Updates From Team Oversight
Hot Off the Press: News, Editorials & Endorsements
Postal Disservice
July 8, 2012 | Washington Post
The postal protesters chanted: “Whose post office? The people’s post office!” But if they expect the people’s sympathy, they should also consider the plight of the people in their role as taxpayers. That’s who will inevitably be asked to pay the cost of propping up this system in defiance of economic reality.
Dunkirk Observer: Senate Postal Bailout Fixes Nothing
May 14, 2012 | Dunkirk (NY) Observer
There's nothing "right" in soaking the taxpayers - on a local or federal level. Continuing to delay fixing the postal service problems, however, is "ill conceived."
“Return to Sender” - Washington Examiner on Senate Postal Reform Bill
May 13, 2012 | The Washington Examiner
Even as it ensures the Postal Service will continue losing billions each year, the Senate bill throws billions more into the abyss. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. has proposed a far better alternative in the House. Most importantly, to address labor costs (80 percent of the Postal Service's expenses), Issa's bill would reform USPS's collective bargaining process.
Wall Street Journal Pans Senate Postal Bill, Backs Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act
May 2, 2012 | Wall Street Journal
We can only hope House Republicans have the good sense to laugh the Senate postal bill out of the Capitol. Darrell Issa of California is cosponsoring a better reform that gives the Postal Service a fighting chance to survive for five to 10 years without being a $12 billion annual drain on the Treasury.
Senate Postal Plan Fails to Deliver
April 30, 2012 | USA Today
There's nothing pleasant about cutting jobs and closing post offices and mail processing centers. But the alternative is forcing taxpayers to subsidize a bloated system that operates at a loss. Unless Congress is willing to make tough choices, the Postal Service's woes could make the bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler look like chump change.
The Time for Real Postal Reform Is Now
April 16, 2012 | The Washington Post
The Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act is much more realistic that any alternative: It would overcome political resistance to closing facilities by appointing a commission similar to the one that trimmed excess defense installations, allow USPS to move more quickly to five-day delivery and bar no-layoff clauses in labor agreements.
Postal Service Backs Off Closures in Face of Political Pressure
December 14, 2011 | San Francisco Chronicle
Despite a year of warnings from top USPS officials, the Postal Service has backed off from promises to close facilities after Congressional Democrats complained.
Why USPS Halt to Plant and Post Office Closings May Not Mean Much
December 13, 2011 | The Federal Times
Today’s abruptly announced moratorium on cost-saving measures was made under mounting political pressure from Capitol Hill Democrats.
ENDORSEMENT: Washington Post Backs Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act
July 28, 2011 | Washington Post
The biggest crisis surrounding the U.S. Postal Service is the fact that no one seems to notice how bad the crisis is.
ENDORSEMENT: San Diego Union Tribune Backs Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act
November 19, 2011 | San Diego Union Tribune
The one Postal reform bill that offers the most promise to put the system back on track to fiscal stability comes from Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista.
EDITORIAL: Issa-Ross Postal Reform Bill Only Plan That Protects Taxpayers
November 18, 2011 | Washington Post
The Lieberman-Collins postal bill is not a bill to save the U.S. Postal Service. It is a bill to postpone saving the Postal Service.
EDITORIAL: Issa on Keeping Those Cards and Letters Coming
October 25, 2011 | North County Times (CA)
Right now, we have a Postal Service that is on the brink of collapse. In Fiscal Year 2011, USPS lost more than $10 billion. Through August, revenue is down $1.4 billion while expenses have gone up $700 million.
NEWS: The Truth About the Post Office's Financial Mess
October 24, 2011 | CNBC
The financial woes of the U.S. Postal System have become a point of contention on Capitol Hill. The Postal Service is supposed to make a $5.5 billion payment to its retiree health care fund by November 18th...but doesn't have the money.
EDITORIAL: Let’s Not Bail Out the U.S. Postal Service
October 19, 2011 | Alamogordo Daily News
I am prepared to do what I believe is right and will not kick the can down the road. To move forward, USPS must deal with its structural problems, hold down costs and find new sources of revenue.
NEWS: U.S. Postal Service Reform Moves Forward in Congress
October 14, 2011 | Reuters
Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act advances in the U.S. House of Representatives: no gimmicks, no taxpayer-funded bailouts.
