Democrats help USPO?
#1
I can't get the gist of this article...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/1...2X20110912

(Reuters) - A group of Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation on Monday that would allow the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service to delay for 90 days a massive upcoming payment for retiree health benefits.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has said the mail agency will default on the $5.5 billion payment, due at the end of September. The Obama administration wants Congress to extend the due date while it crafts an agency overhaul, an official told lawmakers last week.

"This measure will ensure that the Postal Service and Congress have additional time to work together on comprehensive legislation to improve the Postal Service's long-term viability," Representative Stephen Lynch, one of the bill's sponsors, said in a statement.

The Postal Service, which lost more than $3 billion last quarter, has struggled to adapt as consumers correspond by email and pay bills online. The economic recession exacerbated the drop-off in mail volume.

The agency says personnel costs are a large burden, pointing to the massive payment Congress requires each year to pre-fund expected future health care costs for postal retirees.

...
Reply
#2
Part of what the post office could do is start charging non-profits, bulk junk mail and churches the same amount that anyone else has to pay and they will increase their revenue substantially. Couple that with converting their vehicles to CNG and they would almost be on their way to profitability. I have heard that their fuel bills are a huge part of their budget. I can't imagine what their revenue stream would be like if they didn't have Ebay users sending most of their stuff through the P.O.
Reply
#3
The P.O. can manage to fill my mail box with junk. And do it for a price they won't give me. And now they have a new "Flat Rat Game Box". So, someone at Milton Bradley, must have a new friend at the Post Office. They stripped them away from us, and made them a losing business (Except for themselves). The Post Office should deliver the mail and Brown should just stick to it's drug business.
Reply
#4
And they can get rid of the no layout clause in their contract and get rid of the dead wood. Streamline. Mean and lean.
Reply
#5
I see a day when delivery is not available in all areas. (low population densities)
Most people will need to get a PO box. private or public.
Reply
#6
I'd prefer they scanned it in and emailed it to me anyway. That way I don't have to walk out to the box.
Reply
#7
Seriously. Do we really need mail service every day? How about making it MWF, get rid of some of the dead wood as Labman suggested. I mean, I went into the P.O. the other day because we had gotten a piece of mail back 3 times for additional postage. Each time, we put the required amount of postage on it and it came back again. Turns out that "some machine" was reading the codes wrong! I had to got through two supervisors and the postmaster to get that answer! They at least gave me a refund but I think it had something to do with all the people that had built up in the line while I held my ground.

Pfft! They are too top heavy and just another government sponsored organization that needs a good house cleaning. Maybe time to privatize it.
Reply
#8
With the advent of the internet, I now pay all my bills on line. I probably but a dozen stamps every year. LOVE IT. I do get some bills by mail still but it would be just as easy to get them on line. Mostly I get junk mail.

It is a luxury to still have mail delivered to your home. They are on the right track by having the boxes for a neighborhood in one location. And they really need to cut back the days they are open to at a maximum, five days a week.
Reply
#9
(09-12-2011, 01:24 PM)rainylady Wrote: I can't get the gist of this article...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/1...2X20110912

I'll try to answer your question, rainylady, and not even voice an opinion.
The Post Office used to be run by the federal government.
I'm not going to go back and get dates, etc.
But at one point, it was decided the P.O. should privatize, for whatever reasons.
One of the conditions of them becoming privatized was that the employee benefits, particularly the health benefits for retirees, would be guaranteed by the Congress of the United States.
The USPS makes payments for these benefits to the federal government.
Now they are saying they can't afford it and want the federal government to allow them to take care of the benefits themselves.
It's rather strange, because if they are so broke, how are they going to be able to fund their own program?
These and many more questions are the reason the government is asking for the extension on the payment, so they can work out an equitable solution.
Reply
#10
We are being picked apart. Cut off. And, wiped out. I don't think I'm out of line when I say we should kill the rich. They kill us with impunity. They throw away our children on lost oil grabs. They loot our retirement programs. If they were dead, they'd stop.
Reply
#11
(09-14-2011, 07:41 AM)illcommandante Wrote: We are being picked apart. Cut off. And, wiped out. I don't think I'm out of line when I say we should kill the rich. They kill us with impunity. They throw away our children on lost oil grabs. They loot our retirement programs. If they were dead, they'd stop.

Now, now, illcommandante...we have to give them everything they ask.
After all, they are the 'job creators'. Blink Confused Mad
We can always have more children.
Just eat your cake since you have no bread, dear.
Enjoy!
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)