Should we bail out the post office

[skp]

It looks like the corona virus is worsening an already failing US Postal Service.  I just read that they wanted bailed out (again) and the White House said no.  I was wondering what Mustachians thought about whether they should or shouldn't be.   Personally, I think mail delivery is important enough that we can't let it completely fail but my husband and I think they can make some cuts.  We personally don't get "important enough" mail that it needs delivered to our house every day.  I pay most of my bills on line.  I suppose people who need daily mail delivery could purchase a PO Box.  They could also increase the price of postage to the point that they don't need bailed out.  This isn't the first time the  post office has had budget problems  and haven't  made any drastic changes.

[js82]

It looks like the corona virus is worsening an already failing US Postal Service.  I just read that they wanted bailed out (again) and the White House said no.  I was wondering what Mustachians thought about whether they should or shouldn't be.   Personally, I think mail delivery is important enough that we can't let it completely fail but my husband and I think they can make some cuts.  We personally don't get "important enough" mail that it needs delivered to our house every day.  I pay most of my bills on line.  I suppose people who need daily mail delivery could purchase a PO Box.  They could also increase the price of postage to the point that they don't need bailed out.  This isn't the first time the  post office has had budget problems  and haven't  made any drastic changes.

The catch with the postal service is that while politicians like to point out that Amazon etc. underpay for postage and hence are effectively subsidized by taxpayers, the same is true of rural America.  But politicians never mention that.

It's a lot more expensive to deliver mail to sparse, rural areas than it is in big cities, and yet they generally pay the same rate.  When people say that everyone should pay the real costs of their transactions, they should understand precisely what it is they're asking for....

[Psychstache]

Congress could help by unfucking the post office like they did in the first place

https://ips-dc.org/how-congress-manufactured-a-postal-crisis-and-how-to-fix-it/

In 2006, Congress passed a law that imposed extraordinary costs on the U.S. Postal Service. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) required the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. This burden applies to no other federal agency or private corporation.

If the costs of this retiree health care mandate were removed from the USPS financial statements, the Post Office would have reported operating profits in each of the last six years. This extraordinary mandate created a financial “crisis” that has been used to justify harmful service cuts and even calls for postal privatization. Additional cuts in service and privatization would be devastating for millions of postal workers and customers.

[bacchi]

No company has to prefund their pension, has little control over their prices, and can't open or close locations at will.

The USPS is limited in what it can do because it has 536 CEOs.

[Telecaster]

It looks like the corona virus is worsening an already failing US Postal Service.  I just read that they wanted bailed out (again) and the White House said no.  I was wondering what Mustachians thought about whether they should or shouldn't be.   Personally, I think mail delivery is important enough that we can't let it completely fail but my husband and I think they can make some cuts.  We personally don't get "important enough" mail that it needs delivered to our house every day.  I pay most of my bills on line.  I suppose people who need daily mail delivery could purchase a PO Box.  They could also increase the price of postage to the point that they don't need bailed out.  This isn't the first time the  post office has had budget problems  and haven't  made any drastic changes.

In addition to what Psychstache pointed out, Congress has prohibited USPS from raising postage faster than the rate of inflation.   Congress has also prohibited USPS from ending Saturday delivery, and closing little used rural stations.  So, a couple basic, common senses changes and the post office is fine.

I get the impression many in our government don't like to build stuff, they just like to break stuff.  Then when stuff breaks they can say "look how bad government is!  It broke!"

[Kris]

The GOP has wanted to privatize the postal service for a while now. Choking it off has been part of their plan. Of course they would take this opportunity to try to finish it off.

Short-sighted and idiotic.

Good luck getting mail delivered at any reasonable cost unless you live in a high-density area.

[John Galt incarnate!]

I need to know more about the USPS and its $ woes before I decide if a bailout is warranted.

Right now I'm too lazy to research ANY matter.

It's a lazy Saturday.

[skp]

No company has to prefund their pension, has little control over their prices, and can't open or close locations at will.

The USPS is limited in what it can do because it has 536 CEOs.

This is all very interesting.  There are a lot of things I am unaware of.   But I don't understand the above.  I thought companies did have to prefund their pension. I get a statement every year about what percent of my pension is funded= it isn't 100% but it's close.  I thought that was one of the things you had to look at when deciding whether or not to "rely" on getting your pension,

[maizefolk]

No company has to prefund their pension, has little control over their prices, and can't open or close locations at will.

The USPS is limited in what it can do because it has 536 CEOs.

Companies do have to prefund their pensions.

Companies don't have to prefund retiree health care benefits (which congress is making the post office do).

Companies are also able to invest their pension and retiree health benefit funds in things with higher rates of return than US federal government bonds, which pay a higher rate of return, increasing the discount rate, and reducing the amount of money a company has to set aside today to hit 100% funded for pension/healthcare obligations in the distant future. Congress makes the post office invest in only federal government bonds.

I agree with you about all the other challenges the post office faces though.

[Norioch]

Yes, of course we should. It's ridiculous, and frankly terrifying, that we are even having this debate. I want a public postal service. That's not negotiable. It's written into the Constitution for a reason.

[Kris]

By the way...

How do we send out mail-in ballots?

Which party wants to limit mail-in ballots?

[DaMa]

Congress needs to allow USPS to drop Saturday delivery and to close many rural post offices. 

There is one in Dukedom, KY, population 200.  50 years ago Dukedom had a bank, a grocery, and a few other small businesses.  Now there is nothing, except the post office.  I get annoyed every time I drive by.

[EvenSteven]

Phrasing it as a bailout seems like a weird framing of the issue to me. What does the balance sheet of the military look like? So we need to bail out the military? How much profit showed up on the public schools balance sheet? Do they need another bail out this year?