NEWS: Postal Service Isn’t Owed a Big Refund, GAO Says
October 13, 2011 | Washington Post
Transferring tens of billions of dollars back to the US Postal Service wouldn't address its long-term debt problems and would force unfunded liabilities on to taxpayers, according to a new government report.
NEWS: Postal Bailout Busted in New Oversight Web Video
October 12, 2011 | The Daily Caller
Without the Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act, taxpayers will be forced to bail out the collapsing US Postal Service under cover of a fake accounting gimmick.
NEWS: Issa: USPS Must Shave Labor Costs to Stay Open
October 4, 2011 | The Hill
Issa: "Greece is finally coming to grips with retiring those who should be retired sooner rather than later. Greece is actually ahead of us on that."
EDITORIAL: Postal Deliverance?
September 27, 2011 | Riverside (CA) Press Enterprise
The Postal Service needs wholesale restructuring. Congress should help the postal agency streamline operations and cut costs -- without seeking a handout from taxpayers.
NEWS: Senator McCain Offers Postal Bill, Mirrors Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act
September 23, 2011 | Reuters
Congress can no longer enact temporary fixes that avert financial crisis for only a brief period.
EDITORIAL: The Postal Service Needs Structural Reform, Not a Bailout
September 21, 2011 | The Daily Caller
President Obama finally released his proposal for saving the Postal Service. That the president’s proposal was released as part of his "deficit-cutting" package was Orwellian. That he suggests it would save the Postal Service is absurd.
EDITORIAL: U.S. "Fail Mail" Needs Reform
September 20, 2011 | Investor's Business Daily
If the U.S. Postal Service were a regular business, it would be filing for bankruptcy protection about now. So why not let it do just that? You'll have to ask the unions for an answer to that one.
EDITORIAL: How Not to Solve the Postal Problem
September 15, 2011 | The Washington Post
The Postal Service can't pay its employee pension benefits because mail volume and profits have plummeted. The alternative to fixing this could be a government bailout of the retirement fund later.
EDITORIAL: Darrell Issa and the Ongoing Fight Against Postal Bailouts
September 14, 2011 | RedState.com
Thankfully, Issa has said enough. He told his colleagues there would be no more bailouts and proposed reforms to allow USPS to shed costs and compete without federal assistance.
EDITORIAL: Postal changes are long overdue
September 8, 2011 | The State Journal Register
In the cover story of its May 30 issue, Businessweek magazine offered a succinct description of the United States Postal Service: “ubiquitous, relied on, and headed off a cliff.”
EDITORIAL: Postal Service is so 20th century, but we need it
September 8, 2011 | Duluth News Tribune
In 2011, the post office is as dated as a Cliff Clavin reference.
EDITORIAL: Progress makes USPS expendable
September 8, 2011 | The Register Citizen
“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds…” but a $5.5 billion debt just might.
NEWS: Postal Service Warns It Could Lose $10 Billion This Year
September 5, 2011 | The Washington Post
The U.S. Postal Service could lose up to $10 billion this fiscal year and have little more than a week’s worth of money left in the bank when its fiscal year ends Sept. 30
EDITORIAL: Down and Out at the Post Office
August 30, 2011 | The New York Times
The US Postal service is reeling toward default and urgently needs Congress’ help to modernize and pay its bills.
NEWS: A Trail Blazing Postal Service?
August 22, 2011 | Gaston Gazette
There’s good bad news and good news in Washington, D.C., for the U.S. Postal Service, a semi-independent federal agency, which is only slightly propped up with tax dollars.
NEWS: USPS Hopes Congress Delivers Overhaul Package
August 21, 2011 | Reuters
In just a few weeks, the U.S. Postal Service expects to be insolvent, barring intervention by a divided Congress bogged down by partisan sniping.
EDITORIAL: Postal System Slow To Embrace Change
August 21, 2011 | Mlive.com
Here’s a hypothetical question: What if the U.S. Postal Service disappeared? Most of us wouldn’t mind the end of junk mail. Magazines and catalogs might be delivered through UPS or some other private company. Or maybe people would receive them electronically. That’s what has been happening to bills, birthday greetings and letters from pen pals.
EDITORIAL: Neither snow nor rain, nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers. But the internet will
August 20, 2011 | The Economist
The US Postal Service has an unofficial creed (above) that harks back to Herodotus, who was admiring the Persian empire’s stalwart messengers. Its own history is impressive too, dating to a royal licence by William and Mary in 1692, and including Benjamin Franklin as a notable postmaster, both for the crown (which dismissed him in 1774 for his revolutionary leanings) and then for the newly independent country. Ever since, the post has existed “to bind the Nation together”.
