As the U.S. Postal Service faces financial catastrophe, John Oliver discusses why the service is so important, what brought it to this point, and what we can do to help.
John Oliver said on Sunday night’s Last Week Tonight that it isn’t email or the Internet that has hurt the U.S. Postal Service’s bottom line.
In fact, he said, it’s a law called the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 that was passed by Congress in 2006, according to some observers. The law requires the USPS to prepay health care benefits for retirees on a 50-year schedule, starting with an “aggressive obligation” of setting aside over $5 billion a year for 10 years. The law also put price caps on first-class mail, liming the Postal Service’s ability to bring in more money.
After it was passed, the USPS went from generating a yearly profit to losing money every year; it reported a net income fo $900 million in 2006 and reported a loss of $3.8 billion in 2009.
Oliver cited data estimating that 74 percent of the USPS’ net losses since the law passed.
“At the worst possible time, this American institution is on the brink of collapse,” Oliver said.
Oliver also noted that companies like UPS and Federal Express contract the USPS to deliver packages in rural areas, and added that Amazon also contacts the Postal Service to deliver its packages — which, he opined, may have something to do with why President Trump has been critical of the USPS and unwilling to offer financial support.
John Oliver it’s a shame someone like you can’t be president instead of Mr.Idiot. even though our leader is a bright military leader, he once said he knows more than our generals. He is an expert on draft dodging, bone spur. Great businessman, filed for bankruptcy six times. And he is a medical specialist, don’t forget he advises people to take injections of bleach and Lysol to clean out the lungs. Our “great” leader wants to Postal service to go under, won’t supply a federal agency with funds. at the same time Mr. Idiot wants to provide the Danish island of Greenland with $12.1 million. How much will the French island of Tahiti receive? And has plenty for his “big beautiful wall” ,a wall he told the Army Corps of Engineers to paint black. I love on how he must brag on how he is a genius and he knows as much about science as his uncle John trump. He was a scientist at M.I.T.