Postal Service on brink of going out of business

[Napoleon's Shadow]

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110907/NEWS08/309070103/1969/NEWS

[heavenlyboy34]

No surprise there. /shrugs

[ItsTime]

They failed to mention that 50% of the post office budget is for pensions. Also, if the need for their services have shrunk 22% why have they not shrunk 22% or more?

[Travlyr]

I went to my local post office the other day. The line was 20 people long. It was taking each person around 3 or 4 minutes per transaction. The air conditioner was turned off evidently to save some money so everybody was uncomfortable, sweating, and impatient. And they do not have a stamp vending machine available to avoid the lines. I left. Some competition would do them some good.

[fisharmor]

It employs half a million people?
Here's a thought:
Close down the post offices, and open up as many DMVs.
Then people would be able to shave five full minutes off the time it takes to renew a license.
Not to mention that all the new construction for the new DMV buildings would stimulate the economy!

[emazur]

I watched CBS Evening News and PBS Newshour last night and both times they insisted the P.O. uses NO taxpayer money. Dollars to donuts says that's complete bullshit, but to be honest I've never looked into it. What's the real scoop?

[heavenlyboy34]

I watched CBS Evening News and PBS Newshour last night and both times they insisted the P.O. uses NO taxpayer money. Dollars to donuts says that's complete bullshit, but to be honest I've never looked into it. What's the real scoop?
From wikipedia:
...
The USPS has not directly received taxpayer-dollars since the early 1980s with the minor exception of subsidies for costs associated with the disabled and overseas voters. Revenue has been in freefall due to declining mail volume.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service#cite_note-2) The postal service has attempted to look to other sources of revenue while cutting costs to reduce its budget deficit.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service#cite_note-3)
...
The Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_Governors_of_the_United_States_Postal_Ser vice) sets policy, procedure, and postal rates for services rendered, and has a similar role to a corporate board of directors. Of the eleven members of the Board, nine are appointed by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate) (see 39 U.S.C. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_39_of_the_United_States_Code) § 202 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/39/202.html)). The nine appointed members then select the United States Postmaster General (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postmaster_General), who serves as the board's tenth member, and who oversees the day to day activities of the service as Chief Executive Officer (see 39 U.S.C. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_39_of_the_United_States_Code) §§ 202 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/39/202.html)–203 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/39/203.html)). The ten-member board then nominates a Deputy Postmaster General, who acts as Chief Operating Officer, to the eleventh and last remaining open seat.

The USPS is often mistaken for a government-owned corporation (e.g., Amtrak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak)) because it operates much like a business, but as noted above, it is legally defined as an "independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States", (39 U.S.C. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_39_of_the_United_States_Code) § 201 (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/39/201.html)) as it is controlled by Presidential appointees and the Postmaster General. As a quasi-governmental agency (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-governmental_agency), it has many special privileges, including sovereign immunity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_immunity), eminent domain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminent_domain) powers, powers to negotiate postal treaties (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Postal_Union) with foreign nations, and an exclusive legal right to deliver first-class and third-class mail. Indeed, in 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the USPS was not a government-owned corporation, and therefore could not be sued under the Sherman Antitrust Act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Antitrust_Act).[23] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service#cite_note-22) The U.S. Supreme Court has also upheld the USPS's statutory monopoly on access to letter boxes against a First Amendment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution) freedom of speech (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_in_the_United_States) challenge; it thus remains illegal in the U.S. for anyone, other than the employees and agents of the USPS, to deliver mailpieces to letter boxes marked "U.S. Mail."[24] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service#cite_note-23)
The Postal Service also has a Mailers' Technical Advisory Committee and local Postal Customer Councils, which are advisory and primarily involve business customers.[25] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service#cite_note-24)

[gls]

I watched CBS Evening News and PBS Newshour last night and both times they insisted the P.O. uses NO taxpayer money. Dollars to donuts says that's complete bullshit, but to be honest I've never looked into it. What's the real scoop?

They are claiming money already allocated for pensions as reserves. It is completely absurd.

[cindy25]

just a ploy to get bailout; no way would the post office ever close. they might end Sat delivery or even drop to 3 days a week. but
threatening to close is a joke

[ClayTrainor]

Arguing against the necessity of government run post offices is one of the easiest arguments to win against left-wing ideologies.

[cindy25]

agreed

but what about the constitutional requirement to establish post roads?

[ClayTrainor]

agreed

but what about the constitutional requirement to establish post roads?

Well, I fear my response may be controversial but... the first question that comes to my mind when you say that is, Why should it matter what a 200+ year old document says? I personally think it's more effective to argue from both moral and economic principles, rather than some words within 200+ year old documents.