EDITORIAL: Close Post Offices
August 17, 2011 | The Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia leaders are huffing and puffing over plans by the insolvent U.S. Postal Service to close 150 little-used Mountain State post offices.
EDITORIAL: 75% Favor Big Cuts in Mail Delivery Rather Than Give More Money to Postal Service
August 16, 2011 | Rasmussen Reports
Americans would rather see the U.S. Postal Service dramatically cut its workforce and reduce mail delivery to three or four days a week than have the government pour more money into the financially struggling agency.
EDITORIAL: Postal Service Out of Options
August 14, 2011 | Federal Times
The Postal Service announcement that it will cut 1/3 of its workforce by 2015, scrap its pension plan for new employees, and pare down health benefits came as a bombshell. It shouldn't have.
EDITORIAL: Postal Service must make changes to curb losses
July 31, 2011 | Kansas City Star
It's time to rethink the mission and meaning of the United States Postal Service. The old model is breaking, if not broken.
NEWS: Reality has caught up with Postal Service
July 27, 2011 | Kansas City Star
Declining sales of 44-cent postage stamps - is only partly what is troubling the U.S. Postal Service.
EDITORIAL: Allow Postal Service to make tough choices
July 26, 2011 | USA Today
Many in Congress still want a 1980's-style post office. Wake up. Americans are no longer using the mail the way they did in the '80s.
EDITORIAL: Saturdays off
July 4, 2011 | Ocala.com
Congress should move to give the Postal Service the relief it is seeking so it becomes more sustainable.
NEWS: Issa bill aims to reform postal service
July 3, 2011 | San Diego Union Tribune
Issa: Postal Reform Act intended to fix this mess without a massive taxpayer giveaway to rescue an angency that is supposed to be self-sustaining.
EDITORIAL: Postal Service: Is bailout the next step?
July 1, 2011 | Florida Times-Union
Postal Service could go the way of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It may need a massive federal bailout that the taxpayers neither want nor can afford.
NEWS: Tax dollars pay for Postal Service employee bonding
June 30, 2011 | Examiner.com
According to the Postal Service, an unnamed district spent $14,778 for season and group tickets to professional sporting events.
EDITORIAL: Postal Service needs comprehensive reforms
June 27, 2011 | Examiner.com
Unless Congress takes action now, the future of the United States Postal Service is in jeopardy.
EDITORIAL: Post office closure is a good first step
June, 26 2011 | PostStar.com
Notoriously in efficient and bloated Postal Service has been on a path to insolvency for years - a path greased by the explosion of computers.
NEWS: Lawmakers work to prevent need for US Postal Service bailout
June 26, 2011 | The Hill
Postal Reform Act aimed at preventing a taxpayer bailout of the Postal Service.
NEWS: Businessman-Turned-Lawmaker Has a Plan to Save U.S. Postal Service
June 24, 2011 | Heritage.org
Postal Reform Act is the most comprehensive plan put forward in Congress to save the Postal Service.
NEWS: Issa-Ross Bill to Restructure Postal Service Introduced
June 23, 2011 | Washington Post
Congress can't keep kicking the can down the road on out-of-control labor costs and excess infrastructure of USPS.
EDITORIAL: Taxpayers vs the Post Office Bureaucracy
June 23, 2011 | OpenMarket.com
When it comes down to outdated business model of the Post Office vs. taxpayers and postal workers, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) sides with taxpayers and postal workers.
NEWS: Postal Service suspends pension contributions
June 22, 2011 | Government Executive
Issa: "Postal Service, our nation's second-largest employer, is now past the brink of insolveny. This would not be tolerated in a private company."
NEWS: USPS halts contributions to federal pension fund
June 22, 2011 | PostandParcel.com
The cash-strapped US Postal Service has alerted the federal government that it intends to stop making employer's contributions into the federal pension fund from Friday.
NEWS: Lawmakers: USPS cost-cutting measures not enough
June 22, 2011 | The Hill
Issa: "USPS needs fundamental structural and financial reforms to cut costs and protect taxpayers from an expensive bailout."
STATEMENT: Carper Statement on Postal Stopping Payments into Federal Employees Retirement System
June 22, 2011 | Sen. Tom Carper
Today's drastic action by the U.S. Postal Service underscores the urgent need for Congress and the Administration to act quickly to address the serious financial problems facing the Postal Service.
