e-Team Report, Jan. 19, 2013
The Approaching Postal Cliff
Just a few weeks ago, Congress barely managed to avoid an economic disaster of their own making, known as the fiscal cliff. Now, they must rescue the Postal Service from the brink of the postal cliff, another economic catastrophe largely created by Congress.
Over the past few years, a global recession, declining mail volume, and in particular, a burdensome mandate by Congress that the Postal Service prefund decades of future retiree benefits has the agency nearly bankrupt. Since Congress passed this mandate in 2006, the Postal Service has been required to send tens of billions of dollars of revenue to the U.S. Treasury and is now so low on funds that it is possibly months away from running out entirely. Congress must fix this mess they helped create. As reported by CNN, “For the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service, the cost of being ignored by Congress means that it will be on the brink of bankruptcy. For the American public, it could result in cutbacks on mail delivery. For postal employees, job cuts.”
Earlier this month, the 112th Congress adjourned without passing a comprehensive postal reform bill, so the task now falls to the newly seated 113th Congress. In the melee of Congress’ recent budget fights and deadlock, the danger of losing a Constitutionally-mandated service and thousands of American jobs is yet to result in legislative action which removes the stranglehold of regulations placed on the agency under the 2006 Bush Administration. What legislation emerges as the postal cliff approaches still remains to be seen.
To read more on the approaching postal cliff, please click here.
Ed Schultz and Rep. Gerry Connolly Shine a Spotlight on the Postal War on Workers
There are those like Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, who see the Postal Service’s present financial bind as an opportunity to make drastic cuts and balance a budget on the backs of postal workers.
On Tuesday’s The Ed Show, Ed Schultz and Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA) called out the partisan efforts to cripple the Postal Service. Rep. Connolly pointed out that the service relied upon by millions of Americans was subject to GOP-led attacks and the onerous prefunding mandate because of the GOP’s generalized opposition to the Postal Service since it is “very big, it is quasi-governmental and it’s unionized.” It is clear that the attempts to regulate the Postal Service out of existence reveal the hostility toward organized labor and workers’ rights held by many members of Congress.
In the same segment Rep. Issa stated that Americans “look at the Post Office as something they don’t use very much.” The millions of American homes and businesses that rely on postal services would disagree with that statement. In 2011, USPS process 167.9 billion pieces of mail, usps.com received 1.2 million visits daily, and processed other services such as 5.6 million passport applications.
Leaders of attacks against the Postal Service frequently cite the decrease in mail volume rather than the 2006 prefund mandate, which burdened the Postal Service with billions in yearly losses – a burden no other government agency has been saddled with. Despite clear indication that the prefund mandate is the single greatest contributor of economic hardship for the Postal Service, Rep. Connolly stated a bill meant to ease the outsized prefund burden on USPS was voted down along party lines last Congress.
To see the full video, please click here.
PRC Cautions Against Board of Governors Accelerated Plans
Rather than having real reform and providing USPS with a sustainable regulatory scheme that promotes the agency’s success, the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors says it will be forced to push for more cost-cutting measures. Absent any congressional intervention thus far, the Board of Governors has called for an accelerated plan to close and consolidate the postal network. The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) urges caution, however, saying that accelerating to the postal closure and consolidation plan could damage the quality and universality of service.
To read more, please click here.
Presidential Inauguration and MLK Day of Service
Not going to be in Washington, DC and want to watch the events of the 57th Presidential Inauguration? Live streaming video of the events can be found here, including the swearing in ceremony of President Barack Obama at 11:30AM EST on Monday, January 21st.
To watch the inaugural events as they happen, please click here.
The inauguration also falls on Martin Luther King, Jr Day. As Dr. King once said, “Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?’” For those interested in answering that question, you can join the hundreds of thousands of people who serve on MLK Day and throughout the year at MLK Day of Service, found here.