Faced with a $5.1 billion loss last year, the Postal Service is considering closing 3,700 of more than 32,000 post offices, and shuttering 223 of more than 400 mail-processing plants.
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Here are some facts rarely mentioned in the press:
There *is* another avenue for trying to preserve both Arlington's branches *and* the US Postal Service: Contact US 8th District Rep. Ed Markey and request that he help change the rules and laws that Congress has imposed on the USPS. There are two rules in particular which are direct causes of USPS's current fiscal crisis, and only Congress can change them.
One is that for 30 years, ever since Congress made the Postal Service a private corporation subject to Congressional oversight, Congress has required the USPS to make *advance* payments to its employee pension system, far above and beyond the amounts required to meet current and future obligations. It's in marked contrast to most pension systems (e.g. Social Security, Arlington's public pension system) which are *underfunded*. The USPS pension system is *overfunded*; the amount of money in the system, *exceeds* 100% of the amount it needs to meet current and future obligations. This has drained the USPS of operating and capital budget money necessary for its continued financial solvency. It is deliberate sabotage of the system by Republicans who would like to see the Postal Service's demise, in order to leave mail to the private sector.
The other has to do with digital alternatives to postal mail. Although there is *nothing* that the USPS can do to return to paper the many communications that now go digitally (e.g. online billing and bill-paying, purchase of ebooks instead of hardcopy), Congress has limited the Postal Service's ability to compete in the digital sector. The USPS would like to provide safe and secure electronic delivery; it can't, thanks to Congress.
Better yet, the USPS could have a competitive advantage the private sector can not match: the safety and security of the US mail. When you send something digitally, *no* one can guarantee you safe and secure delivery. In contrast, current criminal penalties for interfering with US paper mail include free, multi-year stays at Club Fed and 6-figure fines. Congress should allow the USPS to compete in the digital delivery market, and should extend existing US mail law to the digital realm.
Those who object to increased "government competition in the market" forget that 30 years ago, Congress made the USPS a *private* corporation, so that it could manage its own affairs and compete in the marketplace, yet still subject to Congressional oversight; Congress wanted to ensure "universal" local delivery and didn't want the Post Office closing rural, low-volume branches. Instead, Congress has abused that oversight to hamstring the Post Office so that it can't compete with private competitors, to the point where not only universal service, but continued USPS solvency, is now in question.
So, write Ed Markey and request that he get Congress to allow the USPS end fiscally irresponsible advance payments to its pension system and to to compete in the digital marketplace with its competitor
I notice the mention of McDonald's as the next alternative job. Carrying mail offers the same mentally challenging as delivering pizza, yet postal employees receive much higher pay and benefits. This appears to be a case of failing to adapt and getting beaten by the competition. Why hasn't the USPS developed a secure portal for delivery of electronic documents? Why aren't they the premier package delivery service? If the USPS weren't subsidized, it would have gone bankrupt and other businesses would have come in to fill the gaps.
Having just filed my tax returns, its interesting to note that both the US and state government encourage e-filing and electronic transfer of payments and refunds. No mail on what used to be the one busiest day of the year. As does the Social Security Administration. We now only receive junk mail. No bills, no bank statements, nothing of importance.
Is it not painfully obvious that in order to keep functioning the postal service, and other government agencies, need to cut costs by drastically reducing executive compensation and eliminating pensions? Why don't they pay into SS and take out 401k plans like most of the folks in the private sector? Once you start eliminating service their reason to be is eliminated as well. The economy is tanking. The income and benefits given when the economy was doing well cannot be sustained. The notion that you must get more money for the same job simply because you have been doing it for a long time is obsolete.
No one likes to see their or someone else lose a job. However, in the private sector this happens continuously because the profit motive requires a drive to better efficiency and a rational level of service. This article is full of the typical, lame, public sector "reasoning" that no public sector jobs should ever be lost or even changed because it hurts workers. When a postal worker uses a cell phone do they think twice about the lost jobs of people who used to maintain pay phones? Does a postal worker care about the jobs lost at Wang Labs or Digital Equipment because Apple, Dell and Hewlett Packard came up with better products? No mention here that Saturday delivery is a joke (Canada gave it up decades ago). Virtually nothing of urgency is sent by regular mail these days because there are better, more reliable, alternatives. Daily delivery consists almost exclusively of mail that can arrive anytime in a given week (if that). In other words, the entire premise of the original postal service is a fraction of the value to customers it had a few decades ago. Anyone who needs drugs delivered reliably can simply order them sooner each month. Everyone is sorry these peoples lives are changing but everyone in the private sector deals with this reality continuously. Why should anyone in the public sector expect or deserve to be able to escape this fact of life?
If they take away Saturday delivery they will be delivering another blow to the USPS. The pension fund should be overhauled. The amount that the USPS is made to contribute should be decreased substantially.
That said, this Globe site is so inferior to what it replaced. It jumps all over the place when you try to add to like or dislike and half the time doesn't take. It decides WHEN you can comment and is basically nowhere near as user-friendly as it was. I love the Globe and wish that someone with some clout would bring back the original format.
