With the volume of mail plunging some 32 billion pieces for the 2009 fiscal year ending September 31, Postmaster General John E. Potter has been left scrambling for solutions on how to ward off an enormous deficit on the revenue side of the ledger. Some estimates have it approaching $7.5 Billion dollars.
One proposal advanced to deal with that deficit would be to eliminate delivery of mail on Saturdays. Five-day delivery is not likely to happen however, because current law would have to be rescinded by Congress and that is no easy task.
Scaling back to a 5-day mail delivery schedule in order to bring the budget in line has never been about economic issues anyway, but rather a political issue…one that congress is afraid to touch with a 10-foot pole.
And, here’s why. The American electorate in recent months has increasingly adopted the view that Congress is out of control and is “hell-bent” on increasing the tax burden on the citizenry of this country while at the same time reducing the level of services for which those taxes were collected. Evidence of that voter discontent can be seen in current polling on the proposed Healthcare Bill, the so-called Cap-And-Trade Legislation and in the actual outcomes of several key special elections held in recent weeks nationwide. The voters are simply not buying into what the Postal Service chiefs in the Obama Administration are proposing.
With voter backlash about to explode from the shadows, a vast majority of Congressmen will not put their political futures at risk by casting a vote to reduce, yet another, entrenched service. Besides, if the post office reduces mail-delivery to a 5-day week, the impact on the economy and possible recovery of same, would be compromised. Congress surely recognizes that fact and is not likely to accept any responsibility for that choice. To do otherwise would be political suicide.
Meanwhile, top management in the USPS testified before congress without asking for additional funding (bailout, if you will) to fix the problem. At the same time, it strongly suggested that the problem could be solved by reducing mail delivery to a 5-day week. Of course, everyone knows, including management, that is a dumb idea. Moving in that direction will do more harm than good to the USPS and to the country.
My take is, Potter was simply playing to the political drama now permeating Capitol Hill. At any rate, scaling back to a 5-day mail delivery scenario won’t solve Potter’s budget woes, but the fact that he tried does look impressive on his resume when he returns to the private sector.
According to a fact sheet released by the US Postal Service:
· The $900-billion mailing industry employs 9 million workers in all types of businesses ranging from catalog sales to paper manufacturing and printing.
· It provides the conduit for roughly $1 trillion in annual commerce.
· That $1 trillion represents nearly 7.5% of America’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
· The USPS stands at the center of that mailing industry, playing a leading role in the US economy, while maintaining an economic presence in every community in America.
One proposal advanced to deal with that deficit would be to eliminate delivery of mail on Saturdays. Five-day delivery is not likely to happen however, because current law would have to be rescinded by Congress and that is no easy task.
Scaling back to a 5-day mail delivery schedule in order to bring the budget in line has never been about economic issues anyway, but rather a political issue…one that congress is afraid to touch with a 10-foot pole.
And, here’s why. The American electorate in recent months has increasingly adopted the view that Congress is out of control and is “hell-bent” on increasing the tax burden on the citizenry of this country while at the same time reducing the level of services for which those taxes were collected. Evidence of that voter discontent can be seen in current polling on the proposed Healthcare Bill, the so-called Cap-And-Trade Legislation and in the actual outcomes of several key special elections held in recent weeks nationwide. The voters are simply not buying into what the Postal Service chiefs in the Obama Administration are proposing.
With voter backlash about to explode from the shadows, a vast majority of Congressmen will not put their political futures at risk by casting a vote to reduce, yet another, entrenched service. Besides, if the post office reduces mail-delivery to a 5-day week, the impact on the economy and possible recovery of same, would be compromised. Congress surely recognizes that fact and is not likely to accept any responsibility for that choice. To do otherwise would be political suicide.
Meanwhile, top management in the USPS testified before congress without asking for additional funding (bailout, if you will) to fix the problem. At the same time, it strongly suggested that the problem could be solved by reducing mail delivery to a 5-day week. Of course, everyone knows, including management, that is a dumb idea. Moving in that direction will do more harm than good to the USPS and to the country.
My take is, Potter was simply playing to the political drama now permeating Capitol Hill. At any rate, scaling back to a 5-day mail delivery scenario won’t solve Potter’s budget woes, but the fact that he tried does look impressive on his resume when he returns to the private sector.
According to a fact sheet released by the US Postal Service:
· The $900-billion mailing industry employs 9 million workers in all types of businesses ranging from catalog sales to paper manufacturing and printing.
· It provides the conduit for roughly $1 trillion in annual commerce.
· That $1 trillion represents nearly 7.5% of America’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
· The USPS stands at the center of that mailing industry, playing a leading role in the US economy, while maintaining an economic presence in every community in America.
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