Video: Senator Carper’s Roundtable on “Challenges and Opportunities for the Postal Service in a Digital Age
WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, convened a bipartisan briefing that explored the challenges and opportunities facing the Postal Service in the digital age. Members heard from key stakeholders including the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office, the National Association of Letter Carriers, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hallmark, as well as the U.S. Postal Service, about the hurdles facing the Postal Service in an era dominated by electronic communications and what tools the agency needs to innovate and thrive in the 21st century. You can watch a webcast of the roundtable here.
“For years, the Postal Service has worked hard to compete in the digital age – keeping prices as low as possible, generating new revenue where it can, and taking significant steps to reduce its costs. The Postal Service needs to continue to grow through innovation,” said Sen. Carper. “Despite its serious financial challenges, the Postal Service is doing what it can to not just remain relevant, but to thrive. It’s partnering with Amazon.com to delivery groceries in some communities and deliver packages overnight in a growing number of zip codes – including on Sundays. It’s helping UPS, FedEx, and other private shippers to grow their businesses by taking packages the last mile. However, it can only do so much within its legislative and financial restraints. The Postal Service needs freedom and flexibility to grow through innovation and explore additional ways to make money in the digital age by leveraging its unique 200-year-old distribution network. As we learned during today’s discussion, that opportunity can only come through comprehensive reform from Congress. I look forward to continuing this important and constructive conversation on what Congress needs to do to help the Postal Service.”
Senator Carper held a bipartisan briefing on the Postal Service’s financial status last month. A third roundtable, which will focus on rural postal issues, is planned for Tuesday, May 19 at 2:30 PM.
PostCom.org has made available an “extemporaneous recap of comments” from today’s hearing
As long as there are constituents that need their fix. The postal service will move in that direction. Money talks and bulls@&t walks. Theses politicians are obligated. And being law makers is corruption at its finest.
Senator Carper knows what the problem is. He helped create it! He and his pal, ex president Forrest Gump. The problem is the health care prefunding! you must speak very slowly to these people. They tend to ignore the crap they make. You must try to get them to admit they were wrong! However, they don’t care! We workers are only thought of as sources of cheap labor and revenue, nothing more. As for prefunding the health care costs, it is just so wrong. how come no other agency or private co. must pre fund their cost of health care? Now we retired Postal Employees are trying to cash in as soon as we can. We don’t want to be a drag on the tax payers. Far better the money is given away to the rich in wealthfare!
As “Jesuschriste” astutely puts it, it is indeed all talk and no action. The excerpt we read from Carper, a traitor to the craft employees of the USPS if there ever was one, was totally void of specifics, and full of meaningless generalities that only politicians can pull so easily.
Sadly, today’s lawmakers really don’t need to be specific as most voters are so turned off they automatically consider everything that comes out of a legislator’s mouth pure bullshit, or they’re too absorbed in their own worlds trying to make ends meet to pay much attention. I belong to the first group, both parties.
Then, we have to deal with the FOX News right wing contingent, who are nowhere near smart enough to comprehend what they usually hear, relying instead on pukes like Bill O’Reilly, Shawn Hannity, a disgusting vermin of monumental proportions, Rush Limbaugh or some other right wing asshole telling them exactly what to think and what to say in every conversation, like a well trained parrot.
Example: a hardcore Republican I know said the reason Tom Brady was not trustworthy is because he voted for President Obama, and that “deflategate” was Obama’s fault. You can’t reason with that mind set.
So Washington really doesn’t have to hold itself accountable to anybody. Will we get a good reform package? We won’t get any help from GOP workers, you can bet on that. Still, it’s the only system we have, so I guess speaking out is better than doing nothing.
And what will happen? Absolutely nothing
Bla bla blahhhhhhh-who cares. All talk and no action