Comments
Here are some facts rarely mentioned in the press: There *is* another avenue for trying to preserve both Arlington's branches *and* the US Postal Service: Contact US 8th District Rep. Ed Markey and request that he help change the rules and laws that Congress has imposed on the USPS. There are two rules in particular which are direct causes of USPS's current fiscal crisis, and only Congress can change them. One is that for 30 years, ever since Congress made the Postal Service a private corporation subject to Congressional oversight, Congress has required the USPS to make *advance* payments to its employee pension system, far above and beyond the amounts required to meet current and future obligations. It's in marked contrast to most pension systems (e.g. Social Security, Arlington's public pension system) which are *underfunded*. The USPS pension system is *overfunded*; the amount of money in the system, *exceeds* 100% of the amount it needs to meet current and future obligations. This has drained the USPS of operating and capital budget money necessary for its continued financial solvency. It is deliberate sabotage of the system by Republicans who would like to see the Postal Service's demise, in order to leave mail to the private sector. The other has to do with digital alternatives to postal mail. Although there is *nothing* that the USPS can do to return to paper the many communications that now go digitally (e.g. online billing and bill-paying, purchase of ebooks instead of hardcopy), Congress has limited the Postal Service's ability to compete in the digital sector. The USPS would like to provide safe and secure electronic delivery; it can't, thanks to Congress. Better yet, the USPS could have a competitive advantage the private sector can not match: the safety and security of the US mail. When you send something digitally, *no* one can guarantee you safe and secure delivery. In contrast, current criminal penalties for interfering with US paper mail include free, multi-year stays at Club Fed and 6-figure fines. Congress should allow the USPS to compete in the digital delivery market, and should extend existing US mail law to the digital realm. Those who object to increased "government competition in the market" forget that 30 years ago, Congress made the USPS a *private* corporation, so that it could manage its own affairs and compete in the marketplace, yet still subject to Congressional oversight; Congress wanted to ensure "universal" local delivery and didn't want the Post Office closing rural, low-volume branches. Instead, Congress has abused that oversight to hamstring the Post Office so that it can't compete with private competitors, to the point where not only universal service, but continued USPS solvency, is now in question. So, write Ed Markey and request that he get Congress to allow the USPS end fiscally irresponsible advance payments to its pension system and to to compete in the digital marketplace with its competitor
I notice the mention of McDonald's as the next alternative job. Carrying mail offers the same mentally challenging as delivering pizza, yet postal employees receive much higher pay and benefits. This appears to be a case of failing to adapt and getting beaten by the competition. Why hasn't the USPS developed a secure portal for delivery of electronic documents? Why aren't they the premier package delivery service? If the USPS weren't subsidized, it would have gone bankrupt and other businesses would have come in to fill the gaps. Having just filed my tax returns, its interesting to note that both the US and state government encourage e-filing and electronic transfer of payments and refunds. No mail on what used to be the one busiest day of the year. As does the Social Security Administration. We now only receive junk mail. No bills, no bank statements, nothing of importance.
Is it not painfully obvious that in order to keep functioning the postal service, and other government agencies, need to cut costs by drastically reducing executive compensation and eliminating pensions? Why don't they pay into SS and take out 401k plans like most of the folks in the private sector? Once you start eliminating service their reason to be is eliminated as well. The economy is tanking. The income and benefits given when the economy was doing well cannot be sustained. The notion that you must get more money for the same job simply because you have been doing it for a long time is obsolete.
No one likes to see their or someone else lose a job. However, in the private sector this happens continuously because the profit motive requires a drive to better efficiency and a rational level of service. This article is full of the typical, lame, public sector "reasoning" that no public sector jobs should ever be lost or even changed because it hurts workers. When a postal worker uses a cell phone do they think twice about the lost jobs of people who used to maintain pay phones? Does a postal worker care about the jobs lost at Wang Labs or Digital Equipment because Apple, Dell and Hewlett Packard came up with better products? No mention here that Saturday delivery is a joke (Canada gave it up decades ago). Virtually nothing of urgency is sent by regular mail these days because there are better, more reliable, alternatives. Daily delivery consists almost exclusively of mail that can arrive anytime in a given week (if that). In other words, the entire premise of the original postal service is a fraction of the value to customers it had a few decades ago. Anyone who needs drugs delivered reliably can simply order them sooner each month. Everyone is sorry these peoples lives are changing but everyone in the private sector deals with this reality continuously. Why should anyone in the public sector expect or deserve to be able to escape this fact of life?
If they take away Saturday delivery they will be delivering another blow to the USPS. The pension fund should be overhauled. The amount that the USPS is made to contribute should be decreased substantially. That said, this Globe site is so inferior to what it replaced. It jumps all over the place when you try to add to like or dislike and half the time doesn't take. It decides WHEN you can comment and is basically nowhere near as user-friendly as it was. I love the Globe and wish that someone with some clout would bring back the original format.