You Should Be OUTRAGED by What Is Being Done to Our POSTAL SERVICE

[eggplant]

18. I am outraged too, but let's get one fact straight to avoid the other side throwing this back at us

The post office is not like a tax-supported government agency. It lives in a quasi-public / quasi-private world all to itself.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/consumerawareness/a/uspsabout.htm

Until adoption of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, the U.S. Postal Service functioned as a regular, tax-supported, agency of the federal government.

According to the laws under which it now operates, the U.S. Postal Service is a semi-independent federal agency, mandated to be revenue-neutral. That is, it is supposed to break even, not make a profit.

In 1982, U.S. postage stamps became "postal products," rather than a form of taxation. Since then, The bulk of the cost of operating the postal system has been paid for by customers through the sale of "postal products" and services rather than taxes.

The Postal Service takes on some several very non-governmental attributes via the powers granted to it under Title 39, Section 401, which include:
•power to sue (and be sued) under its own name;
•power to adopt, amend and repeal its own regulations;
•power to "enter into and perform contracts, execute instruments, and determine the character of, and necessity for, its expenditures";
•power to buy, sell and lease private property; and,
•power to build, operate, lease and maintain buildings and facilities

The USPS does get some taxpayer support. Around $96 million is budgeted annually by Congress for the "Postal Service Fund." These funds are used to compensate USPS for postage-free mailing for all legally blind persons and for mail-in election ballots sent from US citizens living overseas. A portion of the funds also pays USPS for providing address information to state and local child support enforcement agencies.

So it does get some taxes, but just a pittance.