Goodbye to snail mail

I wrote a couple days ago about the desire of the GOP to get rid of the National Weather Service. They might succeed first with another venerable and much older part of government, the United States Postal Service.

I've heard a lot in the news about the USPS about to run out of money and wondering why Congress doesn't allow them to raise their rates (well, yeah, the GOP in the House…). But it appears the fatal stab wound was struck in 2006. According to Kenneth Quinnell of the blog Crooks and Liars, back then Congress passed the Postal Accountability Enhancement Act. What it does is require the USPS to fully fund retiree health benefits. As someone who is a retiree with health benefits from a corporation I know how important that is.

So, in the case of USPS, what's the deal? First, Congress mandated health care, something they now say gov't should have no part in. Second, the USPS doesn't have to make sure next year's health care costs are fully funded. They have to make sure there is enough money set aside to pay projected retiree health care 75 years from now. Keep in mind most people retire at the age of 65, so the fund must cover workers who will be born 10 years in the future. It is absurd. And the USPS is the only bit of government that has this restriction. It costs them $5.5 billion a year. Alas, this one has some Dem fingerprints on it.

The big question: Why? A few reasons. (1) Postal workers are unionized. (2) It is not allowed to make a profit. (3) The poor rely on it. The USPS is asking for permission to close underperforming post offices. 17 of those are in the Bronx, the poorest Congressional district in America.

Gutting the USPS will harm business. It is still the cheapest way to send something. I've heard in the news that the amount of mail has been dropping due to the rise of email. Not so fast, says Quinnell. All those ecommerce business that have sprung up in the last couple decades, plus eBay users, and immigrants sending care packages home all use USPS.