Without Pre-Funding Obligations The USPS Would Profit How Much?

[Omaha Steve]

http://nhlabornews.com/2013/08/without-pre-funding-obligations-the-usps-would-profit-how-much/

By Bill Brickley | August 11, 2013



The new USPS Financial Report issued Friday further validates the claim that the Postal Service is neither broken nor in crisis. Excluding the pre-funding expense the USPS has turned a $660 million profit delivering mail in fiscal year 2013. Showing again that Senator Carper, Senator Coburn and Congressman Issa are manufacturing a postal financial crisis as an excuse to dismantle it. Standing in their shadows are vultures named FedEx and UPS.

Senator Carper on Friday in an interview with NPR spoke of the need to “right size” the Postal Service. Apparently Mr Carper has not noticed that the Postal Service has eliminated 31% of its jobs in the last 10 years. Going from a career workforce of 729,000 in 2003 to slightly over 500,000 at the present time. While letter mail volume has dropped, it has been made up by a spike in highly profitable parcel delivery that as of this moment is at all time highs. Adding to that the Postal Service now delivers to 10.8 million more delivery points than in 2003. Yet Carper makes the outrageous claim that the Postal Service needs to be “right sized” and has too many workers. Mr Carper just insulted 500,000 postal workers and the intelligence of any informed observers.

NALC President Fred Rolando attempted to enlighten congressional leaders on Friday:

“The congressional priority should be to address the actual source of red ink: the $5.5 billion annual pre-funding albatross that is hampering the Postal Service. This mandate is not only onerous, it is unnecessary, because the Postal Service already has put aside sufficient money to meet the needs of future retirees for decades to come. Few, if any, companies can say the same.”

“The path to profitability is clear: Address the pre-funding fiasco and give the Postal Service the freedom to innovate and grow in the digital era. Do not eliminate Saturday delivery, which would raise costs for small businesses open weekends, and do not force people to traipse around their neighborhood looking for cluster boxes. Such steps would inconvenience the public and would destroy the Postal Service by driving mail—and revenue—out of the system.”

FULL story at link.

About Bill Brickley

Bill is a member of the National Association of Letter Carriers, serving on the NH Letter Carrier Executive Board as CD1 Legislative Liaison. Also serves on the NH AFL-CIO Executive Board. Former NH Area Coordinator Amnesty International and NH Labor News Blogger
Follow him on twitter @BillBrickley

[liberal_at_heart]

1. thank you for this story.

[bhikkhu]

2. Good article. The media totally fails on this story

...as if you look at the post office as a business, income vs expense over the last few years, its in pretty good shape; a decline in first class mail being almost entirely made up for by an increase in package delivery.

I wish more people were aware of the political skullduggery behind the current problems, and I certainly wish the media (including NPR) were not complicit in the efforts to knee-cap one of our best institutions. The union workers at the post office do the difficult work of making mail and package services available 6 days a week to every little corner of the country, rich and poor, affordably.

[Rebl]

11. Ed

from MSNBC has addressed this issue several times on his show. I believe the govt. steals this money from the p.o. and uses it elsewhere. They couldn't get away with this anywhere else in the govt. I'm guessing they originally were using it to help fund the wars. No one else in the govt. or private sector has to fund their retirees health care 75 years in advance. Health insurance offered through the p.o. is good, but it's not exceptional. Actually the postmaster would like to self insure the employees and take them out of the fed employee health insurance system. Congress refuses to go along with this. They'd lose their cash cow if they let that happen.

[Mojorabbit]

3. K and R nt

[indepat]

4. If only the President, with majorities in the Senate and House in 2009, had realized this

punitive pre-funding requirement needed to be eliminated by change in law. But one can only do so much and so many other priorities needed attention. One large fundraiser for GWB surely is especially ecstatic.

[sulphurdunn]

9. They did realize it.

Follow the money.

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=d000000089

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000081

[indepat]

15. Who woulda' thunk it? Following the money connects the dots which almost always sheds

the necessary light to see governmental perfidies and chicaneries.

[MisterP]

16. as I recall, he voted "yea"

plus, the moment it becomes profitable they'll say, "see, it'd be great if it were sold off to a private ennerpooner"

[DeSwiss]

5. The post office's main problem is a lack of vision.

Look, the military has created a niche' for themselves as a rapid-deployment force able to stabilize (and/or acquire) almost any region of the world, if need be. That costs money and we pay for it. The oil and mineral companies benefit.

The CIA has used it's underworld shady contacts to underwrite the drug trade to the point where we have American troops guarding poppy crops, which another branch of the Army later confiscates. Some always slips through.

So here we have the poor little ol' Post Office. The doormat of agencies even though they get their own mention in the Constitution. Go figure. A good name ain't what it used to be. Anyhow, it is apparent they are not maximizing their position. Possession, as they say, is 9/10ths of the law and it is also where the actuarial tables and the numbers people can assist. It is obvious an amount of illegal drugs are being transported through the USPS but who ends up with it when its found? The DEA. The FBI. Anybody but the Post Office. But they had it first! Shit.

I'm telling you Post Office, therein lies your leverage. And if these agencies won't pay your ''processing fees'', auction it off like any other confiscated federal property. Or better, have Wall Street put it all in a bond and sell it on the derivatives market.

- Because when the shit finally hits the fan, it'll all be cool.....

K&R

[JDPriestly]

7. If the Post Office seizes and examines your mail, it's government action that

violates the Fourth Amendment. If UPS examines your package and tips of the FBI, it is a private action. As a private company, the UPS is not subject to the limitations of the Bill of Rights. The FBI still is, but the UPS could play private tipster once in a while, and no one would know the difference.

[JDPriestly]

6. Which members of Congress receive funding and support from private companies

competing with the Post Office? That needs to be publicized.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Well brown is one of the est friends to Issa...I know...

it is coincidence

[markpkessinger]

8. I've been saying for a couple of years now . . .

. . . that there is not a private sector business in the country that could survive under the kind of pre-funding mandate that has been imposed on the USPS.

[world wide wally]

12. The Post Office was never intended to turn a profit. It was created as a service to serve a

civilized country trying get established.

[Enthusiast]

13. "They" just want to kill another union...............nt

[HiPointDem]

14. kr