THE PROBLEM: New Trump-donor postmaster implemented policies to slow down mail. Again, demand for paper mail has plunged, and it is financially irresponsible to force mail carriers to haul mostly low-margin advertising mail more than five days per week. The best way to assist in achieving that goal is to call your representatives regularly and urge them to support the USPS's inclusion in the next round of COVID relief government funds. In neither case did the post office’s front office publicly share data that would help skeptical or simply baffled legislators come around to supporting its big ask. But it's in danger of having to shut down large swaths of its business, which would devastate our way of life. "I will never let our Post Office fail," Trump wrote on Twitter. If there’s a government service that should absolutely not be “run like a business,” it’s delivering the mail. Postal Service. As late as the 1970s, Congress gave the USPS an annual public service obligation appropriation to help it cover the costs of delivering mail to every American household, no matter how remote. just create a new email and try again. Paying its employees accounts for 80 percent of USPS’ budget. USPS is broke.THE SHORT TERM SOLUTION: Include USPS in next round of COVID relief funds. Why Trump is indifferent to the crisis at the US Postal Service As federal policymakers ponder a series of economic rescues, the USPS will obviously … Don't Blame Donald Trump if the Post Office Loses Your Vote Even if all presidential votes were cast through the mail and sent on the … Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, right as well as one of the postal unions. A post office box was set up to receive the returned ballots. How much we do not yet know, but volume may already be down 30 percent. This is in part the fault of USPS leadership, which played its cards badly in the run-up to the recent $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). First, Americans need a guarantee that their mail will help them get through crises like this one, and the USPS needs money to do it. Sixth, the Treasury should forgive the USPS’ present debt, which is around $10 billion. Contact the USPS … This means that so many people in rural areas rely on the USPS for deliveries of all kinds, including medication. On the whole, it did not go well. Third, the USPS should be authorized to raise its prices a little more — after the Covid-19 economic downturn ends. Postal System have become a point of contention on Capitol Hill. Reportedly, representatives of the USPS and at least one of its unions quietly went to Capitol Hill and briefed some members of Congress, according to an individual who was in one of the meetings. To their credit, USPS workers have served valiantly during Covid-19; if the country gets hit with another pandemic or anthrax attack, we need the postal service to be funded and ready to deliver test kits and medicines. Find your representatives here, and here's a sample script of what you can say on your phone call. The USPS needs lots of money very fast in order to continue running effectively. The U.S. With an impending election and some states pushing mail-in voting, this could be a huge problem come November. "They are working so hard every day to provide your mail and packages. Back at the post office near Washington, D.C., Doris Browne can't conceive of the Postal Service failing. The problem is that Congress refuses to let it raise more money, refuses to let it … The Post Office’s problems are business-wide, because its expenses keep exceeding revenues. Even before the pandemic, the USPS was suffering financially. Mailers dislike price increases, but done sensibly they work. Without the USPS, we'd be in dire straits. because the majority of mail is sent by businesses and most businesses are stalled at the moment, Most federal pension dollars are invested much more broadly, and the USPS should be authorized to invest some of the more than $40 billion in its retiree health benefits fund in index funds. The Post‘s report comes a day after Bloomberg revealed that Trump’s 36-year-old flagship property, Trump Tower, is also in trouble. There may be other businesses having the same issue with a specific postal carrier. Back in April, then-Postmaster General Megan Brennan informed Congress of the dire situation. In its quarterly fiscal report, published today, the Post Office reported small decreases in mail volume and overall revenue compared to the same quarter of 2018. ", Girl Who Loves Writing Letters Started a Whole Correspondence Effort with the USPS, FedEx Accused of Firing Employees Who Recorded and Shared Encounter With Racist Customer, How This Guy Scammed UPS Shouldn't Have Been This Easy, But It Was, Twitter's Dragging Someone Who said Eating Sushi Is "Cultural Appropriation", German City Builds Solar Power Sleeping Pods to Keep Its Homeless Warm, Teacher's Tiktok on "Old Math" vs "New Math" Starts Huge Internet Debate, Famous YouTuber WhistlinDiesel Struck by a Stray Bullet. Just wipe the books clean, because paying these debts is draining the Post Office’s cash, which should be invested in new delivery vehicles and overdue capital upgrades. Shortly after, the 2008 recession hit, and because the economy suffered, so did the Postal Service. When the agency’s regulator gave it a 4.3 percent “exigent rate increase” in 2015 and 2016, the post office reaped an additional $4.6 billion in revenue. These things snowball into delayed delivery times, ineffective service, and even more strain on an already strained agency. USPS’s expenses may be the the biggest barrier to the postal service becoming profitable. Why shouldn’t Congress bail out the Post Office, just to start off? The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an essential government service, and it is currently in terrible trouble. His allegations are not based on any actual facts of evidence.". anyway good luck trying to get management to tell you why you failed. In 2006, Congress passed the Postal Accountability Act, which required that USPS to pre-fund retirement benefits 75 years in the future, "including for employees who have not been born yet," The Guardian reports. More Democrats are calling for an emergency appropriation to the postal service, but the GOP has maintained a stony silence, likely put off by liberal activist messaging that Trump and his party want to bankrupt the post office and sell it off to vulture