Mail Bomb: The Republican Sabotage of the Post Office

At every turn the Republicans trash the United States Post Office for the very financial problems the Republicans created.In the 2006 lame duck session of Congress, before Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats took over, the GOP threw a grenade at USPS titled The Postal Accountability Enforcement Act. This bizarre and unprecedented legislation mandated that within ten years the United States Postal Service would have to fully fund retirement healthcare benefits for the next 75 years. This coming from the same legislators who repeatedly voted to “borrow” money from Social Security. The Postal Service had a decade to fully fund the retirement healthcare benefits for future employees that will not even be born until 2057.

A couple of things to keep in mind about the USPS: First, the power to create post offices is enumerated in our Constitution. Secondly, our Postal Service is fully funded by the sale of stamps, not through tax dollars..

What this was really about IMO, was to destroy the postal union. They passed a law that was simply IMPOSSIBLE to accomodate. There is no businesses that has to fund retirements for employees that AREN'T EVEN BORN YET!

Operationally speaking, the USPS nets profits every year. The financial problem it faces now comes from a 2006 Congressional mandate that requires the agency to “pre-pay” into a fund that covers health care costs for future retired employees. Under the mandate, the USPS is required to make an annual $5.5 billion payment over ten years, through 2016.

These “prepayments” are largely responsible for the USPS’s financial losses over the past four years and the threat of shutdown that looms ahead – take the retirement fund out of the equation, and the postal service would have actually netted $1 billion in profits over this period.

This doesn’t mean, however, that the USPS’s financial situation is good. Revenue has been declining for years, and even if the agency manages to get past this year’s $5.5 billion payment, it would again face insolvency next year.

www.pbs.org...

To be fair, Democrats could have done something about this when they had control...but they didn't. Whether it was simply forgotten with all that was happening or some were bought off by USPS competitors....it is what it is.

Why isn't anyone defending the US Postal Service and all of it's workers? They are a helluva lot cheaper than their competitors. I've sent packages through UPS and it costs me more to send the the package than the stuff i was actually sending.

Ultimately, the USPS will have to restructure with the changing times, as email has taken a chunk of profits.....but what the GOP did was flat out sabotage.

Why isn't this widely known?????? How will this effect costs for something all of us use? How will this effect rural areas....small businesses?

edit on 6-4-2012 by David9176 because: (no reason given)

What are the consequences?

Without even waiting for votes on these laws, the USPS management has announced plans to eliminate 200,000 jobs, shut down 223 of 461 mail processing facilities by 2015, and close 3,700 local post offices. They also propose to withdraw postal employees and retirees from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and create a new program, one with undoubtedly weaker benefits.

200,000 unemployed.....3700 post offices shut down....loss of benefits.

reply to post by David9176


All the talk about Cloward Piven... I think it is the right wing strategy to
engineer failure in the things they don't like, or to create long term situations
that ensure the outcome they are trying to facilitate. As you can see this
won't get any attention here because right wingers don't look at what they do.
Exactly what happened with Bush - "look away.look away..." Then come in
and terrify the once sleeping conservatives, so they will go out protest the
results of the policies the right wing politicians created. It is so simple
it is genius, blame your rivals for the things you do,
this seems to be an extreme case of that.

You know, it is very easy to create chaos and feed off of the results because you
can anticipate the results and shape the "solution", in this case, privatization.
Isn't it odd that that is the solution for everything, sabotage is great because you can wink
and point you finger while you pull the trigger with your other hand.

reply to post by braindeadconservatives


This should be front page on ATS...it should be front page on the news. It won't be though....and it's BULL#.

How in the hell could anyone support something like this? They are intentionally trying to destroy jobs on a CONSTITUTIONAL ENTITY that employees nearly 600,000 people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

600,000 thousand!!!!

F them....pieces of garbage....anyone who voted for this is a piece of trash.

reply to post by braindeadconservatives

You know, it is very easy to create chaos and feed off of the results because you can anticipate the results and shape the "solution", in this case, privatization. Isn't it odd that that is the solution for everything, sabotage is great because you can wink and point you finger while you pull the trigger with your other hand.

All the BS i've been hearing on the news about the Post office simply failing....not ONCE did I hear about this. THEY CREATED IT. The damned GOP created this problem....INTENTIONALLY.

I love the Post Office. It's reliable, efficient...and cheap.....and whenever I go in i'm treated with respect. I live in a rural area and am THANKFUL that they exist.

This should be everywhere. 600,000 employees!!! All of their jobs are at risk which would be a huge drag on the economy....let alone costs for the rest of us.

