The U.S. Postal Service today continued its tradition, under the leadership of Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, of shooting itself in the foot. The only question that remains is: When will the madness end? By ending Saturday letter delivery in August 2013, as the USPS has proposed, millions of customers who take advantage of its services will be harmed, mail service will be slowed, and the USPS’s current death spiral will deepen.
It is unclear where Postmaster General Donahoe thinks he has the authority to make this change without congressional approval. In making the move to end Saturday letter delivery, Postmaster General Donahoe has not only shown his complete disregard for the good of the USPS’s consumers, but he has also ignored the will of Congress. For decades, Congress has mandated six-day delivery. Congress must act to protect rural communities, small businesses, the elderly, and the disabled, among others by reasserting its authority over the U.S. Postal Service and stopping it from making such an irresponsible decision.
via Ralph Nader: Condemning the U.S. Postal Service’s Move to End Saturday Delivery.
The Postal Service has made billions in over payments to it’s two retirement funds. It’s already made beyond 40 billion dollars in prefund payments to the unrealistic Congressional mandate. Of course this money only exists in theory since Congress has always viewed The USPS as it’s personal cash cow. Since USPS is a service to the American people it’s goal financially has been to break even. It has never been able to save for a rainy day. Now that USPS is no longer able to provide free money to Congress they want to make it go away. As for Donahue, he has consistently made decisions to the detriment of his employees and to service to the American people. If Donahue and his pals succeed in making The USPS obsolete, my guess is that he has a cushy job waiting for him at some institution that will profit by the demise of this proud and necessary institution.