NEWS: U.S. Postal Service to Stop Paying Into Worker Pension Fund
June 22, 2011 | Bloomberg.com
The U.S. Postal Service will suspend contributions to an employee retirement account to save $800 million this year.
NEWS: Government Watchdog: U.S. Postal Service must 'urgently' restructure
June 16, 2011 | The Salt Lake Tribune
The U.S. Postal Service must "urgently" restructure its operations and close locations, the Government Accountability Office said.
EDITORIAL: Return Postal Bailout to Sender
June 6, 2011 | Miami Herald
Reduced to a delivery service for subsidized junk mail, crippled by sweetheart deals with its labor unions, the Postal Service is a good candidate for the dead-letter box.
NEWS: USPS searches for more advertising mail.
June 1, 2011 | Direct Marketing News
Postal Service literally guaranteed effectiveness of integrating direct mail into marketing campaigns when it launched a postage-back assurance program to attract new business.
NEWS: 11 Things You Should Know About The U.S. Postal Service Before It Goes Bankrupt
May 31, 2011 | BusinessInsider.com
United States Postal Service hurtling toward insolvency at an alarming rate.
NEWS: The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse
May 26, 2011 | Bloomberg Businessweek
Delivery of first-class mail is falling at a staggering rate. Facing insolvency, can the USPS reinvent itself like European services have-or will it implode?
EDITORIAL: The Coming Postal Bailout
May 14, 2011 | Wall Street Journal
One thing we'll say about federal bailouts-if you pay attention, you can usually see them coming a mile away.
NEWS: Citizens Against Gov't Urges 5-Day Service After More Postal Losses
May 11, 2011 | Citizens Against Government Waste
Let the Postal Service cancel Saturday delivery, close excess postal facilities, and take more aggressive managerial action to shore up its finances.
EDITORIAL: Don't bank on the USPS without more reforms
April 15, 2011 | The Washington Post
Postal Service is the most popular federal agency but under the hood, the situation is dire.
EDITORIAL: The coming postal service bailout
April 7, 2011 | The Fiscal Times
The federal government isn't the only entity in Washington about to hit the debt ceiling: So is the U.S. Postal Service.
EDITORIAL: In an Internet age, postal service reform is long overdue
January 26, 2011 | The Washington Post
Obviously, USPS needs deeper reform. But management is largely powerless because of the federal and regulatory framework.
NEWS: U.S. Postal Service on the Verge of Going Broke?
November 12, 2010 | ABCNews.com
Apparently the U.S. Postal Service is not too big to fail.
NEWS: Postal Service posts $8.5 billion loss
November 12, 2010 | The Washington Post
The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service delivered more bad news Friday, announcing it lost $8.5 billion.
NEWS: US Postal Service Still Losing Money, Could be Bankrupt by 2011
November 6, 2010 | SD17News.com
The U.S. Postal Service released new today, that as of September 2010, it had a 8.5 billion deficit during its fiscal year.
NEWS: U.S. Postal Service drowning in debt and out of lifelines
October 23, 2010 | The Oakland Press
The U.S. Postal Service also is effectively bankrupt.
EDITORIAL: The Post Office Hustle
September 27, 2010 | Wall Street Journal
Trend of declining mail volume has long been foreseeable, but the postal bureauctacy hasn't adapted.
EDITORIAL: Return to sender, the slow death of the Postal Service
August 12, 2010 | Washington Examiner
Postal Service announced that it ended the third quarter of FY2010 with a net loss of $3.5 billion, a full $1.1 billion more than the same quarter last year (that's approximately a 50% increase, for those of you keeping score at home.)
EDITORIAL: Will Obama create the Post Office of health care?
April 13, 2010 | Washington Examiner
President Obama's words are coming back now, with news that the Postal Service is in even more of a mess than we thought.
EDITORIAL: Sinking Ship: The U.S. Postal Service
April 11, 2010 | Washington Examiner
The Government Accountability Office issued a rather bleak report on the state of the U.S. Postal Service this week.
EDITORIAL: Bring the post office into the 21st century
March 8, 2010 | Washington Examiner
Competition improves the breed, and no breed is more in need of improvement than the U.S. Postal Service.
EDITORIAL: The U.S. Postal Service: Our Next Bankruptcy?
August 9, 2010 | PoliticsDaily.com
Thought public health care was getting a bad name? Move over, socialized medicine. We have another problem on our hands.
