Letter: Congress needs to return Postal Service funds
In making its argument, the July 14 editorial, "Privatize the Post Office" misses the mark and more than a few key facts.
There has been no talk of Congress bailing out the U.S. Postal Service with taxpayer money, nor is there any need for it to be considered. Privatization is also not a solution to the financial challenges the Postal Service is facing. Congress has the power to relieve the strain by correcting accounting errors and revising unnecessary mandates.
The Postal Service's inspector general found last winter that the agency has overpaid into the federal retirement fund by some $75 billion. Congress should return that money to the Postal Service.
The surplus could be used to pre-fund retiree health benefits, which Congress has mandated that the Postal Service fund on an overly aggressive schedule — essentially forcing it to pay a 75-year liability in a 10-year timeframe.
No other private company or federal entity is forced to operate this way, and the mandate is responsible for sapping what would have been Postal Service profits in two of the last three years. These reforms would simply represent the shifting of Postal Service funds from one account to another, at no cost to taxpayers.
The editorial is correct in asserting that cutting service is no way to grow revenue. To really fix the Postal Service's financial situation, Congress needs to address the underlying structural problems that are sapping the agency's profitability.
Janice Costa
Wheatland
