What is the Republican Party at peace with?
There is the War on Women.
There is the War on Voting.
There is the War on Entitlements.
There is the War on Science.
There is the War on Public Schools.
I’m probably forgetting something.…
But who knew there was the War on the Post Office? Quite a stealth war, with the main offensive push taking place back in 2006 when the Republican congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act which was then signed by President Bush.
Section 803 of Title VIII of the act
Establishes in the Treasury the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund, to be administered by OPM. Requires the Postal Service, beginning in 2007, to compute the net present value of the future payments required and attributable to the service of Postal Service employees during the most recently ended fiscal year, along with a schedule if annual installments which provides for the liquidation of any liability or surplus by 2056. Directs the Postal Service, for each year, to pay into the above Fund such net present value and the annual installment due under the amortization schedule.
‘‘(3)(A) The United States Postal Service shall pay into such Fund—
‘‘(i) $5,400,000,000, not later than September 30, 2007;
‘‘(ii) $5,600,000,000, not later than September 30, 2008;
‘‘(iii) $5,400,000,000, not later than September 30, 2009;
‘‘(iv) $5,500,000,000, not later than September 30, 2010;
‘‘(v) $5,500,000,000, not later than September 30, 2011;
‘‘(vi) $5,600,000,000, not later than September 30, 2012;
‘‘(vii) $5,600,000,000, not later than September 30, 2013;
‘‘(viii) $5,700,000,000, not later than September 30, 2014;
‘‘(ix) $5,700,000,000, not later than September 30, 2015;
and
‘‘(x) $5,800,000,000, not later than September 30, 2016
That’s $55.8 billion dollars over ten years.
And you thought the Postal Service was in financial straits because it was not run efficiently.
Why would the Republican Party be at War with the Postal Service? I have no idea. But my guess would be that UPS and FedEx would prefer to not have to compete with the Postal Service. In defense of UPS and FedEx, I suspect the Postal Service does enjoy the advantage of the legacy of taxpayer support in that many of the buildings were constructed with taxpayer funding.
But note that neither UPS or FedEx or anyone else wants to do what the Postal Service does: deliver mail to 150 million addresses throughout the country.
Or it could be the Republican Party has it in for the Postal Service because
The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.
We must not have the populace trusting a government agency.
Here is the posting I first read of this (I was referred to it on Facebook).
Here is another I found when I Googled. It is from six months ago, but it references H.R. 1351: United States Postal Service Pension Obligation Recalculation and Restoration Act of 2011, which still sits in committee for almost a year now.