On his Facebook page Florida Congressman Dennis Ross (Republican) wrote:
Just a tip for any USPS Union Member reading this facebook page. If you think I have not had dozens and dozens of meetings with your leadership, don’t know the issues facing the USPS, and do not have a Ranking Member whose judgment and experience I value – you are as blindly partisan as you accuse me of being. The “debate” I have had with some members does not help those of your colleagues who are civilized people
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Ross on USPS overpayments:
The USPS did not “overpay” any bill. It was required to prefund retirement. I will grant that prefunding is rare, but not unheard of. Nor should it be out of the ordinary. Prefunding protects future retirees and is more cost effective in… the long run. But in the end, USPS retirement and health benefits have the guarantee of the taxpayer. To NOT prefund is to toss that risk more to the taxpayer. But all the prefunding argument is meaningless if the USPS continues to operate at labor costs of 80% of revenues. 1st class mail is going, going, and will be gone in the future. Either USPS changes its business model (and yes, reduces staffing), or the taxpayers will demand it be privatized or sold. That is reality
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source: Facebook page here – o
The place where the Congress erred in the Pre-Funding of retirements is that they figured all postal retirees as CSRS. This is apparently incorrect. The number of CSRS employees is a declining balance. The majority of Postal employees are FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System). The FERS system requires the employees to pay a portion of their own retirement. while CSRS does not! If you take away the 90 percent that are FERS you come out with an enormous cost savings to the Postal Service.
As for the Lasbor cost being 80 percent of the total outlays is also incorrect. The actual cost of labor is about 20 percent. Transporation is costing the Postal Service about 57 percent of the total. Buildings and overhead are costing the remaining 23 percent! Leave it to the management and the Congress to lie about anything and everything!
And now, Dennis, we know WHY the Congressional demand to prefund our retirement: so Tim (I don’t know how to fill out a 1040 and pay my taxes properly) Geithner can “borrow” our hard earned retirement funds to cover your collective butts when you cannot reign in Federal spending. Of course, the govt will repay this “loan”; it’s a mandate. Just like deficit spending was forbidden not so long ago, you guys will always do what’s best for the American people. Riiiiiiight.
Who’s zoomin’ whom here, Dennis?
I initially intended to go into a logical and reasonable argument to Mr. Ross’s statements on Facebook (Actually he should have a twofaced book account). After reading all the comments posted and argued logically and reasonably I’ve decided to just state my opinion. Mr. Ross you are an ass! I’ve seen your episode with the APWU head and you came out just as I said. How any one like you can be elected by the American people is not a testament to the intelligence of the fore said. What a jerk!
Low Life Swamp Scum..Case Closed!
It is very scary that Ross and his fellow ignorant Tea Party buddies could be in charge of the nation some day. God help us if that day ever comes.
Dennis Ross got “in” by the uninformed, not educated enough Polk County, FL residents….I DID NOT VOTE FOR HIM….nor Adam Putnam , our previous career representative…..I believe many Repubs are registered Democrat or Independent because Florida is a closed primary state(which I have NEVER understood)… SOMEHOW we go Republican almost EVERY election. Obviously Ross does not understand what “overpayment” is being referred to….it ain’t the present 5.4-5.8 billion since 2006….but I guess he also knows the real overpayment is LONG gone, funding Governments spendthrift lifestyles…they are just ticked off the cash cow has slowed down with the economy, LOL.
Yeah 80% labor is right and 46% of that is management last I checked , dead weight
And. What about your Grotesque salary & benefits & retirement???? You want to pick on people who after 28 years make $53k? When i am eligible to retire with 31 years Being CSRS will get me $28k net after spousal survivor benefit and my healthcare premiums are not included. They have to come out of that $28k. And being CSRS I will not get social security. And you call me overpaid & overbenifited???
Hey Dennis. Listen up I am a conservative here on the west coast. Been following you on various sites watching you make the biggest ass if yourself. You are an embarrassment to conservatives. I watched your mean spirited oversight meeting last month. I am not a union member not am I a Cliff Guffey fan or foe. But you were a total ass to him & thru out the proceeding. You, Mica & Connie Mack. And I like Mary Bono Mack. Cannot believe she married such a smug man. Back to you. You seem to absolutely hate the usps & it’s good employees. You sir have a agenda & I am VERY curious to know what it is. You are wanting to teat down this institution way too bad. Something is up. I suspect someone will uncover it. I don’t trust you. I think you are a bad corrupt man.
