Pointless Postal Posturing

Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL), seems to miss a lot of points about postal reform in on his plan to fix the U.S. Postal Service’s financial woes (H.R. 2302).

At present, the bill has been placed on the agenda for consideration after July 4, but there’s no guarantee the House will actually vote on it.

To his credit, Ross does acknowledge we do need for the USPS to perform its traditional functions and that privatization is not an answer in a recent newspaper article.

Ross also accepts the need for a postal service and that email is not the answer for everything.

“There are those who say "privatize it." Unfortunately, no one will buy it. United Parcel Service and FedEx need the Postal Service, and the relationship is less adversarial and more symbiotic today than ever,” says Ross in his letter. “There are those who say, ‘get rid of it, I will use email.’ Unfortunately, you can't get pills via email, send toys to the grandkids via email or conduct some commercial enterprises without the mail.”

Some commercial enterprises? What about the direct mail industry that accounts for more than $9 billion and employs millions of people across the country?

Ironically, Ross may find common ground with some catalogers who feel the USPS is bloated, must close facilities and lay off workers in order to stay solvent and still remain able to perform its essential functions.

But Ross willfully ignores the fact that the USPS is hobbled by financial obligations it cannot possibly pay, such as the more than $5.8 billion the USPS must fork out every year to pre-fund health benefits for retired employees—an obligation no other federal agency is saddled with.

Is this a serious negotiating position for when his bill—introduced along with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) –must be reconciled with S. 1794 which passed the Senate a few weeks ago amid lukewarm industry reaction?

Seriously, such mindless posturing is irresponsible when the USPS is in such serious financial trouble, having lost $3.2 billion in the quarter ended March 31  and could go bankrupt soon?