The GOP purposely tried to make the USPS insolvent. Everyone should be outraged over this....i don't care what side of the aisle you are on.

Originally posted by David9176
reply to post by braindeadconservatives

 

You know, it is very easy to create chaos and feed off of the results because you can anticipate the results and shape the "solution", in this case, privatization. Isn't it odd that that is the solution for everything, sabotage is great because you can wink and point you finger while you pull the trigger with your other hand.

All the BS i've been hearing on the news about the Post office simply failing....not ONCE did I hear about this. THEY CREATED IT. The damned GOP created this problem....INTENTIONALLY.

I love the Post Office. It's reliable, efficient...and cheap.....and whenever I go in i'm treated with respect. I live in a rural area and am THANKFUL that they exist.

This should be everywhere. 600,000 employees!!! All of their jobs are at risk which would be a huge drag on the economy....let alone costs for the rest of us.

Well a drag on the economy is good, because that creates outrage, outrage creates the
need for solutions, in this case the situation creates a poor economy, which serve the GOP.
It also makes it easier to demand to call for the ":need:" to slash benefits and "reform"
who has the brain power to look at something that was done six years ago??? nobody...
The cover of time washes their hands of it and they reap rewards.

Originally posted by David9176
The GOP purposely tried to make the USPS insolvent. Everyone should be outraged over this....i don't care what side of the aisle you are on.

What is hard for me is I cannot tell if people here actually like this?

Because that might be the case...

Or it might just be that allowing yourself to see this is hard, because it only opens
someone up to see the pattern this political group uses.

You realize in the very end... All this is really done to let the chains
off the super elites... All this is a stage act, the GOP cries for years
after they set up the fall. Then when they regain power, after creating
gridlock and misery, they come in and give it to the elites, banks, insurance
and all the other elite schemes get their policies through so they can create
yet another bubble and then blame it on the peons and their lavish doctors
visits and sick days.

You wanna see why the Bankers always win the day, it's because the GOP
and GOP faithful play their roles. They are quite when the fix is being
setup and they make a huge fuss so that the banks can get the climate they
paid for.

Cloward Piven

reply to post by braindeadconservatives

What is hard for me is I cannot tell if people here actually like this?

Looks like it. You are the only one to comment. I'm seein' red over this...yet this is probably giving some people here a chubby.

These are working Americans man. The own homes, have kids, contribute to society...and the GOP F'd em. Flat out F'd em.

Originally posted by David9176
reply to post by braindeadconservatives

 

What is hard for me is I cannot tell if people here actually like this?

Looks like it. You are the only one to comment. I'm seein' red over this...yet this is probably giving some people here a chubby.

These are working Americans man. The own homes, have kids, contribute to society...and the GOP F'd em. Flat out F'd em.

Funny, that a place that is supposed to cover conspiracies has so many people
willing to ignore a real conspiracy by definition. This is not speculation, this
happened and based upon the rhetoric we here from the GOP it is fairly clear
that they do this to serve their political agenda, they literally make America
a worse place so they can inflict conservatism anywhere they can.

It is just like the national debt.

Take a budget

reduce income (reduce taxes from billionaires)

increase spending (with war, corporate welfare, rigging the postal system)

= dramatic deficit increase

Which is good, actually GOOD for the GOP because they can make the cause
for what they want politically. Not pointing out that they did this on purpose

reply to post by braindeadconservatives

Which is good, actually GOOD for the GOP because they can make the cause for what they want politically. Not pointing out that they did this on purpose

What they do is F up government badly while in control...then point fingers on how the government is so F'd up while out of control.

It is their job to make sure government doesn't work or they wouldn't have a platform. That's why we had 2 unfunded wars...with tax breaks for most of the entire country during a time of war while they were in power...and took a surplus to a massive negative.

Most Americans took no part in these wars....yet we sent our sons and daughters to battle and gave ourselves tax breaks. Quite frankly we should be ashamed of ourselves.

Selfishness...that's seems all that many Americans are about anymore. It's no wonder most of the world hates our guts.

We don't even treat our OWN CITIZENS WITH DIGNITY. We continually trash other hard working Americans and those who are less fortunate...all the while sending our young to fight battles we don't even agree with.

I know I'm ranting and going off subject....don't care. Enough of the madness.

Originally posted by David9176
reply to post by braindeadconservatives

 

Which is good, actually GOOD for the GOP because they can make the cause for what they want politically. Not pointing out that they did this on purpose

What they do is F up government badly while in control...then point fingers on how the government is so F'd up while out of control.

It is their job to make sure government doesn't work or they wouldn't have a platform. That's why we had 2 unfunded wars...with tax breaks for most of the entire country during a time of war while they were in power...and took a surplus to a massive negative.