TO ALL REPUBLICANS ALL THE UNIONS AND WORKING PEOPLE WE WILL REMEMBER IN THE NEXT .. ELECTION.WHEN ALL THE DEMOCRATS ARE BACK IN OFFICE….
I wonder how many lies and untruths you told voters to get elected. You are an absolute idiot and do not deserve to be making decisions for anyone or anything!!!
Dennis, you are a “MENACE”!
My Dad told me once “if a politician’s mouth is moving, he/she is probably lieing.
Mr. Ross, I am so conservative I make you look like a new dealer. You misrepresent the facts terribly. Don’t make yourself look foolish anymore. Get it right………….then fight.
The Office of Inspector General reported that the retirement funds were over-funded. Any more blatantly deceptive, purely political moronic statements Congressman Ross?
Mr. Ross, I am glad to see that you have taken the time to get some information regarding the subject, Just one thought… As a Service agency that was never able to keep excess funds (changed in 2006) the postal service is supposed to now make a profit without having the freedom to hire/fire inefficient works due to congressional laws regarding military pref employees and labor unions that were buiilt on breakeven mentality. Since 1992 The postal service revenue grew steadily until 2007 inspite of the internet. The 2006 Law was put in place as the postal service had EXCESS money because their income exceeded their costs. The recession along with the collapse of the realestate market. banks and automobile companies as well as I believe 30+ states filing bankruptcy is the cause of the postal service troubles. We are cutting costs and if we had the freedom to compete and retain profits through the years we would be showing red now but we would not have a CASH problem. Seems to me that when the postal service MADE a profit congress put those funds into the treasury.. With the state’s no making budget, and congress not making budget, Did we as taxpayers request that there should be less states?? Fewer states would mean fewer politicians which would save a tremendous amout of money for the tax payer. You almost make it sound like you think that taxpayers have something to do with the overpayment or in your eyes ‘bailout’. Stamps and postal products is all the postal service is allowed to sell. How about you go to alaska in winter and try and sell ice cubes? Yes something has to change but you as a congressman should reassess that person whose opinion you respect in the rank and file and listen to the other side and just for a minute consider if you understand the complete picture. The system is in place for a reason as covered in the constition what happens if there is another 9-11 that effect the internet/phones where will we be then IF something happens? Will you as a congressman take responsibility for your part? Consider this has your internet ever been down? Has your cell phone not had a signal? Ask the people in Louisiana how they were able to communicate? your answer is US MAIL!! The forefathers of our country has put several things in place MANY of them at one time or another people wanted to get rid of but were proven that they are there to protect us.
All these teabagger idiots like Ross and Issa, should be in jail.
I wish the Japanese would buy the postal service. they would make it profitable and eliminate the unions that are ruining the postal service.
Maybe Congress and the senate need to held accountable for the trillions the us IS in debt.. maybe the hundreds of thousands you make a year are to much… not to mention all those people who run for your coffee… or the extra monies you get for housing… If you want to live in Washington DC then move there… don’t make the taxpayer pay for it… I have issues with you and the USPS isn’t part of it… Rick…
MR. ROSS, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY WROTE THIS CRAP. WHY DON’T YOU GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT! THE POSTAL SERVICE WAS OVERCHARGED FOR THE RETIREMENT ISSUE. WHY DON’T YOU REPRESENT ALL THE PEOPLE OF YOUR DISTRICT INSTEAD OF SUPPORTING YOUR PARTY? YOU MAKE ME WANT TO VOTE FOR OBAMA AGAIN!
Funny. Even the OIG did an audit and found that this money was overpaid. They are the watchdogs that most times find things not in our favor. That is ok with Mr. Ross but when they find out a mistake in our favor they don’t know what they are talking about. You are an idiot and if the people in your State are as smart as I think they are you won’t be in office much longer. The wool you are trying to pull over people’s eyes is shrinking and they are able to see again.
