dudePostmaster general: USPS will run out of money in 12 months
I talk to postal workers every day for work. The postal system is very deliberately being sabotaged from the top. Recently I was told that sorters were no longer allowed to work overtime. If there is more mail one day, they just have to leave some of it for the next day. If this happens for days in a row (because of Valentines Day cards or tax season to randomly pick hypotheticals) they fall further and further behind every day.
The federal administration wants you to think the postal service is a failure so they are forcing it to fail. They want to sell it out to FedEx, UPS, etc so they can raise the prices and make huge profits.
You’re exactly right. The Republicans’ long game has been a systemic takedown of USPS because they want mail service privatized for profit. It’s the same basic plan as they have for public education.
I have a real problem with this article. There’s a lot of context that is not included. It’s very poor reporting.
As far as I know, the USPS is the only federal agency that has ever been required to pre-fund retirement benefits for every worker that it employs. It is also supposed to be self-sufficient (and was solvent until the retirement funding thing) but it also requires approval of Congress to change any of its pricing.
“…the post office continues to come to us for more money…”
No, they don’t. They’re not asking Congress for money. They’re simply asking for permission to charge consumers more. They’re not even asking to charge a fair “market rate” for the service they provide. (Because let’s be honest, UPS and FedEx are never going to deliver anything, no matter how small, for a dollar, or even five dollars.)