Thank you conservatives for deliberately sabotaging the US Postal Service by:
1. forcing a mandate that requires the USPS to fund decades of retirement in just a few years
2. partially privatizing it, giving all of the profitable services to private corporations (like FedEx), while keeping the unprofitable parts in the public sector (to "prove" nothing government can work)
3. wiping your butts with the constitution once again, since the Postal Clause *requires* a public postal service in America.
Hardly! Why pay more than cost for the services provided by BOTH services.
Full privatization of U.S. infrastructure is moronic because it RAISES costs for the nation and everyone who lives in it. It NEVER lowers costs for the same level of service provided.
The USPS is NOT subsidized. Take away the Conservative legislative sabotage and it would NOT be bleeding red ink. It would be PROFITABLE.
Yes, email and fax communications have impacted it's business model, but it serves rural areas of the the country in ways the private sector refuses to do. That makes it FAR more valuable than either Fed Ex OR UPS.
As for privatizing USPS, make NO mistake. The moment USPS was privatized, it's investors would declare bankruptcy, dump it's pension obligations onto taxpayer backs (through the PBGC) and strip it clean for taxpayers to clean up later. So, you and your conservative ilk can roll your privatization idea into a tight little ball and cram it where the sun doesn't shine. Privatization is an extension of the SAME conservative greed and stupidity you've been hawking for years. It amounts to NOTHING but a scam against the country.
High profit margins and effective monopolies drive prices up. It's less expensive to send a letter via USPS than either of your dominant private corporations.
It is very odd, I can't imagine politicians interested in accountability and financial preparation. The conclusion that this is then sabotage is not unreasonable. What doesn't follow however is who is responsible for it. The conclusion that conservatives did it doesn't hold up:
The vote in both senate and house were not recorded(senate vote was 'unanimous' while house was voice vote). So right off, claims that 'conservatives did it' is unjustified. However, looking at the cosponsors, I found this:
Danny Davis (D-IL7)
John McHugh (R-NY23)
Henry Waxman (D-CA30)
Waxman is a surprising cosponsor. It makes it even less likely that this is some conservative conspiracy. That and the fact that the postal unions championed it, from what I could gather from news articles makes this very suspicious, but not as a plot by the GOP to shoot itself in the foot by showing that government is bad.
Others have pointed out the postal clause claims a power congress has, not obligation.
I'll leave others to consider point 2. I can only spend so much time considering claims without evidence, when each one so far turns out to be wrong.
you see what happens when you try to reason with a some people kaelyiesta? This is why I don't even try to talk to these nuts anymore, they have nothing in them but bile and hate, and are incapable of a rational and respectful conversation.
That's why FedEx/UPS can be profitable because they don't have to to do it. The USPS is required to. But get this if you send a parcel/package to one of those remote locations via FedEx/UPS guess who might actually delivery it.... the USPS.
@eraptor. A big reason it's failing is because they are required to offer "reasonable, and uniform price and quality" to everyone. As a result, UPS, FedEx, DHL..,ALL use the USPS for a large part of their own logistics which drives each of their own costs down but just forces the USPS to just bleed and bleed...
novenatorFeb 9, 2012Buried
Thank you conservatives for deliberately sabotaging the US Postal Service by:
1. forcing a mandate that requires the USPS to fund decades of retirement in just a few years
2. partially privatizing it, giving all of the profitable services to private corporations (like FedEx), while keeping the unprofitable parts in the public sector (to "prove" nothing government can work)
3. wiping your butts with the constitution once again, since the Postal Clause *requires* a public postal service in America.
eraptorFeb 9, 2012Buried
Hardly! Why pay more than cost for the services provided by BOTH services.
Full privatization of U.S. infrastructure is moronic because it RAISES costs for the nation and everyone who lives in it. It NEVER lowers costs for the same level of service provided.
eraptorFeb 10, 2012Buried
@sheopleherder,
The USPS is NOT subsidized. Take away the Conservative legislative sabotage and it would NOT be bleeding red ink. It would be PROFITABLE.