July 8, 2012 | Washington Post
The postal protesters chanted: “Whose post office? The people’s post office!” But if they expect the people’s sympathy, they should also consider the plight of the people in their role as taxpayers. That’s who will inevitably be asked to pay the cost of propping up this system in defiance of economic reality.
Dunkirk Observer: Senate Postal Bailout Fixes Nothing
May 14, 2012 | Dunkirk (NY) Observer
There's nothing "right" in soaking the taxpayers - on a local or federal level. Continuing to delay fixing the postal service problems, however, is "ill conceived."
“Return to Sender” - Washington Examiner on Senate Postal Reform Bill
May 13, 2012 | The Washington Examiner
Even as it ensures the Postal Service will continue losing billions each year, the Senate bill throws billions more into the abyss. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. has proposed a far better alternative in the House. Most importantly, to address labor costs (80 percent of the Postal Service's expenses), Issa's bill would reform USPS's collective bargaining process.
Wall Street Journal Pans Senate Postal Bill, Backs Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act
May 2, 2012 | Wall Street Journal
We can only hope House Republicans have the good sense to laugh the Senate postal bill out of the Capitol. Darrell Issa of California is cosponsoring a better reform that gives the Postal Service a fighting chance to survive for five to 10 years without being a $12 billion annual drain on the Treasury.
Senate Postal Plan Fails to Deliver
April 30, 2012 | USA Today
There's nothing pleasant about cutting jobs and closing post offices and mail processing centers. But the alternative is forcing taxpayers to subsidize a bloated system that operates at a loss. Unless Congress is willing to make tough choices, the Postal Service's woes could make the bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler look like chump change.
The Time for Real Postal Reform Is Now
April 16, 2012 | The Washington Post
The Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act is much more realistic that any alternative: It would overcome political resistance to closing facilities by appointing a commission similar to the one that trimmed excess defense installations, allow USPS to move more quickly to five-day delivery and bar no-layoff clauses in labor agreements.
Postal Service Backs Off Closures in Face of Political Pressure
December 14, 2011 | San Francisco Chronicle
Despite a year of warnings from top USPS officials, the Postal Service has backed off from promises to close facilities after Congressional Democrats complained.
Why USPS Halt to Plant and Post Office Closings May Not Mean Much
December 13, 2011 | The Federal Times
Today’s abruptly announced moratorium on cost-saving measures was made under mounting political pressure from Capitol Hill Democrats.
ENDORSEMENT: Washington Post Backs Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act
July 28, 2011 | Washington Post
The biggest crisis surrounding the U.S. Postal Service is the fact that no one seems to notice how bad the crisis is.
ENDORSEMENT: San Diego Union Tribune Backs Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act
November 19, 2011 | San Diego Union Tribune
The one Postal reform bill that offers the most promise to put the system back on track to fiscal stability comes from Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista.
EDITORIAL: Issa-Ross Postal Reform Bill Only Plan That Protects Taxpayers
November 18, 2011 | Washington Post
The Lieberman-Collins postal bill is not a bill to save the U.S. Postal Service. It is a bill to postpone saving the Postal Service.
EDITORIAL: Issa on Keeping Those Cards and Letters Coming
October 25, 2011 | North County Times (CA)
Right now, we have a Postal Service that is on the brink of collapse. In Fiscal Year 2011, USPS lost more than $10 billion. Through August, revenue is down $1.4 billion while expenses have gone up $700 million.
NEWS: The Truth About the Post Office's Financial Mess
October 24, 2011 | CNBC
The financial woes of the U.S. Postal System have become a point of contention on Capitol Hill. The Postal Service is supposed to make a $5.5 billion payment to its retiree health care fund by November 18th...but doesn't have the money.
EDITORIAL: Let’s Not Bail Out the U.S. Postal Service
October 19, 2011 | Alamogordo Daily News
I am prepared to do what I believe is right and will not kick the can down the road. To move forward, USPS must deal with its structural problems, hold down costs and find new sources of revenue.
NEWS: U.S. Postal Service Reform Moves Forward in Congress
October 14, 2011 | Reuters
Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act advances in the U.S. House of Representatives: no gimmicks, no taxpayer-funded bailouts.
NEWS: Postal Service Isn’t Owed a Big Refund, GAO Says
October 13, 2011 | Washington Post
Transferring tens of billions of dollars back to the US Postal Service wouldn't address its long-term debt problems and would force unfunded liabilities on to taxpayers, according to a new government report.