capitalists. By law, the agency is supposed to file a publicly available report with the Postal Regulatory Commission when it faces a material change in its financial condition. The Postal Service is losing money and needs to make changes. The federal government has not agreed to bail out the USPS, meaning that for years, the agency has slowly had to cut staff positions and close post offices in more rural areas, stretching the agency thin. | Mario Tama/Getty Images. Election 2020. Dropping 100,000 employees might be more cuts than USPS wants, but it can always hire new, and less expensive, replacement employees. A U.S Postal Service Inspector General study made it clear that this investment strategy all but ensures the agency will default on these obligations to its workers and the taxpayers will have to bail them out. Although it’s expected to find a way to fund these obligations, the USPS may invest only in U.S. Treasuries, which deliver paltry annual returns. Start Your Form. The long-term solution is the passing of the USPS Fairness Act, which would repeal the mandate to pre-fund retirement benefits. Strangely, it is not actually required to do anything in a crisis by either postal law or Executive Order 13527, the Obama-era directive on national responses to anthrax and biohazard attacks. Why the U.S. Post Office is Failing I’m shipping a package just now. When it comes to the mail, the Covid-19 crisis is catching America in a vise. Meanwhile in Washington, there are calls to bail out the post office. Ultimately, the CARES Act offered only a $10 billion supplemental lending line to the postal service. Compared with the more than $2 trillion in Covid-19 aid enacted to date, $16 billion is a drop in the bucket. The next bailout needs to match money with some long-overdue reforms. Fifth, the USPS needs to further reduce its compensation costs. A record number of voters planned to participate by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic, and a disproportionate share of absentee voters … The same principle applies here: public safety is a national good, so pay the Post Office for the work the country expects it to do. Second, the Postal Service needs the liberty to fix the way it funds its retiree health benefits fund, which has a $70 billion shortfall. Only a few Democrats publicly spoke up for helping the agency, and the GOP and President Donald Trump balked when a $30 billion bailout was dropped into a version of the House’s Covid legislation. With the stock market so low, this plan — which has support from some on the right as well as one of the postal unions — could produce huge financial returns if enacted quickly. Twitter user @USPostOffice911 explains that the new postmaster general has implemented policies that "prohibit overtime and delivering of all the day's mail and change sorting processes to make it take longer." Apparently, Congress doesn't have time to pass an economic stimulus package and save the American economy, but they do have time to address — in an emergency session no less — the Post Office. Boccia: There’s a couple of reasons, but first of all, let’s think about what the Postal Service does. Here’s a straightforward plan for how it could work, which would require only modest changes to law and would share the burden between the biggest stakeholders: the public, USPS workers, and the mailers and shippers who pay the USPS’ operating costs. The USPS should be provided with a $1 billion annual appropriation in exchange for committing to deliver medicines and other critical supplies in the event of a national disaster. The USPS is the only government agency that comes to us most days of the week, which has made a huge difference in our daily lives, especially now during the coronavirus pandemic. Legislation already exists to make this happen, and it can be cut and pasted into the rescue package. Postal Service worker wears a face mask and gloves while crossing a downtown street in Los Angeles, California. @USPostOffice911 writes. 3. If the mail is slow, people might start to actually believe Trump's unsubstantiated mail voting fraud allegations. The United States Postal Service is set to run out of money by September. | Scott Heins/Getty Images. Public debt already is $24 trillion, so the public is not terribly harmed by assuming this additional debt — especially if it helps stave off the collapse of the USPS. Not to mention, the USPS is one of the nation's largest employers, especially of veteran and minority workers. Gently press down on the BIOS chip to make sure it … The United States Postal Service (USPS) has lost $65.1 billion…that’s right, billion…in the last ten … What legislators and the public know about the USPS’ financial health is little more than a few scattered data points that have appeared in news stories. The late Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) pushed hard for this reform years ago, but was stymied by complaints from postal unions. Presently, the law limits price increases for most paper mail to the consumer price index. Voters, advocates and news outlets focused a lot on the post office this year because its role in this election was so obvious. The vast portion of mail is sent by businesses, so Covid’s stalling of the economy has cratered mail volume. This change is way overdue — USPS cannot be expected to survive if most of its overhead cost is uncontrollable, especially in an era of lower demand for mail. Trump has raised a valid … Now, if we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money. Fourth, the postal service should be free to choose to stop delivering paper mail six days a week — once all the stimulus checks are in the public’s hands. THE LONG TERM SOLUTION: Pass USPS Fairness Act. The President certainly has reason to be concerned about the Post Office's financial situation: The government entity has consistently lost billions of dollars each year for the last decade … Postmaster General Megan Brennan should get on Zoom and give a public presentation that shares the data on where mail volume, revenue and operating costs are and where they are headed. Unions are right to drive a hard bargain for their members, but they are aided and abetted by federal arbitrators who almost always side with the unions over management. Presently, the agency gets no extra financial support when it serves in a crisis. Trump called the Postal Service a “joke” during an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office