Yes, email and fax communications have impacted it's business model, but it serves rural areas of the the country in ways the private sector refuses to do. That makes it FAR more valuable than either Fed Ex OR UPS.
As for privatizing USPS, make NO mistake. The moment USPS was privatized, it's investors would declare bankruptcy, dump it's pension obligations onto taxpayer backs (through the PBGC) and strip it clean for taxpayers to clean up later. So, you and your conservative ilk can roll your privatization idea into a tight little ball and cram it where the sun doesn't shine. Privatization is an extension of the SAME conservative greed and stupidity you've been hawking for years. It amounts to NOTHING but a scam against the country.
cybersaurFeb 9, 2012Buried
High profit margins and effective monopolies drive prices up. It's less expensive to send a letter via USPS than either of your dominant private corporations.
miklkitFeb 9, 2012Buried
Yes he did. The poison pill legislation was passed by the lame duck republicon congress in late 2006.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/09/28/330524/postal-non-crisis-post-office-save-itself/?mobile=nc
kaelyiestaFeb 9, 2012Buried
Novenator is right about the pension bill: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/109-h6407/actions
It is very odd, I can't imagine politicians interested in accountability and financial preparation. The conclusion that this is then sabotage is not unreasonable. What doesn't follow however is who is responsible for it. The conclusion that conservatives did it doesn't hold up:
The vote in both senate and house were not recorded(senate vote was 'unanimous' while house was voice vote). So right off, claims that 'conservatives did it' is unjustified. However, looking at the cosponsors, I found this:
Danny Davis (D-IL7)
John McHugh (R-NY23)
Henry Waxman (D-CA30)
Waxman is a surprising cosponsor. It makes it even less likely that this is some conservative conspiracy. That and the fact that the postal unions championed it, from what I could gather from news articles makes this very suspicious, but not as a plot by the GOP to shoot itself in the foot by showing that government is bad.
Others have pointed out the postal clause claims a power congress has, not obligation.
I'll leave others to consider point 2. I can only spend so much time considering claims without evidence, when each one so far turns out to be wrong.
novenatorFeb 10, 2012Buried
you see what happens when you try to reason with a some people kaelyiesta? This is why I don't even try to talk to these nuts anymore, they have nothing in them but bile and hate, and are incapable of a rational and respectful conversation.
miklkitFeb 9, 2012Buried
The USPS would have a budget surplus if it had just been left alone in 2006.
bobthejokerFeb 9, 2012Buried
You're right. File-->Print does wonders!
smeagerFeb 9, 2012Buried
That's why FedEx/UPS can be profitable because they don't have to to do it. The USPS is required to. But get this if you send a parcel/package to one of those remote locations via FedEx/UPS guess who might actually delivery it.... the USPS.
eraptorFeb 9, 2012Buried
Psst...Private mail service providers USE USPS for logistical purposes.
octoddFeb 9, 2012Buried
I made sure all my bills get emailed to me and now all my USPS mail is just piles of junk I leave in my mailbox and throw away every few months
emfkFeb 9, 2012Buried
What a mess.
bobosmitorFeb 9, 2012Buried
Oh no.
sharky35Feb 9, 2012Buried
Bush did it!
youareretardedFeb 9, 2012Buried
What businesses do you know of that put aside 75 years worth of pensions to be paid for within a five year period?
stabsteerFeb 9, 2012Buried
The ignorance just never ends...
kaelyiestaFeb 9, 2012Buried
I would have imagined it more akin to said boxer spitting on his opponent or something equally unnecessary, unproductive and just downright mean.
YachtRokrFeb 10, 2012Buried
@sheopleherder,
Conservatives care about competition and low prices? Ha-ha...as if.
Privatizing USPS reduces competition and everyone knows private sector monopolies raise prices. Economic "logic" and truth are not on your side.
beckeristFeb 10, 2012Buried
@eraptor. A big reason it's failing is because they are required to offer "reasonable, and uniform price and quality" to everyone. As a result, UPS, FedEx, DHL..,ALL use the USPS for a large part of their own logistics which drives each of their own costs down but just forces the USPS to just bleed and bleed...