Why is the Postal Service struggling with red ink?

Editorial: Why the U.S. Postal Service needs to be reformed

Published: Wednesday, June 01, 2011, 7:00 AM Updated: Wednesday, June 01, 2011, 7:29 AM

By The Grand Rapids Press Editorial BoardThe Grand Rapids Press

Say what you want about the auto industry bailouts, but at least taxpayer help came with the expectation of corporate change. Now General Motors is creating jobs, Chrysler has paid back its $7.6 billion government loan, and both are on a path to better things — provided management and unions work together to remain lean and profitable.

That should be the model for all government aid. Make sure the help isn't wasted and, where needed, is used to drive reforms....

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my comment:

The stifling truth of why the postal service is not moving as swiftly as necessary too keep the red ink down is many fold, but the primary reason is the very nature of the controls on the Service by Congress. This article points out that it is still under the screws of the Federal Government, but it is a non-profit agency, separate in body from the Federal employees. Yet, the Hatch Act still controls the employees conduct.

Back When President Bush43 was trying to balance the deficit plunge we had before his first bailout, Congress decided to place on postage the retirement portion of the military service pensioners are allowed to use in determining years of service. This one act has produced a yearly cost to the Postal service that would more then keep the postal service solvent.

Another huge point of contention that keeps the Postal service struggling to keep balance books is the number of Post Offices that Congress would not allow closed due to the people not wanting their own identity of a zipcode to be gone. This blocking has come to a near end as many small post offices are closing which is a huge cost savings for the Service.

Currently, the Postmaster General is determined to change the employment status of all PostMasters in offices level 16 and down from white collar to clerk status, a crewleader if you will. Level 16 is small cities, town in America and is a majority of offices.  Centralizing sorting stations is also happening which will cause some delay in mail, but will achieve savings. Remember, the reason for a continued monopoly by the postal service is to maintain the timely delivery to every home in America for a same very low cost per letter. The same such service if not so protected would be causing a lot of fuel expense by customers to go to town for their mail as it would be impossibly cost prohibitive to deliver to the home.

 

The one point is as all bureaucracies, it is still top heavy, though leaner then days gone by.  There is still too many postal employees who do not even touch the mail being processed and thus are a dead weight to production costs.

 

Nope, Federal entitlement programs are not well. President Reagan put social security on a sound path fiscally, but who came along to ruin it, Congress again. They have spent all our savings to cover the babyboomers. We need to get entitlements out of DC to protect our pensions not to mention to get the Constitution back to our Law of the Land. Privately owned HSA/IRAs locally invested, State ran will work wonderfully. By setting in motion a plan to protect the investment of those elderly, we can set up a 10 or 20 year window to dwindle off the current Federal entitlements. To afford this plan we need Fairtax structure federally. Go to www.fairtax.org to get the hidden federal tax out of domestic goods.  Even bread has federal tax hidden in the price, the same tax you have already paid from your paycheck. fairtax will give you a gross pay check.
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If everyone knew all there is to know, they would not do half the things they do, including myself, therefore I must foregive them, including myself.