Most Americans took no part in these wars....yet we sent our sons and daughters to battle and gave ourselves tax breaks. Quite frankly we should be ashamed ourselves.

Selfishness...that's seems all that many Americans are about anymore. It's no wonder most of the world hates our guts.

We don't even treat our OWN CITIZENS WITH DIGNITY.

The GOP is like the town veterinarian who goes around poisoning the water bowls
of the local pets.

Then in the morning when all the dogs are sick, the vet (GOP) can "save the day"
and make a profit while doing it. Hopefully, the cure even cause the dogs to develop
other illnesses that require further treatment, like kidney failure or bloody diarrhea

It's cool that nobody has anything to say

I really think that says it all, the people are

complicit in it, totally invested in failure and

corrupt trickery. I wanna see the birth certificate

Originally posted by braindeadconservatives
It's cool that nobody has anything to say

I really think that says it all, the people are

complicit in it, totally invested in failure and

corrupt trickery. I wanna see the birth certificate

edit on 6-4-2012 by braindeadconservatives because: (no reason given)

I just wanted to let you know that there are others who do see this and are appalled by it. I just don't have much to add, because you guys are covering it so well.

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the selective amnesia the general public seems to have. I just can't believe that people can "forget", damage that was obviously done only a few short years ago. They're "forgetting" on purpose and it's sheer insanity.

This is an extremely good thread and very informative.

Well, you can't blame the republicans. But you CAN thank our fearless leader who once again tries his hardest to keep jobs in the USA.

duanegraham.wordpress.com...

The Fight To Save The Post Office Continues
September 29, 2011
Postal unions and the employees they represent were disappointed a couple of weeks ago when President Obama basically sided with the Bush-appointed majority on the USPS Board of Governors on the issue of six-day delivery.

The Obama Administration, which recently has been on a job-creating mission, is ready to give the USPS the ability to kill Saturday delivery—and kill thousands of jobs along with it. The National Association of Letter Carriers estimates the job loss would amount to 80,000 full and part-time jobs, including 25,000 city carrier jobs.

PLEASE put the blame where it belongs. Obama isn't exactly pulling for the USPS now is he????

reply to post by Gridrebel

PLEASE put the blame where it belongs. Obama isn't exactly pulling for the USPS now is he????

Did you read what i posted in a prior post? Democrats are pretty much silent on this issue....except for Bernie Sanders and a few others. I don't give a damn what political affiliation one has...it's about god damned time we stand up for the post office and the 100's of thousands that work for it.

Obama needs to put this on the forefront of issues. The USPS needs to be saved from this BS mandate. If he doesn't, IMO, he is just as guilty as the POS's that passed this law in the first place.

Stand up for American workers...stand up for your family and friends. It's about us. We make this country and economy work. We build the roads, send the mail, produce our food, etc.

They NEED us. We provide the very infrastructure they leech from.

Originally posted by David9176
reply to post by Gridrebel

 

PLEASE put the blame where it belongs. Obama isn't exactly pulling for the USPS now is he????

Did you read what i posted in a prior post? Democrats are pretty much silent on this issue....except for Bernie Sanders and a few others. I don't give a damn what political affiliation one has...it's about god damned time we stand up for the post office and the 100's of thousands that work for it.

Obama needs to put this on the forefront of issues. The USPS needs to be saved from this BS mandate. If he doesn't, IMO, he is just as guilty as the POS's that passed this law in the first place.

Stand up for American workers...stand up for your family and friends. It's about us. We make this country and economy work. We build the roads, send the mail, produce our food, etc.

They NEED us. We provide the very infrastructure they leech from.

edit on 6-4-2012 by David9176 because: (no reason given)

YES.....I READ IT. The fact that the democrats have a big fat fail to do anything when they could have turned the whole thing around is the democrats FAIL. The ball was in their court for a heck of a long time and they failed to address this issue along with many others. So now, we get this:

In his efforts to develop a new business model for the USPS, Sanders has set up a blue-ribbon entrepreneurial commission and has appointed to it entrepreneurs and postal stakeholders.

Lieberman said on Tuesday that Sanders’ concept was being added to the bill.

“We will create an advisory commission,” Lieberman said, “a new commission which will be charged with the responsibility of not only reviewing the operations of the Post Office to make sure it’s being managed and run most efficiently, but for looking for a new business model and for new ways to use the great assets of the post office.”

I am not in favor of the post offices closing or cutting back. I live in a rural area with a huge senior population and our post office is desperately needed. However, I am tired of an ineffective government with no excuse but their own ignorance, inexperience and lack of proper action when needed.