What We Could Do With a Postal Savings Bank: Infrastructure That Doesn't Cost Taxpayers a Dime

[marmar]

What We Could Do With a Postal Savings Bank: Infrastructure That Doesn't Cost Taxpayers a Dime

Tuesday, 24 September 2013 10:47
By Ellen Brown, The Web of Debt Blog | News Analysis


The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is the nation’s second largest civilian employer after Walmart. Although successfully self-funded throughout its long history, it is currently struggling to stay afloat. This is not, as sometimes asserted, because it has been made obsolete by the Internet. In fact the post office has gotten more business from Internet orders than it has lost to electronic email. What has pushed the USPS into insolvency is an oppressive 2006 congressional mandate that it prefund healthcare for its workers 75 years into the future. No other entity, public or private, has the burden of funding multiple generations of employees who have not yet even been born.

The Carper-Coburn bill (S. 1486) is the subject of congressional hearings this week. It threatens to make the situation worse, by eliminating Saturday mail service and door-to-door delivery and laying off more than 100,000 workers over several years.

The Postal Service Modernization Bills brought by Peter DeFazio and Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, would allow the post office to recapitalize itself by diversifying its range of services to meet unmet public needs.

Needs that the post office might diversify into include (1) funding the rebuilding of our crumbling national infrastructure; (2) servicing the massive market of the “unbanked” and “underbanked” who lack access to basic banking services; and (3) providing a safe place to save our money, in the face of Wall Street’s new “bail in” policies for confiscating depositor funds. All these needs could be met at a stroke by some simple legislation authorizing the post office to revive the banking services it efficiently performed in the past. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/19017-what-we-could-do-with-a-postal-savings-bank-infrastructure-that-doesnt-cost-taxpayers-a-dime

[hunter]

1. I think a National Post Office Bank is an excellent idea.

People living below the poverty level are crushed by banking fees, if they are able to access banking services at all.

Everyone ought to have the dignity of an ATM card and direct deposit services that don't charge exorbitant fees.

It could even be integrated with food stamp, WIC, and other assistance programs. People could buy groceries, swipe their card, and qualifying items would automatically be charged to the correct accounts, invisible to others in the checkout line.

[FreakinDJ]

3. A really good idea

All those people buying money orders and prepaid debit cards could have a reliable local source

[Egalitarian Thug]

2. I've been saying this for years. It is a good, liberal idea that we had for decades until Congress

decided to steal from the USPS and give the $$ to their "campaign contributors". If not for the $1.5B annual subsidy that the USPS is required by law to provide, FedEx would go bankrupt.

[BelgianMadCow]

17. Would you happen to have some more info on that $1.5B annual subsidy

USPS -> FedEx? Didn't know about that, at all.

[Egalitarian Thug]

18. It was posted here (IIRC is was a Kos re-post) in a table that broke down the USPS annual

expenditures that listed FedEx as the largest single expenditure after salaries. I'll try to find it later, but because of legislation from the '70s that excludes USPS from owning their own aircraft, they pay FedEx ~$1.6B per year to fly our mail. Not coincidentally at all, this is the amount of profit FedEx generates annually.

After Congress turned the USPS into the quasi-governmental organization it is today (1970?), in atypical bipartisan fashion they spent the next several decades blocking every move it made to be more efficient and to generate income.

[BelgianMadCow]

19. Oh OK thanks. The USPS not ALLOWED to own planes

sounds pretty protective. Just not of the public interest.

But at least the taxpayer is getting something for that money - airlifted mail. At what price, is another matter maybe.

Thank you!

[Egalitarian Thug]

20. Here it is.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022389831

If you look into the history of the USPS over the last 50 years it becomes quite clear why they work so hard to kill it. Even after half a century of bipartisan efforts to wreck it, the USPS is still the envy of the world. Nobody else does it as well, not even close.

My former profession involved the analysis and development of very large systems and the USPS is a prime example of how wonderfully they can work. I can't explain it to most people because the nature of these systems is so technical and, frankly boring, but take my word for it, the USPS is an astonishingly beautiful and efficient system.

[madrchsod]

4. japan post bank

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Post_Bank

in 2008 it was the world`s largest deposit holder.

[avaistheone1]

5. Truly great idea!

K&R

[Berlin Expat]

6. Here in the Czech Republic,

there's the Poštovní Spořitelna, or Postal Savings Bank. Quite convenient, in point of fact, as even the smallest villages have a post office.

I know they have it also in Germany as well.

[TrogL]

7. Keynes proposed something similar to this to fund Britain's endeavours in WW2

[mysuzuki2]

8. My how all the parasites currently screwing the poor will howl!

All the currency exchanges, check cashing scams, er stores, will have a fit. In other words, this sounds like a great idea.

[Scuba]

9. Banking and internet are naturals for the USPS.

[hunter]

11. A national *free* wireless internet infrastructure would be awesome.

Better the the interstate highway system.

We could put wireless internet access points on every streetlight, and on every road mile marker, covering 99% of the inhabited U.S.A..

[antigop]

10. love, love, love it! Thanks, marmar. K&R. nt

[Hydra]

12. This has been a good idea in the making for years

But all of the big banks pulled the whole crash in order to be bigger and less regulated than ever. They're standing in the way of things like this because then they won't be needed.

[DeSwiss]

13. K&R!

[tclambert]

14. The big banks won't like this.

Competition. From a non-profit, yet. The Post Office might not invent all sorts of things to charge exorbitant fees for. The banks won't stand for it. They want ALL the money.

[SunSeeker]

15. Make it so.

[URL=http://gifsoup.com/view/2842621/make-it-so.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://gifsoup.com]GIFSoup[/URL]

[onethatcares]

16. hell, the too big to jail banks

are already trying to do away with credit unions, what would make one think they would allow this to happen.

I think it's a great idea though.

[Prophet 451]

21. We have one here

"Here" being the UK. I don't have an account with them but they seem to work pretty well.

[Enthusiast]

22. Kicked and Recommended! nt