NEWS: Postal Bailout Busted in New Oversight Web Video
October 12, 2011 | The Daily Caller
Without the Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act, taxpayers will be forced to bail out the collapsing US Postal Service under cover of a fake accounting gimmick.
NEWS: Issa: USPS Must Shave Labor Costs to Stay Open
October 4, 2011 | The Hill
Issa: "Greece is finally coming to grips with retiring those who should be retired sooner rather than later. Greece is actually ahead of us on that."
EDITORIAL: Postal Deliverance?
September 27, 2011 | Riverside (CA) Press Enterprise
The Postal Service needs wholesale restructuring. Congress should help the postal agency streamline operations and cut costs -- without seeking a handout from taxpayers.
NEWS: Senator McCain Offers Postal Bill, Mirrors Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act
September 23, 2011 | Reuters
Congress can no longer enact temporary fixes that avert financial crisis for only a brief period.
EDITORIAL: The Postal Service Needs Structural Reform, Not a Bailout
September 21, 2011 | The Daily Caller
President Obama finally released his proposal for saving the Postal Service. That the president’s proposal was released as part of his "deficit-cutting" package was Orwellian. That he suggests it would save the Postal Service is absurd.
EDITORIAL: U.S. "Fail Mail" Needs Reform
September 20, 2011 | Investor's Business Daily
If the U.S. Postal Service were a regular business, it would be filing for bankruptcy protection about now. So why not let it do just that? You'll have to ask the unions for an answer to that one.
EDITORIAL: How Not to Solve the Postal Problem
September 15, 2011 | The Washington Post
The Postal Service can't pay its employee pension benefits because mail volume and profits have plummeted. The alternative to fixing this could be a government bailout of the retirement fund later.
EDITORIAL: Darrell Issa and the Ongoing Fight Against Postal Bailouts
September 14, 2011 | RedState.com
Thankfully, Issa has said enough. He told his colleagues there would be no more bailouts and proposed reforms to allow USPS to shed costs and compete without federal assistance.
EDITORIAL: Postal changes are long overdue
September 8, 2011 | The State Journal Register
In the cover story of its May 30 issue, Businessweek magazine offered a succinct description of the United States Postal Service: “ubiquitous, relied on, and headed off a cliff.”
EDITORIAL: Postal Service is so 20th century, but we need it
September 8, 2011 | Duluth News Tribune
In 2011, the post office is as dated as a Cliff Clavin reference.
EDITORIAL: Progress makes USPS expendable
September 8, 2011 | The Register Citizen
“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds…” but a $5.5 billion debt just might.
NEWS: Postal Service Warns It Could Lose $10 Billion This Year
September 5, 2011 | The Washington Post
The U.S. Postal Service could lose up to $10 billion this fiscal year and have little more than a week’s worth of money left in the bank when its fiscal year ends Sept. 30
EDITORIAL: Down and Out at the Post Office
August 30, 2011 | The New York Times
The US Postal service is reeling toward default and urgently needs Congress’ help to modernize and pay its bills.
NEWS: A Trail Blazing Postal Service?
August 22, 2011 | Gaston Gazette
There’s good bad news and good news in Washington, D.C., for the U.S. Postal Service, a semi-independent federal agency, which is only slightly propped up with tax dollars.
NEWS: USPS Hopes Congress Delivers Overhaul Package
August 21, 2011 | Reuters
In just a few weeks, the U.S. Postal Service expects to be insolvent, barring intervention by a divided Congress bogged down by partisan sniping.
EDITORIAL: Postal System Slow To Embrace Change
August 21, 2011 | Mlive.com
Here’s a hypothetical question: What if the U.S. Postal Service disappeared? Most of us wouldn’t mind the end of junk mail. Magazines and catalogs might be delivered through UPS or some other private company. Or maybe people would receive them electronically. That’s what has been happening to bills, birthday greetings and letters from pen pals.
EDITORIAL: Neither snow nor rain, nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers. But the internet will
August 20, 2011 | The Economist
The US Postal Service has an unofficial creed (above) that harks back to Herodotus, who was admiring the Persian empire’s stalwart messengers. Its own history is impressive too, dating to a royal licence by William and Mary in 1692, and including Benjamin Franklin as a notable postmaster, both for the crown (which dismissed him in 1774 for his revolutionary leanings) and then for the newly independent country. Ever since, the post has existed “to bind the Nation together”.
