WASHINGTON – Today, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement in response to a new postal reform proposal, produced by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.):
“The Postal Service, and many of us in Congress, have made it clear again and again that the path this American institution is currently on is not sustainable. The challenges our economy has faced in recent years – coupled with the continued migration to electronic forms of communication – is putting the future of the Postal Service in jeopardy, and it’s happening faster than anyone ever expected even just a few years ago. The hard truth is our nation is likely closer than we have ever been to losing the Postal Service and the industry and millions of jobs that it supports. That’s why it is imperative that Congress and the President come together around a set of meaningful reforms soon. I appreciate Chairman Issa’s efforts to move forward with a proposal to address this imminent threat to the Postal Service. As chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, Postal Service leadership, and other stakeholders to build consensus around a package of reforms that can update the Postal Service’s network and business model to reflect the reality that it faces today. While we differ in our approach in some areas, Chairman Issa and I, and the rest of our colleagues, are united in our effort to restore the Postal Service to solvency and give it the tools it needs to thrive in the years to come. It remains my goal to come up with a bipartisan, bicameral postal reform bill in the coming weeks.”
What planet are you on,Carper? Issa is for privatization of the Postal Service,not bringing it back to solvency.
Let’s tell the truth! The problem with postal reform is that no one wants to give up the discounts given to the major mailers i.e. utility companies, banks and the like. Especially Senator Carper from Delaware, where corporate headquarters for some of the top mailers in the country are located. Ask yourself, will the electric and gas companies still send you a paper bill that you request, if it cost them .40 cents or .46 cents instead of the .36 cents they pay now. Of course these companies would still have to send customers remittance to collect the payments. The Postal Service is losing much needed revenue from big mailers in the guise of discounts and Congress is afraid to lose the lobby revenue by telling corporations that the discounts that started in 1996 are unsustainable. Unless someone grows a set and realizes that this dog and pony show has to stop the USPS will be on a continued downward spiral.
I agree with Scott.fl your delusional.Do you remember the air traffic controllers so called “strike”? Postal workers will NEVER be allowed to strike, period. Get that idiotic notion out of your head. Issa’s plan is just a way to get around the current blockage of Congress. He is still in the pocket of UPS, FED EX, Pitney Bowes, etc. A “temporary” board of “executives”? We need someone in control who understands that the USPS is a SERVICE, not a business. Until that happens, the rest is a downward spiral to oblivion.
They can get rid of the no-layoff clause and we’ll just trade it for the right to strike. Call it even. Watching the post office shut down for a few days and effectively bringing much commerce to a screeching halt would be bad for businesses, and Republicans are all about business. I’d like to see the management we have trying to push around a bunch of brand new, over-dramatic, teen minimum-wagers w/ bad attitudes how to get the mail out while waiting for the strike to end.
The “end” of the USPS is not nigh, despite warnings to the contrary. What would happen in the case of insolvency would be a return to subsidization of the USPS ala pre-1970 strike conditions. This would be bad for all concerned, as workers and the management would be at Congress’ mercy with little if any freedom to act on their own. Wages and benefits would take a huge hit, and so would the unions, if not totally wiped out. Of course, you can’t just tell a large union like the NALC it doesn’t exist any more, because it is a private organization and operates entirely on members’ dues, but losing official recognition would amount to the death of collective bargaining.
Issa’s bill is still against the unions and still pushes for five day delivery but does show the influence of other viewpoints for a change. Given the bipartisan atmosphere of D.C., any acknowledgement of cooperation is welcome. Five day delivery will happen, but hopefully the retirement requirement will bite the dust and the USPS will be allowed better ways to explore new avenues of business to increase profits. Donahoe however must go. He is the worst PMG in the history of the Post Office Department (pre-1970) and the USPS, ever.