I had the idea of ECOM years ago and wondered why the post office hadn't implemented it. It was so obvious. Now I know why. Republicans! None of us have any right to criticize the Post Office. Our Congress does everything they can to keep them from succeeding, and we put those people in office! And Republicans are more to blame here than democrats. Remember reading reports of the Postal workers pension fund being in dire straights. Yes, still another Republican attempt to get rid of the post office!, and turn all mail delivery over entirely to the for profit, private sector.
I had a friend who was a retired postmaster. He went on and on about how the government was doing everything they could to make the post office dysfunctional. I thought he was surely exaggerating. Turns out he wasn't. But it is not the government. It is the people we've elected to run our government. And sad to say it's mostly Republicans that are at fault, but not entirely. Until we get big money out of politics this kind of stuff will never end. Read first http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-usps-email/
Then read: this is from: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles...-unlikely-to-make-health-and-pension-payments
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr6407
Now ask yourself, what are the chances Carpers Bill will pass both Houses as long as Republicans control both.?
I had a friend who was a retired postmaster. He went on and on about how the government was doing everything they could to make the post office dysfunctional. I thought he was surely exaggerating. Turns out he wasn't. But it is not the government. It is the people we've elected to run our government. And sad to say it's mostly Republicans that are at fault, but not entirely. Until we get big money out of politics this kind of stuff will never end. Read first http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-usps-email/
Then read: this is from: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles...-unlikely-to-make-health-and-pension-payments
"...Back in 2006, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act was passed, requiring the USPS to make regular payments into a retiree benefit fund. That fund, in essence, collects money from the USPS now to dole out in the future in the form of retirement and pension benefits. Abbas says the system protects the USPS "by not saddling it with bills later after employees have retired."
Theoretically, the fund's existence helps protect the postal service in the event of a future downturn by ensuring it has at least some cash set aside for benefits in the event of an emergency. But in practice, the system hasn't done much for a service whose finances are already stretched thin.
"We must pay today for benefits that will not be paid out until some future date," the USPS says on its website, noting that a traditional "pay-as-you-go" system would add $5.65 billion to its cash flows.
Critics of the legislation say the current pre-funding system, which essentially demands preemptive payments in excess of what's currently being demanded by USPS retirees, has actually exacerbated the service's financial situation. The National Association of Letter Carriers said in a release last year that the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act requirements are "the primary cause of red ink" and have "drained the postal service's cash reserves and caused it to reach its $15 billion borrowing limit with the U.S. Treasury."
"No other public agency or private enterprise in America is required to take on such a financially crippling burden as the pre-funding of future retiree health benefits," the statement said. "Because Congress has failed, as yet, to reform the pre-funding mandate (or to reduce its burden), the Postal Service has turned to a doomed cost- and service-cutting strategy that has the potential to drive business away."
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., has introduced a bill aimed at patching up what the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act failed to achieve. Carper, who also spoke Thursday before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said the new legislation will, among other things, "address health care costs at the postal service" that could help ease its retiree health burdens..."
Theoretically, the fund's existence helps protect the postal service in the event of a future downturn by ensuring it has at least some cash set aside for benefits in the event of an emergency. But in practice, the system hasn't done much for a service whose finances are already stretched thin.
"We must pay today for benefits that will not be paid out until some future date," the USPS says on its website, noting that a traditional "pay-as-you-go" system would add $5.65 billion to its cash flows.
Critics of the legislation say the current pre-funding system, which essentially demands preemptive payments in excess of what's currently being demanded by USPS retirees, has actually exacerbated the service's financial situation. The National Association of Letter Carriers said in a release last year that the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act requirements are "the primary cause of red ink" and have "drained the postal service's cash reserves and caused it to reach its $15 billion borrowing limit with the U.S. Treasury."
"No other public agency or private enterprise in America is required to take on such a financially crippling burden as the pre-funding of future retiree health benefits," the statement said. "Because Congress has failed, as yet, to reform the pre-funding mandate (or to reduce its burden), the Postal Service has turned to a doomed cost- and service-cutting strategy that has the potential to drive business away."
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., has introduced a bill aimed at patching up what the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act failed to achieve. Carper, who also spoke Thursday before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said the new legislation will, among other things, "address health care costs at the postal service" that could help ease its retiree health burdens..."
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr6407
Now ask yourself, what are the chances Carpers Bill will pass both Houses as long as Republicans control both.?
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