EDITORIAL: Close Post Offices
August 17, 2011 | The Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia leaders are huffing and puffing over plans by the insolvent U.S. Postal Service to close 150 little-used Mountain State post offices.
EDITORIAL: 75% Favor Big Cuts in Mail Delivery Rather Than Give More Money to Postal Service
August 16, 2011 | Rasmussen Reports
Americans would rather see the U.S. Postal Service dramatically cut its workforce and reduce mail delivery to three or four days a week than have the government pour more money into the financially struggling agency.
EDITORIAL: Postal Service Out of Options
August 14, 2011 | Federal Times
The Postal Service announcement that it will cut 1/3 of its workforce by 2015, scrap its pension plan for new employees, and pare down health benefits came as a bombshell. It shouldn't have.
EDITORIAL: Postal Service must make changes to curb losses
July 31, 2011 | Kansas City Star
It's time to rethink the mission and meaning of the United States Postal Service. The old model is breaking, if not broken.
NEWS: Reality has caught up with Postal Service
July 27, 2011 | Kansas City Star
Declining sales of 44-cent postage stamps - is only partly what is troubling the U.S. Postal Service.
EDITORIAL: Allow Postal Service to make tough choices
July 26, 2011 | USA Today
Many in Congress still want a 1980's-style post office. Wake up. Americans are no longer using the mail the way they did in the '80s.
EDITORIAL: Saturdays off
July 4, 2011 | Ocala.com
Congress should move to give the Postal Service the relief it is seeking so it becomes more sustainable.
NEWS: Issa bill aims to reform postal service
July 3, 2011 | San Diego Union Tribune
Issa: Postal Reform Act intended to fix this mess without a massive taxpayer giveaway to rescue an angency that is supposed to be self-sustaining.
EDITORIAL: Postal Service: Is bailout the next step?
July 1, 2011 | Florida Times-Union
Postal Service could go the way of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It may need a massive federal bailout that the taxpayers neither want nor can afford.
NEWS: Tax dollars pay for Postal Service employee bonding
June 30, 2011 | Examiner.com
According to the Postal Service, an unnamed district spent $14,778 for season and group tickets to professional sporting events.
EDITORIAL: Postal Service needs comprehensive reforms
June 27, 2011 | Examiner.com
Unless Congress takes action now, the future of the United States Postal Service is in jeopardy.
EDITORIAL: Post office closure is a good first step
June, 26 2011 | PostStar.com
Notoriously in efficient and bloated Postal Service has been on a path to insolvency for years - a path greased by the explosion of computers.
NEWS: Lawmakers work to prevent need for US Postal Service bailout
June 26, 2011 | The Hill
Postal Reform Act aimed at preventing a taxpayer bailout of the Postal Service.
NEWS: Businessman-Turned-Lawmaker Has a Plan to Save U.S. Postal Service
June 24, 2011 | Heritage.org
Postal Reform Act is the most comprehensive plan put forward in Congress to save the Postal Service.
NEWS: Issa-Ross Bill to Restructure Postal Service Introduced
June 23, 2011 | Washington Post
Congress can't keep kicking the can down the road on out-of-control labor costs and excess infrastructure of USPS.
EDITORIAL: Taxpayers vs the Post Office Bureaucracy
June 23, 2011 | OpenMarket.com
When it comes down to outdated business model of the Post Office vs. taxpayers and postal workers, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) sides with taxpayers and postal workers.
NEWS: Postal Service suspends pension contributions
June 22, 2011 | Government Executive
Issa: "Postal Service, our nation's second-largest employer, is now past the brink of insolveny. This would not be tolerated in a private company."
NEWS: USPS halts contributions to federal pension fund
June 22, 2011 | PostandParcel.com
The cash-strapped US Postal Service has alerted the federal government that it intends to stop making employer's contributions into the federal pension fund from Friday.
NEWS: Lawmakers: USPS cost-cutting measures not enough
June 22, 2011 | The Hill
Issa: "USPS needs fundamental structural and financial reforms to cut costs and protect taxpayers from an expensive bailout."
STATEMENT: Carper Statement on Postal Stopping Payments into Federal Employees Retirement System
June 22, 2011 | Sen. Tom Carper
Today's drastic action by the U.S. Postal Service underscores the urgent need for Congress and the Administration to act quickly to address the serious financial problems facing the Postal Service.
