Inspector General: USPS bailout or shutdown

[earthside]

5. Shut it down!

And within five days the American people will be screaming to start it right back up.

The reactionary Repuglicans/Tea Party types like to say that the Post Office is obsolete ... but, of course, they are the ones who have prevented it from fully engaging in 21st century technology.

And there are some non-conservatives, too, who buy into the notion that we don't need a Post Office anymore because of email, electronic files, FedEx, etc. (The same people who think libraries are obsolete, no doubt.)

But tell that to still millions of folks who get bills and checks in the mail --- wherever they live -- in New York City or some two-bit village in Idaho.

Who is going to deliver your mail ballot in those progressive states with a mail ballot system? How will Amazon and other such companies still give you 'free' shipping? Do you think grandma is going to pay UPS five dollars to send a birthday card with $10 in it for her ten year old granddaughter?

We need the Post Office and we will find out how much we still rely on this 'obsolete' institution once it is gone.

We should pressure Congress and Pres. Obama to let the Post Office get out from this ridiculous pre-paid pension and medical care requirement that the troglodyte Repuglicans have saddled it with; and we need to let the Post Office fully compete with services for the digital age.