Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Neither Snow Nor Rain Nor Heat Nor Gloom of Night…

—

by

Dick Hall-Sizemore
in ,

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

One of the best services provided by the federal government that began before the United States was an independent country is the postal service. Americans have depended on it and taken it for granted for centuries. Until recently.

In recent years, service has deteriorated markedly. For example, I put out bill payments in my mail box on Tuesday morning last week. They were not picked up until Thursday. Members of the Virginia delegation to Congress say that they receive more complaints about the Postal Service than any other subject.

There are many reasons for the decline in postal service. Last week, the U.S. Senate passed the Postal Service Reform Act (the House had acted on it earlier) designed to address some of the problems. Most importantly, it will end the requirement, imposed by Congress many years ago, that the Postal Service prefund its future retiree health care costs. That provision is expected to save the agency $27 billion over the next 10 years. The bill also ensures six-day mail delivery and requires the Postal Service to create an online dashboard with data to track national delivery times. Louis DeJoy, the controversial Postmaster General appointed during the Trump administration, called passage of the bill “vital.”

Both houses of Congress passed the bill with strong bipartisan margins, a rarity these days. The vote in the House of Representatives was 342-92. Two of those “nay” votes came from Virginia Republicans Ben Cline (6th District) and Bob Good (5th District).

Enough said.

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45 responses to “Neither Snow Nor Rain Nor Heat Nor Gloom of Night…”

  1. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    re: “…. that the Postal Service prefund its future retiree health care costs. That provision is expected to save the agency $27 billion over the next 10 years.”

    Is this something all govt agencies and private sector businesses are required to do? For instance, are Virginia school systems required to do this?

    What was the purpose of requiring the postal service to do this in the first place?

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      ” Retiree Health Benefits Prefunding
      Challenge

      Significant financial losses result from a legislative requirement that the Postal Service pre-fund its retiree health benefits.

      SOLUTION

      Adopting a traditional “pay-as-you-go” method would produce an average of $5.65 billion in additional cash flow per year through 2016.

      Unlike any other public or private entity, under a 2006 law, the U.S. Postal Service must pre-fund retiree health benefits. We must pay today for benefits that will not be paid out until some future date. Other federal agencies and most private sector companies use a “pay-as-you-go” system, by which the entity pays premiums as they are billed. Shifting to such a system would equate to an average of $5.65 billion in additional cash flow per year through 2016, and save the Postal Service an estimated $50 billion over the next ten years. With the announcement of our Action Plan in March, we began laying the foundation for change, requesting that Congress restructure this obligation.”

      https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/financials/annual-reports/fy2010/ar2010_4_002.htm

      1. tmtfairfax Avatar
        tmtfairfax

        This is just kicking the can down the road. If projected benefits are to be paid in full, the pension fund must be funded. I have a recollection that private sector plans should be funded to around 96-104% (give or take) of future liabilities, taking proper recognition of conservative earnings expectations. Shouldn’t sound management require the same for public sector plans? If not, why not?

        If public sector plans cannot do this on average, it’s a very strong financial signal that the plan and its benefits is not sustainable. Ditto for private sector plans.

        1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
          Dick Hall-Sizemore

          As I understand the issue, it is not about funding pension benefits, but prefunding the health benefits of retirees. Currently, retired postal workers participate in the same health benefits program that covers federal workers. In addition to eliminating the full prefunding requirement, the bill requires retired postal workers to apply for Medicare. The premiums for Medicare supplement insurance would be less, decreasing the liability of USPS.

          1. tmtfairfax Avatar
            tmtfairfax

            Same economic principles apply to find OPEBs. Putting retirees on Medicare would certainly help USPS.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Yep but who pays for Medicare? 😉

            You’re a Fed employee TMT, right?

          3. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            yes… retiree health benefits. Which I do not understand really. Are we talking about the PS share of the premiums each year or something else?

            If not mistaken, postal workers have somewhat similar health insurance options as civilian Federal Govt which offers about a half dozen or so different plans to choose from and yes, they want you to transition to Medicare for primary and then the govt insurance serves as secondary – like a Medicare supplement plan might.

        2. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          I’m not sure what the rules are. The Postal Service seems to be saying they are held to
          a different standard than other agencies.

          Take VRS – are all pensions pre-funded or is it pay-as-you-go or something in between?

          I see where private companies actually borrow against their pension funds at times, no?

