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In reply to the discussion: Obama admin silent as USPS lays off 35,000 workers...with more layoffs to come [View all]Zoeisright
(8,339 posts)Get your facts straight.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/166103/post-office-not-broke
At the behest of the Republican-controlled Congress of the Bush-Cheney era, the USPS has been forced since 2006 to pre-fund future retiree health benefits. As the American Postal Workers Union notes, This mandate is the primary cause of the agencys financial crisis. No other government agency or private company bears this burden, which costs the USPS approximately $5.5 billion annually.
Now, however, we learn that the pre-funding requirements have taken so much money from the USPS thataccording to the postal services own inspector generalit has significantly exceeded the level of reserved money that the federal government or private corporations divert to meet future pension and retiree healthcare demands. Using ratepayer funds, it has built a war chest of over $326 billion to address its future liabilities, acknowledges Postal Service Inspector General David C. Williams.