Best list of comments every on this site.
Reality is starting sink in, the fleecing has reached the average guy.
Tax cuts for the rich. Tax cuts for big oil, tax cuts until you and I are unemployed with no health insurance.
Congressman Dennis Ross, how do you like your free health insurance?
How much are you paid to be a Congressman?
What is your retirement package?
I got a lot done today for the American people, how was your day?
How about replying to this comment?
“rare but not unheard of” where else did Numnuts hear about an entity prefunding retirement costs? Is this the same clown that on national TV said, “I want to keep the cost of a first class stamp at 47 cents”.
Hey…just give me a VER in Sept. and I’ll leave this hole forever!! That’ll save you all $40,000 a year there!
Wow…what a jackass. Trying to deceive the American public with the same scary numbers that idiots much smarter than him have sold to him. If you are going to parrot information verify that it’s real or even makes sense!
80% of revenues go to labor….NO KIDDING clown….the USPS is a service industry and it does not make ANY PRODUCTS! 80% is kind of low any business man with a brain can tell you.
I love this career politicians. How about you people pay some things like your own health insurance and your own damn expenses! You were elected to serve the public, you did not with the lottery!
It;s ironic that the institution that Ross wants to tear down, is the one that the gov wants to borrow money from all these years! It is also the one institution that has employed the most veterans and disabled veterans over the last 50 years! What a slap in the face for all the men and women who servived their country with dignity and then continued to serve their country in a different capacity.
Of course 80% of spending is on wages and the like. We provide a service you idiot! We make nothing. We move someone else’s product from one point to another.
Ross may be right in a way. The money was more like “stolen” than overpaid. It was more than it should be,a nd it went right into the coffers of the federal government, where morons like Ross spent it on pork barrel projects to ensure their re-election. They DO owe it to the USPS.
Since Ross has had dozens of meeting with our leadership, when is he gonna get it through his thick head that the US government has been bleeding the USPS dry, and IT STILL IS, you nimrod.
I would like to amend what I just posted.
You are saying 80% of USPS costs are for labor. Maybe it’s true and maybe it’s not, but almost any business has most of it’s costs tied up in labor. Most carriers are out walking all day or doing park and loop, so why wouldn’t most of the costs be for labor. Or do you have something against people having jobs, maybe you would prefer paying more so they can collect welfare.
Since you think a private company would buy the USPS, why don’t you ask all the people in rural communities what they think about not having mail service because it would not delivered at a loss? We could close all the unprofitable Post Offices too.
I won’t argue who owes whom what money. This is still a government service that many people still depend on. What about the more than a Trillion dollars in economic activity that I was told it generates each year. When you tax revenue from that activity starts to go down maybe you will realize how stupid a private USPS is. Look at this!!
For Immediate Release
May 17, 2011
Contact: Jim Morrell
(202) 789-4365
Mailing Industry Urges Congress to Reform Postal
Service, Remove Hidden Postal Tax
Washington, DC – Congress needs to make broad reforms to the U.S. Postal Service or
risk hurting the vital U.S. mailing industry, according to testimony given to a U.S. Senate
Subcommittee today. The Direct Marking Association, a member of the Coalition for a
21st Century Postal Service — a coalition of businesses and industries tied to the mailing
industry, testified about the urgent reforms that need to be made at the Postal Service.
“Employee compensation and benefits still comprise nearly 80 percent of Postal Service
expenses even after almost 40 years, billions of dollars of capital investment and
productivity gains. No private sector business could ever hope to avoid bankruptcy with
that kind of track record,” said Jerry Cerasale, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs
of the Direct Marketing Association, the leading global trade association for businesses
and nonprofits that rely on direct marking.
The future of the Postal Service is vitally important to the U.S. mailing industry, which
supports 8 million private sector jobs. In 2009, the mailing industry generated $1.1
trillion in economic activity, representing over 7 percent of our national GDP. Postage
paid by the industry and the mailing public supports USPS; it receives virtually no
taxpayer funding.
