crisis. Congressman Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, on Wednesday said, “… 224 years after the Constitution was ratified — Congress is presiding over the disestablishment of the Postal Service. Today a manufactured default created by congressional legislation is pushing the Postal Service to the brink.”
Congress is at fault. The USPS proposed to stop Saturday delivery to save money. Congress pushed that decision out two years. Huh? Why? USPS said it will have to close 3,700 offices this year to save money.
What has Congress done? The 111th Congress has introduced 427 bills to name or rename post office buildings. Seventy have passed. Thirteen percent of the legislation signed by the president this year has been to name post offices.
But none of these facts has kept Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the committee that oversees the Post Office, from yammering on about labor costs and how the postal service is going broke.
Yes, the postal service is going broke — because you’re requiring it to pay now for the health care of the unborn workers of the future.
Our communities, no matter how far-flung, deserve better.
In 2000, 2001, postal employee’s were made to pay in extra 15 percent to their retirement systems under the 1997 budget reconcilation act, both the President and both sides of congress thanked them for their ‘sacrifice.’ In 2002 the increase was removed from the President’s budget and new legislation ensued leading to the passing of the PAEA.( see usps abuse of postal workers, reocities.com/pov ny for cover up of accountibiltiy) and go to http://www.postalmag.com/joygoldberguspsstress.pdf or AWPU 3800 first area tricounty local, PA , library, to read stress in the workplace articals” How the ongoing violtion of the guiding principles of the USPS is creating a toxic work enviorment.” then go to http://www.billburrasjournal.org- misc ( search to find , scroll down elevator page ) read ‘ phoney excuses for diverting USPS revenues and myths versus facts, go to search type in ALEC/Koch Cabal the Priviitization of the USPS for Ups and FedEx, bob sloan, vltp, april 2012, then go to examiner .com , read author TIm McCown article, ‘Behind all the schemes and lies of the Priviitzation of the USPS.” go to http://www.savethepostoffice.com , go to http://www.mpwu.com/post_office_in_crisis.htm The Paea allowed bonues to pmg potter of 72 thousand more a year, and a final retirement of 5.5 million anually , while postal letter carreirs like my spouse were told non replacement of attrtiion or retirees, due to 2 overfunded retirement systems , fers by 15 billion and csrs by 140 billion ( see postal comments to federal trade commision , august 6, 2007 , which is still denied by ryan ( whoose wife lobbied for ups to do this to usps ) as an accounting error and by ross and issa. The USPS was formed by continental congress by benjamin franklin and Sam Adams to have communication during the revoltionary war and predates the Nation and constitution by beinf formed May 1775, by May 2012 the attack by the commitee over the USPS continues to destroy the constitutional rights of every american for universal postal service and on the craft level workers of the USPS. in memory of USPS senior carrier nalc steward, orders march/may of 06 for non replacement of 2 retirees, and one permt injured in small office, succesfully won grievance on hires only to be deined illigally the removal of injured from routes ( who went on to get owcp) and broke supreme court memordum by us labor dept , and then illigaly removal of newly hired casual ( after working with duel for over 9 months the poltically got engineered out of the office after hire of workers) and worked short handed for food drive, only to die of massive. This is no way to treat veterens of the USMC, or USPS. ( 3 deaths in chicago nalc in one week april of 2012, one in june in brimighham alabama, and one in july , blue springs , mo) the battle is against american workers by their own govt, who took lobby moneis to do this to a federal agency , for private corporations greed.
Congress is required by the Constitution to have a postal “service”. As Sen. Kucinich said recently, on Democracy Now, the operable word is “service.”
And let’s not forget that 25% of postal workers are military vets. (Way to support our troops, congress.) What a bunch of hypocrites.
I don’t think this was an “accounting error” ; I believe Congress did this on purpose, to eventually get rid of the Post Office and make all of us use commercial companies.
My mother worked for the post office for decades, enabling her to raise her daughters with some modicum of dignity after dad died. She had insider knowledge, which she shared after her retirement. Ronald Raygun did not fire the air traffic controllers (PATCO) because he gave a fig about them and their issues. He wanted to prove he could break a federal union, because postal employees were considering a strike. The post office is the brunt of plenty of jokes, but it’s still great. Friday afternoon, I mailed a package (of herb tea, shea butter, and a crystal) to a friend having a health crisis. She lives on the other tip of my island, all the way north. On Saturday, she called to say the package had just arrived. Okay, it wasn’t 45 cents. It was bulky, and I insured it. It was far cheaper than carrying it myself (which would have required bus, subway, and walk; both directions’ travel would have taken at least three hours). Long live the post office.
In the past month I have learned a great deal about the job of mail carrier from my almost-daily conversations with my (very cute) mailman.
During the summer, he works a 10 hour shift, 6 days a week, One of the reasons for this exhausting amount of overtime is covering for other workers’ summer vacations, but there is also a tremendous shortage of postal workers to begin with, thanks to the budget cuts that have been decimating their ranks for years.
The day after a particularly nasty thunderstorm, which had near constant lightning, I asked him what they do when there’s so much lightning around. Obviously, the drenching rain (along with oppressive heat, sleet, ice, snow, attacking dogs and other delights they must contend with) does not stop them from ‘making their appointed rounds’. However, I assumed that severe lightning would be considered dangerous enough to at least keep them in their trucks until the worst of it was past. And I would be wrong! They keep walking, under all those lovely tall trees and through those splashy little puddles, all through the storm. He told me that one of the other carriers even called the PO during the worst of the lightning last week and was told that he needed to get the mail delivered…no matter what.
We often take for granted that our mail will be delivered without really thinking about what it takes to make that actually happen. I now have a new appreciation for what postal workers go through to insure that the measly 45 cents we pay for a stamp can send something thousands of miles away and get it delivered to the right person within an astonishingly short amount of time, regardless of the conditions in between.
To think that Congress, as a result of sheer stupidity and political gamesmanship, could endanger an institution that has served this country for generations by requiring them to fund something for 75 years IN THE FUTURE is simply unconscionable.
Here’s to very cute mail carriers! And all mail carriers. And a postal service that remains a SERVICE.
I’m glad this Congress realizes that providing health care benefits is so very important. In fact, so important, that they are requiring it not only for the unborn fetus (who we know they love to protect) but also for the not yet conceived. So glad to hear that the Republican’s understand just how important it is to guarantee health care benefits for all.