A few days ago APWU President Cliff Guffey in a message to its members said: “The USPS is under attack by anti-labor politicians and some sectors of the business community..” Guffey provided examples of anti-labor articles written by various news websites. Well, it appears the anti-labor groups are ‘pumping up the volume’ on misleading and inaccurate news reports on USPS. Just take a look at two recent editorials:
From the Washington Post Editorial Opinion Board:
With each passing day, it is more obvious that the U.S. Postal Service’s business model is “not viable,” as a Government Accountability Office report put it last year. Having lost $8.5 billion in fiscal 2010, USPS expects to lose another $8.3 billion in fiscal 2011. Personnel accounts for 80 percent of the Postal Service’s costs, but its new 4 1 / 2-year agreement with a 205,000-member union cuts costs only $844 million a year. And USPS has to pay $6.7 billion to retiree health and worker compensation funds by Sept. 30. USPS, in short, could be unable to make payroll in the near term unless Congress acts. Yet the likeliest answer from Capitol Hill is to extend more aid, enabling USPS to limp along for a few more years, without attacking the Postal Service’s dysfunction at the roots.
The Washington Post use to be a reputable news outlet. But it seems with the increase of so many other news outlets on the internet the Washington Post has resorted to telling fairytales to maintain readership.
The Miami Herald has jumped into the fairytale business as well
In an editorial by Glenn Garvin
Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night stays the U.S. Postal Service from its appointed rounds, as long as it gets a giant bailout. Largely reduced to a delivery service for subsidized junk mail, crippled by sweetheart deals with its labor unions, the Postal Service is a good candidate for the dead-letter box. Instead, its managers are frantically lobbying for a federal bailout nearly twice the size of the one General Motors got.
Make that two bailouts. The Postal Service is not only trying to sneak a direct $75 billion payment out of the government without congressional approval, it’s also asking to be let off the hook for a $5.5 billion payment into a trust fund to guarantee the absurdly generous pension benefits it has promised its retirees. When the Postal Service can’t pay those benefits a few years down the line, who do you think will get the bill? Hint: Look in the mirror.
Adding $75 billion (plus who knows how much later when the Postal Service pensions implode) to the federal deficit at a time when federal debt is already bigger than half the entire output of the U.S. economy is a bad enough idea on its own terms.
More than half the Postal Service’s business these days is generated by junk mail that’s delivered at less than cost thanks to the lobbying prowess of the direct-mail industry. The percentage of junk mail is only going to rise as digital bill-paying gets safer and more efficient.
The USPS is complicated. Seems as though journalist pick and choose what portions of the chaos they want to print for a good story. There are twists and turns throughout the USPS all the way from the top to the bottom. It is a huge operation, no other entity like it, and one that I know predators are seeking to privatize. How and why, I havent a clue. I read stories from the OIG about embezzlements, waste, thefts, etc. But I do not hear to much about resolutions. WHAT if anything is being done about the obvious loss of revenue through neglect? Regardless, everyone I know states they do NOT want to see the USPS go away. Even my doctor. Will Congress and the USPS even consider the pubic, minus the bogus reports to the contrary, when they are dragging their heels to fix the system or will it be to late? If I remember correctly, big banks and big autos received a quicker resolution than USPS
Another editorial by the un-informed, they are so far off base, check your facts, like newspapers use to, and just wait for the squealing when the USPS has to raise the rates to delivery their newspapers, currently newspapers rates are subsidized by the rest of the mailers
To the Fake News, Flat Earthers above: Bush and the Republikkkans screwed the middle class over for the benefit of the corporations and wealthy pals. Now go back to your usual Fake News Bullshit on Bill Orally.
Tea Pot GOP TROLLS are posting their USUAL HORSE DROPPINGS about “the bad old unions” and the AMAZINGLY LAME “LIBERAL SOCIALISTS” meme that they heard Glenn Beck and the other CRETINS talking about.
The DUMBING DOWN of America is exemplified by these POSTER CHILDREN of the RIGHT WINGNUT MOVEMENT.
The CASH CRUNCH that the USPS currently has can be corrected immediately by amending the Postal Act of 2006 where BUSHY and HIS CONGRESS turned the USPS into the GOOSE WITH THE 5.5 BILLION DOLLAR ANNUAL EGG LAYING EVENT effectively milking the American Public and the USPS for almost SIX BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR OF INDIRECT TAXATION A YEAR.
It’s so simple to fix THAT EVEN A REPUBLICAN CAN UNDERSTAND IT !!
the unions have ruined the postal service.
I know my 500 plus stop route is a money maker. My dozens of leads to ebay sellers has produced much revenue.
The clowns in operations and other expendible mgmt positions would not survive in the real business world. How can we treat these incompetent half wits as if they are proven Wall Street professionals. Multi-million golden parachutes for the outgoing Postmaster Gener–Corporal.
Right on jt. The left can only use the talking points they are given, because they will not pursue truth for themselves. I’m sick of this child mentality to blame Bush and the Republicans for the liberal socialists failure. The USPS is not an entitlement program, but a large number of employees believe it is. Try this in your own household; spend $500.00 more per month than you earn, and see how long you retain possession of your stuff.
Get real, folks! The reason the USPS is in bad shape is the mgmt & the unions. One is really no better than the other.
Exactly ONceAmazedNowAmused….but the TRUTH just doesn’t make good press or aggravate the ignorant public….so, As the World Turns will continue.
1.Big V on Wed, 8th Jun 2011 – Obviously you don’t understand reality very well.
NO, an $8 billion a year loos is not sustainable for any business, but the majority of these ‘losses’ are a result of a REPUBLICAN Congress and President ‘milking a cash cow’ to pay for the wars they kept OUT OF THE BUDGET for years. They realized the USPS was doing pretty well and decided that they could just make up a ‘new law’ that requires the USPS to pay into a fund that NO ONE ELSE IN AMERICA has to pay into; PRE-funding, not just the normal funding of retirements. This law was nothing more than a shameful way to lessen the ENORMOUS NATIONAL DEBT they created.
In fact, if Congress had not written this absurd law the USPS would have suceeded in it’s ages old requirement to ‘break-even over time’ with a little loss here and a little gain there as they had done for years and would still be doing without the PRE-funding mandate.
I agree with Big V. Congress needs to reduce their own compensation, which is out of sync for public servants. They are public servants not CEO ‘s. Start with yourself.
After seeing hoe the publishers lie, I refuse to buy their publications. Why would I pay money to people to lie to me.
Hypocrites!!!!!!!!!
Someone Should tell the publishers of these “newspapers” that they are as obsolete
As SNAIL mail !!!!
I agree with the washington post, loosing 8 and 9 billion a year is not a very good business model. Just shows you how the dujmb ass’ running the place have done. Same could be said about Los Angeles, Detroit, Cincinnati councils. Don’t understand the sweetheart deal comment with the unions. FERS gets 1.1 percent of retirement per year of base pay on high three years of service. CSRS gets 80 percent of base if they work 41.5 years. Congress gets 100 percent if they serve 1 or 2 terms. If anyone has a sweetheart deal its the damn politicians.