  2. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    “For example, I put out bill payments in my mail box on Tuesday morning last week. They were not picked up until Thursday.”

    Not to underscore an obvious problem, but this could depend on type and location of the mailbox. If you have a curbside box with a flag, then this generally won’t occur.

    On the other hand, a house mounted mailbox will only be visited when the postal deliverer has mail to be dropped off.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      I did not realize that. It could be the explanation, but two consecutive days without junk mail seems most improbable.

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Got me there. Once contemplated the possibility of heating my house with junk mail.

        1. Eric the half a troll Avatar
          Eric the half a troll

          Pelletized junk mail… technically a renewable resource…

          1. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Don’t know renewable so much as one of the only known truly infinite substance… junk mail and this… https://straubbeer.com/eternal-tap/

            24-7 and unmanned back in the day…

          2. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            That chunk of northern PA sure is pretty, got relatives not far from there.

  3. Eric the half a troll Avatar
    Eric the half a troll

    The USPS, even with the frequent complaints (really, Dick, they did not PICK UP your mail – for <$1 it’s too much for you to drop it off..??), is the very best deal going - and is a pretty well operating organization. JAB… these ads are getting very aggressive…. you can do better, I’m sure…

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      I agree that it is a good deal. There is no other way that I could send a letter to Hawaii for 55 cents. And, for the most part, I have not had a complaint about the service, although it does seem to take a letter longer to get to its destination lately. Nancy’s explanation, no mail to deliver to my box, may be the reason my house was skipped a couple of days.

      The main point I wanted to make was the position of two of the Commonwealth’s Congressmen, whose rural constituents probably depend on reliable mail delivery more than folks in other parts of the state.

  4. Kathleen Smith Avatar
    Kathleen Smith

    Mail? My postal person takes all the mail from our street, divies it up evenly in bundles by the number of houses on the street and then puts the bundles in each box. This requires me and my neighbors to deliver the mail to the appropriate person. Good way to get to know your neighbors. Equity in distribution.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      I have heard of this complaint, but have not experienced it. Only seldom do I get mail delivered to me that is addresse to someone else.

      1. Kathleen Smith Avatar
        Kathleen Smith

        All the time!

      2. Lefty665 Avatar
        Lefty665

        I’ve lived in the country for quite a few years. We get a little more acquainted with the mail carrier than folks in town. It has been surprising how profoundly the individual carrier affects the quality of the service. Expect it’s the same for y’all too, but the carrier is likely more anonymous.

        Thanks for the good post office post.

    2. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      My house number and the same house number on the adjacent street share mail, but just we two. The postal worker locks on that number and is blind to the street name. Meh, gives us an excuse to share a beer.

  5. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Historical note: home delivery of mail began during the civil war when the Postmaster General ordered it. Post offices were fast becoming the locations of horrific scenes of grief.

  6. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    BR age appropriate entertainment in melodic vignettes…
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gzhwk4A2cc&ebc=ANyPxKpMU6Lj00rHnxcntjK0EXDFliFC3ACakljt-y5TiE_Tt2zwtDS5GZnRAZZzcIRChNNGALk2AOSW7M7FC00xJq-sIuKK0w

    **some content maybe construed as sexist due to seductive nature.

  7. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Mornin’ Matt.

  8. James McCarthy Avatar
    James McCarthy

    Will Cline and Good answer questions about their USPS vote on the campaign trail? While at it, perhaps they will answer why the voted to reject the electoral votes of PA and AZ as 2 of 147 GOP folk.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      Just as importantly, will anyone ask those questions?

  9. LesGabriel Avatar
    LesGabriel

    I was puzzled by the “enough said”. This implies that the 2 Congressmen in question had no logical reason for voting against the Bill. How would you know that since your 2-word comment implied that you did not. Very often these bipartisan, must-pass Bills are the ones loaded with extraneous spending and substantive provisions that could not by on their own.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      You are correct about “popular” or “must pass” bills often being loaded with extraneous spending. However, that does not seem to be the case with this bill. At least, I can’t find any criticism of it to that effect. The most controversial aspect seems to have been a requirement that USPS purchase electric vehicles when replacing aging vehicles, but that provision was stripped during negotiations. The general criticism seems to be that, as tmt said above, the bill was not really reform, but kicking the can down the road while transferring billions of dollars of liability onto Medicare.

