Obama On Postal Service: President Says USPS Should Cut Back A Day Of Delivery

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Monday the U.S. Postal Service should be allowed to reduce mail delivery to five-days-a-week to help cut its massive losses.

The Postal Service lost $8.5 billion last year and is facing even more red ink this year as the Internet siphons off large amounts of first-class mail and the weak economy reduces advertising mail.

While the post office has cut more than 100,000 workers in the last few years it needs to cut more, close offices and find other ways to reduce costs to keep operating.

In his economic growth and debt reduction plan unveiled Monday, Obama endorsed the idea of dropping one day of mail delivery – it is expected to be Saturday – and urged other changes in postal operations

He agreed that nearly $7 billion the post office has overpaid into the federal retirement system should be refunded to the agency, urged that its payments for advance funding of retiree medical benefits be restructured, and said the post office should be allowed to sell non-postal products and raise postage rates.

Currently the post office cannot raise rates more than the amount of inflation.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the president "has offered helpful recommendations to stabilize the Postal Service's financial crisis."

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., who has proposed a bill including many of the same suggestions, welcomed the president's statement.

"I have been saying for some time now that Congress and the administration need to come together on a plan that can save the Postal Service and protect the more than seven million jobs that rely on it," he said in a statement.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who has his own postal reform bill in the House, responded that "the president's proposal is not what taxpayers or the Postal Service needs."

He asserted that Obama's plan "will certainly cost taxpayers money." Currently the post office does not receive tax funds for its operations.

Meanwhile, 75 members of Congress led by Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Don Young, R-Alaska, called on the independent Postal Regulatory Commission to block the post office's plans to close as many as 3,700 local offices across the country.

The proposed closures, most in rural locations that do little business, are currently under review.

The letter called for establishment of a new business model for the post office without closing offices and cutting its work force.

Comments

[markgoode]

03:50 AM on 09/28/2011

As of Oct. 15, 2011, the Postal Regulatory Commission will have only 2 of 5 members. The Senate R's have been holding up confirmation of Obama's nominee for the 5th seat. The 2 R members of the Commission must LEAVE on Oct. 14, 2011--having served the max of 7 years. Thus, the Commission will be left with only 2 members, and they'll both be D's.

Also, the bipartisan bill H.R. 1351, repealing the 2006 law that requires prefunding of USPS pension & health plans, has 216 sponsors in the House. It needs only 2 more sponsors to hit the magic voting number of 218.

[florenceyall39]

09:08 AM on 09/26/2011

Issa wants to DESTROY the Postal Service! He wants THOUSANDS of employees to lose their jobs! Obama actually has some good ideas on saving the postal service & the employees.. If Issa gets his way, the unemployment rate would SOAR!! This guy is a DEMON !!!

[Natassha Halverson]

06:33 AM on 09/20/2011

Absolutely cut back to 5-days. Do you really need mail on Saturday? I wouldnt say cut back more than that though as you have to consider postal workers jobs as well.

[Bshendr]

08:49 PM on 09/19/2011

A poll would have worked fine. Yes, cut back to 5 days.

[Cheyla]

08:14 PM on 09/19/2011

Definitely eliminate weekends and preferably Tuesday and Thursday too!!

[dirtydog1776]

07:29 PM on 09/19/2011

It was known years ago of the inefficiency and wastefulness of the United State Postal Service. But the government kept on bailing them out and giving them special privileges and favors.

They should have been allowed to gradually go out of business years ago and private companies, who would have done a better job, allowed to buy their assets. But certain politicians wish to curry the favor of unions interested only in protecting their own power and buying the votes of those workers who benefit from the ongoing bailouts.

Further bailouts of the Post Service is no more logical than it would have been bailing out the manufacturers of horse and buggy whips. The time for the USPS is long over.

In the long run, subsidizing the corrupt and inefficient pulls down the honest and productive, a lesson not yet learned by politicians and their followers.

[Christine00000]

06:05 PM on 09/21/2011

this is BS JUST THOUGHT YOU AND THE REST OF THE UNINFORMRD SHOULD KNOW THE US POSTAL SERVICE DOES NOT RECIEVE ANY FUNDS FROM THE GOVERNMENT ALL REVENUE IS FROM POSTAGE you should really research topics before you comment. ALSO THE GOVERNMENT HAS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS BECAUSE THEY ANR THE ONLY BUSSINESS IN THE COUNTRY THAT IS FORCED TO PREFUND FUTURE RETIREIS all they are asking for is their own mo0ney back.

[rascal barquecat]

06:09 PM on 09/19/2011

As much as Republicans constantly harp on how much they love the US Constitution, they certainly don't seem to have ever read it. The establishment of the Postal service is one of the specifically enumerated powers. Oh, and it doesn't cost tax payers, it is run off the sale of postage.

Issa's plan doesn't mention the massive pension over payments forced upon the USPS by the GOP under Bush by PAEA. In 10 years, the USPS would have to fully fund retirement health care benefits for the next _75_ years. Nope, doesn't address it or the surpluses already accumulated from it that could be used to mitigate their financial crisis.

Oh, but Issa's plan DOES attack collective bargaining, which isn't a problem for the USPS. Well, they do have to pre-fund and not pay-as-you-go, but that wasn't because of the unions, that was caused by the US Legislature. Oh, and Issa's bill injects not one, which would be bad enough, but Two unnecessary and unelected overseer groups.

Personally, considering the alternative could cost as much as a thousand times more (quick check on FedEx shows sending my mother a card would run $11.32) I'd have no issue with 5 day a week postal service and paying .50, .75, or even $1.00 for first class mail.

Gee, I wonder just why would Constitution loving Republicans work so hard to hamper the Constitutionally established Post Office?

[dirtydog1776]

07:39 PM on 09/19/2011

Both parties quote the Constitution when it suits their need, you should know that by now. Not politically expedient to do otherwise.

It does cost the taxpayers a pretty penny out of pocket to run the Post Office. In addition to the pension fiasco you mentioned, postal rates are set up to subsidize special interests groups (i.e bulk mailing). The true cost of mailing a letter is really hidden by a variety of pricing tiers and legislative law and red tape. I am sure that our Founding Fathers did not envision a bloated, inefficient bureaucracy such as the USPS. I am sure they saw more of an enterprises that was founded on sound business principles and not as a monument to pork barrel, special union privileges, job protection and bulk mailing of Pottery Barn catalogs.

[Christine00000]

05:49 PM on 09/21/2011

THE POST OFFICE DOES NOT RECIEVE ANY FUNDS FROM THE GOVERNMENT ALL REVENUE IS FROM POSTAGE you should really research topics before you comment.

[camelias and sweet tea]

04:55 PM on 09/19/2011

Our mail is never delivered on Saturday now, guess she does not like to work on Saturdays. So I could care less about Saturday delivery.