Back on Sept. 15, I wrote about the GOP plan to bankrupt the US Postal Service, so that it could be privatized, with their business cronies taking over the quasi-public agency that, if properly and fairly run, would post billion dollar per year profits (“GOP Plan of Bankrupting Postal Service on Track”).
A part of the plan is to so enrage the public with drastic cuts in service, that the idea of privatization would become a popular solution. Well, later today it is likely that drastic cuts to service will be announced. The cuts will include the closures of hundreds of processing centers, resulting in the virtual elimination of the hallmark of the US Postal Service, Next Day Delivery.
42% of first class mail is now delivered the next day. By next March, it will perhaps drop to ZERO.
Cuts will also include the layoff of as many as 100,000 postal workers, with the closure of 3,700 post offices.
Meanwhile, bills to solve much of the Postal Service’s problems sit dormant in Congress, thanks primarily to republican legislators and the tea-bagger house who want to see the agency fail. Inherent in such legislation is the repeal of the george w bush-gop Congress action of 2006, that I wrote about in September:
“In 2006, under the guiding eye of george w bush, a bill was rammed through Congress, that set the stage for the present crisis. The bill included requirements and restrictions imposed on no other government agency in the known universe, and required the USPS to pre-pay 75 years of future retirees’ health insurance premiums over ten years. At a yearly cost of $5.5 Billion, this astounding mandate has accounted for EVERY CENT of the Post Office’s $20 Billion in losses of the past four years!”
Figure in the overdue and still illusory refund of as much as $75 Billion in overcharged and overpaid Civil Service Retirement Benefits, and NONE of these cuts would be needed.
Yes, the U.S.P.S. could be run more efficiently (as could any government agency and as could any business) and yes, private delivery services have cut into Postal Service revenue, but once the big business boys take over, get that refund and end the $5.5 B/year payments, just watch how profitable the agency will become.
And I’m taking bets on just how much “Next Day Delivery” of a 1/2 ounce first class letter will cost.
