You know the stamp and fee increases went to fund the wars, right, America?
"Postal Service posts loss of $2.4b; Recession, Net hurt mail volume" by Ed O’Keefe, Washington Post | August 6, 2009
WASHINGTON - Though attention in recent months has focused on the potential closure of hundreds of post offices to narrow the budget gap, or the elimination of Saturday mail delivery, most of the Postal Service’s financial woes are tied to labor costs, especially billions of dollars in required payments to prefund future retiree health benefits. The cost of funding current and future retirees is expected to top $7 billion.
Well, the banks got $24 TRILLION!!!!
And a lot of these guys are VIETNAM VETS!
Now, I know the pay is good, but WTF, America? I'd rather take care of people than fatten corporate looter's pockets if we have to have taxes.
The payments will contribute to an expected $700 million cash shortfall when the Postal Service’s fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, according to postmaster general John Potter. The Postal Service will not make prepayments to the retiree fund if it faces a shortfall next month, he said, reiterating his displeasure with the requirement.
“If we were part of the federal government and treated as an agency, we would not be paying prefunding to a retirement benefit trust,’’ Potter said at a news conference yesterday announcing the financial results. “On the other hand, if we were in the private sector, we would not be prefunding these retirement payments. So therein lies a bit of a dilemma.’’
Congress mandated the prepayments in 2006 when it passed a postal reform bill. The Postal Service’s balance sheets were in better condition at the time, and lawmakers sought to have it prepay future retiree benefits because they knew its financial condition would likely worsen as mail volume dropped with the migration to the Internet....
Potter called on lawmakers and the Obama administration to begin serious, long-term discussions about the future of US mail delivery. “The Postal Service does not want to do anything that would disrupt this economy,’’ he said. “Over a trillion dollars moves through the mail in any given year and we are a hub of an industry that employs some 8 million Americans. We have no intention of doing anything that would disrupt the flow of mail.’’
In response, the Postal Service.... recently renegotiated more than 300 service contracts, saving $200 million.
Then HOW COME BANK BONUS CONTRACTS are sacred?
