There is a bi-partisan bill, HR 1351, with 226 co-sponsors, that addresses the burden of the retiree health benefits pre-funding requirements of the Post Office. For those of you who aren't prolific in the workings of Congress, there are only 435 members of Congress, so a bill with 226 co-sponsors would already have a majority of representatives supporting it.
This bill, even with a bi-partisan majority supporting it, is not being allowed to come out of committee. Without these pre-funding requirements, since they were passed in 2006 and implemented in 2007, the Post Office would have had a profit of $611 million. In the last four years, in the worst recession since the Great Depression, the Post Office lost $20 billion, and paid $21 billion to pre-fund the retirees benefits for people who have not even been hired to work at the Post Office yet.
This bill would recalculate the Postal Service's pension obligations, and transfer the surplus to the Retirees Health Benefits Fund. There have been billions of dollars of overpayments into the Civil Service Retirement System. The amount of the overpayment calculated varies from $55 billion to $75 billion, but every agency involved agrees that there is an overpayment of at least $55 billion.
So as you can see, the Post Office is not broke, they just need access to their own money. The idea of slashing 17 percent of service, eliminating Saturday delivery, for a 2-percent reduction in costs, would never be considered in a private business. Not only is it not necessary, it doesn't address the financial burden and reduces future revenue, which just isn't good business sense.
The Post Office is the centerpiece of the $1.3 trillion mailing industry, which supports 9 million jobs. This is not a bailout, as they have not taken any taxpayer money since 1971. The Post Office has been self-sufficient for 40 years, and profitable, until the pre-funding requirements.
Let's ensure this service, which is guaranteed in the Constitution, and provides residents and businesses with the most efficient and affordable delivery in the industrialized world, and links the nation and binds communities together, does not fail.
This bill, even with a bi-partisan majority supporting it, is not being allowed to come out of committee. Without these pre-funding requirements, since they were passed in 2006 and implemented in 2007, the Post Office would have had a profit of $611 million. In the last four years, in the worst recession since the Great Depression, the Post Office lost $20 billion, and paid $21 billion to pre-fund the retirees benefits for people who have not even been hired to work at the Post Office yet.
This bill would recalculate the Postal Service's pension obligations, and transfer the surplus to the Retirees Health Benefits Fund. There have been billions of dollars of overpayments into the Civil Service Retirement System. The amount of the overpayment calculated varies from $55 billion to $75 billion, but every agency involved agrees that there is an overpayment of at least $55 billion.
So as you can see, the Post Office is not broke, they just need access to their own money. The idea of slashing 17 percent of service, eliminating Saturday delivery, for a 2-percent reduction in costs, would never be considered in a private business. Not only is it not necessary, it doesn't address the financial burden and reduces future revenue, which just isn't good business sense.
The Post Office is the centerpiece of the $1.3 trillion mailing industry, which supports 9 million jobs. This is not a bailout, as they have not taken any taxpayer money since 1971. The Post Office has been self-sufficient for 40 years, and profitable, until the pre-funding requirements.
Let's ensure this service, which is guaranteed in the Constitution, and provides residents and businesses with the most efficient and affordable delivery in the industrialized world, and links the nation and binds communities together, does not fail.