NEWS: U.S. Postal Service to Stop Paying Into Worker Pension Fund
June 22, 2011 | Bloomberg.com
The U.S. Postal Service will suspend contributions to an employee retirement account to save $800 million this year.
NEWS: Government Watchdog: U.S. Postal Service must 'urgently' restructure
June 16, 2011 | The Salt Lake Tribune
The U.S. Postal Service must "urgently" restructure its operations and close locations, the Government Accountability Office said.
EDITORIAL: Return Postal Bailout to Sender
June 6, 2011 | Miami Herald
Reduced to a delivery service for subsidized junk mail, crippled by sweetheart deals with its labor unions, the Postal Service is a good candidate for the dead-letter box.
NEWS: USPS searches for more advertising mail.
June 1, 2011 | Direct Marketing News
Postal Service literally guaranteed effectiveness of integrating direct mail into marketing campaigns when it launched a postage-back assurance program to attract new business.
NEWS: 11 Things You Should Know About The U.S. Postal Service Before It Goes Bankrupt
May 31, 2011 | BusinessInsider.com
United States Postal Service hurtling toward insolvency at an alarming rate.
NEWS: The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse
May 26, 2011 | Bloomberg Businessweek
Delivery of first-class mail is falling at a staggering rate. Facing insolvency, can the USPS reinvent itself like European services have-or will it implode?
EDITORIAL: The Coming Postal Bailout
May 14, 2011 | Wall Street Journal
One thing we'll say about federal bailouts-if you pay attention, you can usually see them coming a mile away.
NEWS: Citizens Against Gov't Urges 5-Day Service After More Postal Losses
May 11, 2011 | Citizens Against Government Waste
Let the Postal Service cancel Saturday delivery, close excess postal facilities, and take more aggressive managerial action to shore up its finances.
EDITORIAL: Don't bank on the USPS without more reforms
April 15, 2011 | The Washington Post
Postal Service is the most popular federal agency but under the hood, the situation is dire.
EDITORIAL: The coming postal service bailout
April 7, 2011 | The Fiscal Times
The federal government isn't the only entity in Washington about to hit the debt ceiling: So is the U.S. Postal Service.
EDITORIAL: In an Internet age, postal service reform is long overdue
January 26, 2011 | The Washington Post
Obviously, USPS needs deeper reform. But management is largely powerless because of the federal and regulatory framework.
NEWS: U.S. Postal Service on the Verge of Going Broke?
November 12, 2010 | ABCNews.com
Apparently the U.S. Postal Service is not too big to fail.
NEWS: Postal Service posts $8.5 billion loss
November 12, 2010 | The Washington Post
The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service delivered more bad news Friday, announcing it lost $8.5 billion.
NEWS: US Postal Service Still Losing Money, Could be Bankrupt by 2011
November 6, 2010 | SD17News.com
The U.S. Postal Service released new today, that as of September 2010, it had a 8.5 billion deficit during its fiscal year.
NEWS: U.S. Postal Service drowning in debt and out of lifelines
October 23, 2010 | The Oakland Press
The U.S. Postal Service also is effectively bankrupt.
EDITORIAL: The Post Office Hustle
September 27, 2010 | Wall Street Journal
Trend of declining mail volume has long been foreseeable, but the postal bureauctacy hasn't adapted.
EDITORIAL: Return to sender, the slow death of the Postal Service
August 12, 2010 | Washington Examiner
Postal Service announced that it ended the third quarter of FY2010 with a net loss of $3.5 billion, a full $1.1 billion more than the same quarter last year (that's approximately a 50% increase, for those of you keeping score at home.)
EDITORIAL: Will Obama create the Post Office of health care?
April 13, 2010 | Washington Examiner
President Obama's words are coming back now, with news that the Postal Service is in even more of a mess than we thought.
EDITORIAL: Sinking Ship: The U.S. Postal Service
April 11, 2010 | Washington Examiner
The Government Accountability Office issued a rather bleak report on the state of the U.S. Postal Service this week.
EDITORIAL: Bring the post office into the 21st century
March 8, 2010 | Washington Examiner
Competition improves the breed, and no breed is more in need of improvement than the U.S. Postal Service.
EDITORIAL: The U.S. Postal Service: Our Next Bankruptcy?
August 9, 2010 | PoliticsDaily.com
Thought public health care was getting a bad name? Move over, socialized medicine. We have another problem on our hands.