But the mailing industry has been hit hard by dramatic over-funding of the postal retiree
health and pension system. For many years, the law has unfairly required USPS to pay
far more than necessary into the federal retirement system; payments derived from the
postage received from customers. The Postal Service Inspector General and the
independent Postal Regulatory Commission have both found that postal customers have
overfunded pension obligations for postal retirees by between $50 and $75 billion,
amounting to a vast hidden tax on the mailing industry and all mail customers.
Transferring these overpayments back into the postal system would be an important first
step in shoring up the U.S. Postal Service.
“Without this overpayment, postage would have been lower and there would have been
much more that businesses could have done with mail to stimulate economic
development and job growth. We could have employed more Americans than we
currently employ,” said Cerasale. “This tax hits small businesses, the job creation engine
in the American economy, particularly hard.”
In addition to the pension overpayments, USPS’s retiree health fund now contains $43
billion, enough to provide health insurance for postal retirees for decades. Yet the law
requires USPS to contribute another $5 billion annually to this fund. Virtually no other
private or public entity prefunds its retiree health care at all, let alone at that level. It is
unlikely the Postal Service will be able to make this payment as required this September,
which will send the USPS into a technical default.
The Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service is calling on Congress to enact reforms
that include short-term steps to maintain the Postal Service’s solvency, and longer term
steps to ensure it can be an effective medium of commerce and communications for the
21st Century. The testimony today was part of a hearing on the U.S. Postal Service’s
financial crisis held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs’ Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information,
Federal Services, and International Security.
###
The Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service consists of business mailing associations and companies –
including magazines, newspapers, advertisers and catalogers, financial services, telecommunications,
insurance and other statement mailers, high-tech businesses, small businesses of every kind – and their
suppliers – paper, printing, technology, envelope manufacturing, mail services and other companies, who
understand the essential role played by the U.S. Postal Service and want to see it sustained, reformed and
strengthened to meet the demands of the future.
Dennis Ross is quickly becoming the Alan Grayson of the the republican party. Even Daryl Issa doescnot come close to this clown. What a jerk. He is trying to make a name for himself by tearing down THE most trusted institution as voted several years in a row by the american people. The hardworking employees ARE that institution. Dennis is all over the place shooting off that dumbass mouth of his. Keep it up Dennis. Were waiting for the day you are run out of office
Btw Dennis are you prefunding & overpaying your OBSCENE congressional
Pension? And what percentage of your wages are LABOR??? The postal service is a SERVICE. Of course a majority of the costs are labor.
Dennis dennis dennis how does someone of your ilk get elected? “I will grant that prefunding is rare” Not rare, prefunding at the rate that the post office is being required at present is unprecedented and that is in the public sector. Don’t even compare other government agencies such as your own! The problem of looking at other government agencies is that most of them, like your own do not generate any revenue ie; you can’t prefund because you don’t take any money in, money just goes out to people like yourself and most other gov’t agencies.
The overpayment comes into play not in the health benefits are but in the civil service retirement fund, the formula used to to ascertain the amount of money that had to come from the post office was flawed. This resulted in overpayments from the money broght in by the sale of stamps and products.
Let me slow down here.
On the one side the post office takes in money from the sale of stamps and services. Are you with me so far?
On the other side the post office has money going out, for salaries, benefits buildings, car and truck fleets etc.. part of the benefits amount was funding the csrs pension fund. ok?
The amount that went into the pension fund was wrong. For years the formula that was used to figure the services portion of the retirement fund caused the service to put more money into the retirement fund than was required.
You still following? If this was a private company these funds would be somewhere, might have been overpaid but the money would be tangible or accessible. The problem is this money isn’t anywhere that we can see or get a hold of, the money has been spent by previous members of congress, you have taken the overpayments and any other excess money accrued by way of the sale of stamps and products and Presto you have made it disappear.
If this isn’t clear enough I will make you a chart at a later date.
Mr. Ross (and I use the Mr lightly), your an idiot. Of course the Service overpaid. They were required to prefund to the tune of 5 billion a year. Take that away from any budjet and a shortfall will exist. In this instance, the Service would have turned a profit. You are trying to eliminate a service to the American people like no other. Yes, I do work for the USPS and am proud of that fact. You on the other hand, don’t!