      Neither Cline nor Good have anything on their websites explaining their opposition to the bill. It is plain that those two are members of that small core in Congress that will oppose almost anything.

      1. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        re: ” … while transferring billions of dollars of liability onto Medicare.”

        well, many private sector companies do that as well as civilian employees of the Federal Govt as well as the military I believe.

        Some private sector do not provide retiree health insurance at all.

        My question is – why is the USPS required to do what (as far as I can tell) , no other Federal Agencies are not required to do?

  10. YellowstoneBound1948 Avatar
    YellowstoneBound1948

    Post office “reform” is nothing new. I remember when the old USPO Department gave way to the new USPS, which would be run like a business and would not accept taxpayer money. I specifically remember that the USPO was criticized for keeping the first class letter rate at 3 cents for more than three decades. The USPO lost money on each letter. Economists testified that the USPO missed an opportunity to create a massive surplus by insisting on an artificially low postal rate for all those years. That massive surplus would be available today.

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      The creation of the USPS is an example of the sometimes schizophrenic nature of Congress. It wanted it to be run like a business, but, for political reasons, would not let it be run like a business. No business would charge the same rate to deliver a letter across the country as it does to deliver a letter across town. Nor would any business have kept open the small, one-room post offices in rural areas that Congress has insisted be kept open.

      1. Lefty665 Avatar
        Lefty665

        Wouldn’t let them do things with their rural infrastructure like bank either.

      2. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        True. so perhaps the junk mail folks are the ones that lobbied to keep the USPS as is?

        1. Lefty665 Avatar
          Lefty665

          “Junk” mail is profitable for the PO. It serves both as well as providing the recipients an economical fuel for heat:)

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            apparently not profitable enough …

            yes… the PO has address data down to the block and includes demographic data they get from the Census.

            https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/zctas.html

            https://www.usps.com/business/pdf/eddm-retail-fact-sheet.pdf

          2. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            “apparently not profitable enough …” WTF? Do you think 3rd class should pay for itself and everything else too? Please share your infinite wisdom on how the PO should price its services. What have they been doing wrong all these years?

            For the last 40+ years the PO will give mailers addresses in carrier route sequence so that you can presort down to the order in which the mail is actually delivered. It goes back so far we used to get them on tape reels.

          3. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            conservatives have wanted USPS to “pay for itself” – right? That was my point – not profitable enough to meet that standard. Got it? So, do you want USPS to “pay for itself” or continue to be a subsidized govt service? or what? Seems like a bit of a conundrum for conservatism in that they don’t want govt agencies competing against the private sector so prohibit those kinds of services but then because it is hobbled from doing that, it needs subsidies. I don’t see a cogent Conservative approach. Just can’t have it both ways unless of course we just get rid of USPS altogether and let the private sector do it. Thoughts?

          4. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            So you’ve got no wisdom on how the PO should generate more money. Just more empty blather from LarrytheG(olden retriever – the lights are on bot there’s nobody home)

          5. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            WTF is wrong with you? we all comment here – all of us. We offer our own views. i don’t claim any wisdom, just a view – like you. What is your problem?

            Are you the judge of wisdom? What provokes your Ad Hominem – your personal attack ? And for your info, nimrod, that’s a Lab not a Golden, a dog, who had way more substance than some here.

          6. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            Woof woof, LarrytheG(olden retriever – the lights are on but nobody’s home)

          7. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            what motivates you to do this? There are a few here that do this and you are one and I simply don’t understand why you have a need to personalize your comments. It’s not germane to the discussion, so why? from here on, I will ignore you , it’s the only cure for folks like you.

          8. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
            Dick Hall-Sizemore

            Yes, I know. I constantly remind myself when I get all that stuff out of my mailbox that junk mail probably keeps the USPS afloat and definitely keeps down the price of first class stamps.

          9. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            local post office has a very large trash container right next to the exit door…. very handy….. 😉

    2. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      That massive surplus would be available today.

      That massive surplus would already have been spent…

  11. Merchantseamen Avatar
    Merchantseamen

    Politicians trying to run a business. A Railroad comes to mind. Remember politicians could not make it in the private sector so they suck on the public teat. Politicians give all these public sector unions full boat health care and full boat pension. As far as I know the worker does not give a percent of his income towards health insurance and retirement. No private business offers that anymore. Correct me if I am wrong.

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