on Friday and proposed that the agency should quadruple its current prices in order to make … No doubt the USPS is hurting badly, and it could run out of cash and shut down. The second story involves the Post Office itself. It contains a Slow Stick Wing, 4 each Hitec HS-50 servos and 2 each 8×6 folding prop/spinner combos. It is the lone government agency that visits our homes and businesses on most days, and with stores largely shut down, the USPS is keeping us supplied with food, clothes, distance-schooling materials for kids, prescription drugs, and books to keep our minds off what’s happening outside our doors. These bailout funds will save the USPS in the short-term, but that doesn't mean all its problems will be solved. And in November, with the virus still on the loose in the population, millions of worried Americans will depend on the USPS to vote. Airlines safe, but Trump would let post office die. Recommended to you based on your activity and what's popular • Feedback Revenue is half the income sheet, and only half the story. Don't put away your smart phone quite yet. USPS: WHAT'S HAPPENING? Then Congress needs to strike a grand bargain for postal reform—a deal that would both save the post office from short-term insolvency and align the agency’s revenue and costs over the long term. "It has been mismanaged for years, especially since the advent of the internet and modern-day technology. Politico reports that because the majority of mail is sent by businesses and most businesses are stalled at the moment, "COVID's stalling of the economy has cratered mail volume.". The USPS delivers everywhere in the U.S., which is something you cannot say for other private delivery services. Go up a step from the local post office branch manager --- I'm not sure exactly who that would be, but try www.usps.com. With the economy already in a free fall, a shutdown of the USPS might just tip the country into a depression. Post Office Banking Is Just Another Crappy Socialist Idea That Already Failed Since when have socialists cared about making a private-sector product … On one hand, it has revealed just how much we depend on the U.S. President Donald Trump will put 600,000 United States Postal Service employees out of work to lash out at Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. The law should be amended to require that collective bargaining decisions consider the financial health of the USPS. Some of the people who qualify for relief checks from the IRS will receive them in their mailboxes. So far, Congress hasn’t moved to bail it out. How to Find a Missing Package From the Post Office. A U.S. And as it does, it may irreparably damage an agency that for years has been running multibillion dollar deficits and weighted down by $130 billion in unfunded employee benefits. The financial woes of the U.S. (And Trump has his doubts.) But two of the items are the post office, and $3.5 billion dollars for mail-in voting. If inconsistent delivery or pickup is not due to office closure, call the USPS branch responsible for processing the office's mail. That’s why they so seldom show the gumption to shut rural post offices down. Studies done some years back indicate cutting a day of mail delivery could trim $1 billion or more in USPS costs annually. There are no signs that it has done so. A United States Postal Service delivery truck. If your motherboard has a BIOS chip, it can become loose over time due to heat expansion and cause the computer to give an irregular POST. haven't you been reading what people post about the place? The USPS should remain free to continue delivering parcels on weekends so long as it actually makes money on them. We all depend on it more or less, and so long as the coronavirus is around, we’ll be especially reliant on it. The delays are snowballing. More specifically, Congress’s constant interference with USPS’s attempts to manage its expenses … The most recent reason the Post Office is in trouble because the coronavirus has sharply curtailed how much mail is being sent by businesses. (When some postal workers went on strike in 1970, President Richard Nixon called out the National Guard to fill in; the possible economic calamity was that large.). This is unprecedented and extremely harsh. Which has not happened in the post office’s two-century history. A postman delivers mail during the coronavirus pandemic in Kings Park, N.Y. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images. Congress could appropriate $5 billion to the agency to use to give 100,000 of the most senior employees $50,000 buyouts tax free. And unlike them, they actually would fix the agency’s structural deficit, grow USPS revenue, lower its costs and alleviate its debt load. Last week, USPS leadership tried again, telling the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the agency needed an eye-popping $75 billion to avoid going belly up. Private delivery companies move a lot of packages, but don’t go to every household in the country; often they pay the USPS to carry small packages for the final stretch. No other government agency operates like that, and it has set the USPS back billions of dollars. In this crisis, the postal service matters even more: Tens of millions of Americans received a postcard from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently that reminded them to socially distance and take other precautions. Congress has only itself to blame for this mess. The Post Office is actually very efficient and low cost at its "core business" But it is failing because it did not shift with market needs. We'll forward your request to your local Post Office ™ facility to help locate any missing items. They take pride in their work and want to provide the best service to you. The Post Office has broad limitations about making routine business decisions that its private-sector competitors do not. If after 7 business days from when you submitted your online help request form your mail or package hasn't arrived, submit a Missing Mail search request with the following information: Then, COVID hit, which hurt business even further, and Trump replaced the outgoing postmaster general with a Republican fundraiser. “Jackson Park is a classic example of the fail that is Chicago Post Office right now,” he said. Postal Service is too big to fail. Although the COVID-19 crisis has boosted its business, it has also threatened it. 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