Letter to the Editor: Is U.S. Congress bankrupting USPS?

I urge your readers to contact their Congressional representatives and demand that Congress fix the problem it created in 2006 for the United States Postal Service.

In 2006, Congress decreed that the USPS must fully fund current and future employees’ pension and health care costs to the tune of $5.5 billion a year. The Republican-dominated Congress required this funding to be done in 10 years to cover the costs for the next 75 years!

I know of no business that pays 75 years into the future for its employees’ pension and health benefits. I know of no business that pays such costs for employees not even born yet. However, Congress has required this of the USPS since 2006.

According to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the USPS has about $44 billion dollars now in this pension and health care cost fund and, with compounding interest around 3%, there is more than enough money set aside now to cover the costs for the next 75 years.

Without this staggering payment of $5.5 billion a year it is required to make, the USPS would be in the black. As it is today, the USPS is in the red and is seeking help from Congress to remedy the situation.

Without a remedy, the USPS could lose up to 200,000 employees (many of whom are veterans), Saturday services could be cut, and thousands of small and rural post offices could be closed before this calendar year ends.

Keep in mind, the USPS receives no taxpayer money for its operating costs. It earns all its revenues (including the required $5.5 billion a year) from the sale of stamps.

If Congress decreed today that the USPS no longer had to set aside $5.5 billion a year, the USPS would be operating at a profit and would have enough money to pay retirement and health care costs 75 years into the future. This seems reasonable to me.

Now is the time to demand that Congress do this, election year or not. Thank you.

Duane Pitts

Odessa