© Associated Press/Toby Talbot
In January, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is slated to take over as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees the federal workforce and the entire Postal Service. Johnson has said that the Postal Service should go through a bankruptcy process that would result in a downsized, private corporation that would lose the benefits of governmental oversight and regulation. It could also allow the revised entity to terminate or substantially modify its contracts, including its collective bargaining agreements with various postal unions.
Comment: And there you have it. The USPS is subject to unique and unfair rules with respect to its operation, such as pre-contribution to its pension fund, which distorts the financial state of the department. The Postal Service is actually one of the few profitable government agencies, running entirely generated revenue:
"The red ink one hears about stems entirely from congressional politics. In 2006, a lame-duck Congress mandated that the Postal Service pre-fund future retiree health benefits. No other public or private entity is required to do this for even one year; USPS has to pre-fund 75 years into the future, and pay for it over a decade. This $5.6 billion annual charge accounts for 100 percent of postal "losses."One can imagine the salivating private sector just waiting to step into the void if this bill gets through.
Last year, Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) introduced the Postal Reform Act of 2014 which would restructure the needless requirement that the agency pre-fund 75 years' worth of employee health benefits, a demand no other businesses or institutions face. The bill would also allow for a gradual end to Saturday mail service if financially necessary, as well as the eventual termination of door-to-door service, but would not mandate either of these steps.
Comment: What Plotnisky offers makes a lot of sense but Poroshenko knows he cannot win. Back in the day there was a time where military leaders physically led the armies into battle. Now the gutless psychopaths let others do their bidding.