What is the Postal Crisis already costing American taxpayers? At the end of Fiscal Year 2011 - October 1, 2011 at midnight - the Postal Service had exposed taxpayers to a potential loss of $15.8 billion. The FY '11 exposure is comprised of the $15 billion borrowing limit reached by the Postal Service during the fiscal year and $800 million in Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) payments that the Postal Service chose to not pay. $15.8 billion is the starting point for the running tally of postal losses to which American taxpayers are exposed.

Over FY '12, the Postal Service is set to expose American taxpayers to an additional $14.09 billion in losses: $5.5 billion in deferred FY '11 retiree health care payments, $5.6 billion in FY '12 retiree health care payments, and $2.99 billion in FY '12 FERS payments that they may be unable to pay. Spreading these potential losses evenly over FY '12 means that every second taxpayer exposure to Postal Service losses increases by $445.57.

Our counter tracks these potential taxpayer losses as the clock ticks…