What does funding highway projects have to do with the mail? Absolutely nothing. But Republicans in the House are considering a proposal to temporarily pay for highway projects with a drastic cut to the U.S. Postal Service: eliminating six-day mail delivery.
Yes, you read that correctly. With the deadline approaching to find a revenue source for the depleted U.S. Highway Trust Fund, House Republican Leaders want USPS customers to foot the bill by eliminating Saturday mail delivery. What’s worse, their plan would cut Saturday mail – likely FOREVER – to shore up the highway fund for just a year. It’s not the long-term solution Americans need for highway funding or for the Postal Service.
Instead of offering real, sustainable solutions for their financial obligations, some in Congress would rather kick the can down the road. Not to mention, these are the same Members of Congress who claim the Postal Service is broken but now want to raid it just as it has begun to rebound financially. This political maneuvering would not only jeopardize 80,000 postal jobs but unnecessarily eliminate a key service that Americans depend on and support.
The reality is that the “solution” simply won’t work
These members of Congress would rather rely on accounting gimmicks than do their jobs. In this case, lawmakers want to pay for highways now by relying on “savings” from a hypothetical Postal Service bailout sometime in the future. But the Postal Service isn’t funded by taxpayer dollars and doesn’t need a bailout. It shouldn’t be used as Congress’ piggy bank. Postal Service customers, including thousands upon thousands of American businesses, buy stamps so their mail is delivered – not to fund highways.
What’s more, according to a recent study commissioned by the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission, the fiscal benefits of eliminating Saturday delivery are probably exaggerated because cutting service will ultimately reduce Postal Service revenue if the service cuts reduce demand. Since October 2012, the Postal Service has shown operational growth and is on track to meet its end-of-year operating profit projections. Now isn’t the time to risk these improvements with shortsighted, last minute political gimmicks. It’s bad for the economy, and it’s bad for Americans.
Tell Congress You Want Saturday Delivery and Strong Highways
If you agree that Americans shouldn’t have to choose between safe highways and a strong Postal Service, click here to take action before it’s too late. Let Congress know six-day mail delivery is important to you and ask your representatives to oppose using the Postal Service to pay for highways. Demand real solutions!
House GOP Plan to Fund Highways – strangely – puts USPS in Jeopardy
I hope my new scanner has Youtube.
I think highway is more important than the P.O., people need a good highway for driving, people mostly go online instead of mailing 1st class letters.