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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Sen. Carper: Use pension billions to rescue Post Office

The U.S. Postal Service can delay its impending Sept. 30 financial default by diverting up to $82 billion it has "overpaid" into the Civil Service and Federal Employee retirement systems over the years, and using the money for retiree health-care payments, Sen. Tom Carper (D., Delaware) says.

Carper introduced a bill in May that would allow the Post Office to make the switch. Carper aides say postal labor unions support the change because it would prevent radical immediate service cuts.

Instead it's an accounting move: The Postal Service has systematically paid more into the federal pension fund than it was required to do, according to reviews by the US Office of Inspector General, the Postal Regulatory Commission, and private auditors Hay Group and Segal Group. Carper says this amounts to subsidizing other federal agencies that should be taxpayer-funded. The money isn't free, and may end up having to be replaced by future federal taxpayers.

Carper also supports ending Saturday delivery, closing more post offices and transferring services to private stores, competing more directly with FedEx and UPS by shipping beer and wine, and forcing more flexible labor rules through changes in arbitration.

He opposes some provisions of Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.)'s competing bill, which would "allow the USPS to default" before reorganizing, impose a "time-consuming" post office closing process, and "micro-manage" higher postal rates. Carper says the Postal Service should set its own rates and target its own closings without repeated interference from Congress.
Posted by Joseph N. DiStefano @ 3:11 PM  Permalink | 6 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:18 PM, 09/07/2011
    In other words Carper is proposing an $82 billion tax hike. More importantly, why did the Postal Service "pay" more into the plan than it was required? For as every school boy knows the money is long gone.
    — Wilhelm Von Humboldt
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:49 PM, 09/07/2011
    Priceless! A Democrats wants to use private citizens retirement fund to BAILOUT a known money loser...CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???
    — Citizenc92
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:14 PM, 09/07/2011
    It's not a bailout ...Learn the facts Citzen is our own money that a law passed under the Bush Adminstration required us to pre-pay money for retiree's healh care ...THe USPS use NO TAXPAYER dollars ...So it's not a freakin bailout .... [ ]
    — phillyguy1414
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:49 PM, 09/07/2011
    The USPS is one of the biggest success stories of US Federal Government investment and operation of global business. Constitutionally mandated and headed by a cabinet level Post Mast General, until rabid right wing McCarthy tactics branded the legacy of Ben Franklin, a commie plot. Today, similar right wing cranks still attack the Post Office as if they were death squads instead of the dirt cheap and most practical invention of the Founding Fathers. Imagine, for a pennies, you can mail a mortgage payment for thousands of dollars, and the Post Office, does not demand a cut. Try making the same electronic payment, which costs 4 cents to administer, and the percentage works out to 100 times the cost of stamp and envelope!!!!! The Post Office is an invaluable service, that costs less than a candy bar, employs hundreds of thousands of people and ties together a continent via commerce and communication. They need to expand their offerings and take advantage of the internet, but Congress Man Issa, rabid right wing kook, won't get off their back. This Congressman is another example of government interference, and the Post Office needs to be deregulated from the whims of goofy politicians.
    — Fernando08
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:24 PM, 09/07/2011
    Retiree healthcare benefits? No wonder the USPS is going broke. I didn't think any (solvent) companies still provided those types of benefits.
    — Manny Yunker
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:54 PM, 09/07/2011
    Hey Manny Yunker it's the law that we make these payments without these payments the USPS would nt be in this situation we are in
    — phillyguy1414


6 comments
About Joseph N. DiStefano
Joseph N. DiStefano writes this blog to feed his PhillyDeals column in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Joe has been a member of Bloomberg LP’s New York Finance Team, wrote the book “Comcasted,” taught writing at St. Joseph’s University, and studied economics and history at Penn. Reach Joe at 215-854-5194 and JoeD@phillynews.com
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