Post Office Fails Again, How Pathetic

The Postal Service has again backpedaled on its plan to end Saturday mail delivery, when it recently conceded that its gamble to compel congressional approval had failed. With limited options for saving money, the governing board said the agency should reopen negotiations with unions to lower labor costs and consider raising mail prices. The financially beleaguered board said it's not possible for the Postal Service to meet its goals for reduced spending without altering the delivery schedule. Delaying "responsible changes," the board said, only makes it more likely that the Postal Service "may become a burden" to taxpayers. How Pathetic that this indefensible waste continues.

As in past years, the Congressional reaction was mixed, mirroring differences that have stalled a needed postal overhaul for some time. Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Representative Darrell Issa of California told the USPS Board of Governors to move forward with implementing the switch to five-day-a-week deliveries beginning in August. They point out that the language requiring six-day delivery is vague and does not prohibit altering what products it delivers on Saturdays. Others like Democratic Representative Gerald Connolly of Virginia said in a letter to the Government Accountability Office on Thursday that the Postal Service is still bound by the six-day delivery and that it lacked the legal authority to make the change.

Several polls have shown a majority of the public supports ending six-day delivery of first-class mail. The Postal Service has said that while it would not pick up or deliver first-class mail, magazines, and direct mail, it would continue to deliver packages and pharmaceutical drugs on Saturdays. The plan for a new delivery schedule would respond to customers' changing needs and help keep the Postal Service from becoming a burden to taxpayers. A number of lawmakers and trade groups said the plan to cut Saturday mail service is illegal because the Postal Service requires Congress' approval before it makes such a decision.

Congress traditionally has included a provision in legislation to fund the federal government each year that has prevented the Postal Service from reducing delivery service. The Postal Service had asked Congress not to include the provision this time around. Despite the request, the House of Representatives on Thursday gave final approval to legislation that maintains the provision, sending it to President Barack Obama to sign into law. The Senate approved the measure on Wednesday. So again, as America sits mired in debt with a growing deficit, our government has failed to take a simple commonsense step to correct the problem. This also means you, Mr. President, again you have failed to step up to the plate and provide leadership.


Footnote; This is only one of several posts I have done over the years concerning this topic. I consider it a financial waste and environmentally harmful to send a fleet of vehicles out across this land every Saturday to deliver junk mail and things many people no longer want, my last post about this was;
                   http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2012/11/post-office-blues-sinking-ship.html