Postal Blues
I worked for the USPS for 20 years before I retired. It was a great place to work. Of course, like any job, employee dissatisfaction was common. That was 25 years ago, and a lot has changed. We all knew that Republicans wanted to privatize the USPS, but we weren't worried. We also knew that the USPS was held in very high regard around the world.
In 2006, Congress passed a law that imposed special costs on the United States Postal Service. The Postal Accountability Enhancement Act (PAEA) required the USPS to establish a $72 billion fund to cover post-retirement health care costs after 75 years. This charge did not apply to other federal agencies or private companies. At the time, we thought we needed benefits for people who had not yet been born. Electronic communication was beginning to replace mail. If the cost of this retiree health care obligation were removed from the USPS financial statements, the Postal Service would continue to operate as normal. Generate profits (what Republicans call a cash cow).
In my opinion things got worse after that with the prices increasing and the service getting worse. Finally a change was made. The Postal Reform Act of 2022 eliminates the need for the USPS to prepay this obligation in full. However, Louis DeJoy was appointed Postmaster General in 2024. His long-term job is Privatize the USPS and thwart voting wherever possible. This has been written about many times in the Daily Kos journals and I have my own opinions on darker motives. Here are my opinions:
The Post Office has a small post office in almost every small town, often in the heart of the community, and it also owns huge commercial processing facilities in the centers of many of the larger cities. In fact, commercial success zones have developed around these centers.
They want properties worth billions of dollars that will be sold to private companies for a fraction of the price.
Am I paranoid or am I right? How is mail service these days? We're still doing pretty well around the world. USPS has the most affordable domestic postage rates among the 31 countries surveyed..
Well, it's a pretty lonely kitchen table. So… what are you cooking tonight?
