Post office losing money.

[bongsaway]

Today I learned something from the president's news presser.

I learned the post office is losing money because internet companies take thousands of packages to the post office and say, deliver them. The internet company is making money but the post office is losing money on the transaction.

Now I understand why he went bankrupt so many times and to think he told us before he was elected he would run the country just like he ran his business. Scary huh?

 

[new member]

Not to mention that in 2006, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act that requires the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. Yes, 75 years into the future! This burden applies to no other federal agency. If the costs of this retiree health care mandate were removed from USPS financial statements, the Post Office would have reported operating profits.

 

[3leftsdoo]

Not to mention that in 2006, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act that requires the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. Yes, 75 years into the future! This burden applies to no other federal agency. If the costs of this retiree health care mandate were removed from USPS financial statements, the Post Office would have reported operating profits.

Yup.

The USPS is one of the great organizations in the world, and a national treasure.

:thumbs:

 

[ttwtt78640]

Today I learned something from the president's news presser.

I learned the post office is losing money because internet companies take thousands of packages to the post office and say, deliver them. The internet company is making money but the post office is losing money on the transaction.

Now I understand why he went bankrupt so many times and to think he told us before he was elected he would run the country just like he ran his business. Scary huh?

AMTRAK has been operating at a loss since it started - despite the federal law specifically forbidding that.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Not to mention that in 2006, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act that requires the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. Yes, 75 years into the future! This burden applies to no other federal agency. If the costs of this retiree health care mandate were removed from USPS financial statements, the Post Office would have reported operating profits.

At least it does not have to pay for all of those postal roads.

 

[WillyPete]

The Post Office has never been about profits. It's about providing a service whether it is profitable or not. Reliable communication is a fundamental requirement of any government.

A guy in a shack in Nowheresville, Alaska can get USPS, but private carriers reserve the right to decline a shipment, if it's cost prohibitive. Maybe that's not as big an issue as it was 100 years ago, but it's still a legitimate need.

 

[Variant]

Today I learned something from the president's news presser.

I learned the post office is losing money because internet companies take thousands of packages to the post office and say, deliver them. The internet company is making money but the post office is losing money on the transaction.

Now I understand why he went bankrupt so many times and to think he told us before he was elected he would run the country just like he ran his business. Scary huh?

President Trump likes to say that about Amazon but it has never been true that the post office loses out on the deal.
PolitiFact | No, the Postal Service isn't losing a fortune on Amazon

 

[Chillfolks]

The post office provides a valuable service to people in none legal states

 

[swing_voter]

If the Post Office disappeared tomorrow, about all I'd notice is that I'm not getting junk mail anymore.

There's not a single thing I can't do online.

 

[Variant]

Not to mention that in 2006, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act that requires the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. Yes, 75 years into the future! This burden applies to no other federal agency. If the costs of this retiree health care mandate were removed from USPS financial statements, the Post Office would have reported operating profits.

We can call that law what it actually was. Sabotage of an otherwise working government institution.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Not to mention that in 2006, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act that requires the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. Yes, 75 years into the future! This burden applies to no other federal agency. If the costs of this retiree health care mandate were removed from USPS financial statements, the Post Office would have reported operating profits.

That is the ONLY reason why the USPS is in financial trouble.

 

[3leftsdoo]

We can call that law what it actually was. Sabotage of an otherwise working government institution.

For corporate profit.

FedEx, UPS & etc., spend a LOT of money lobbying Congress to destroy the Post Office.

 

[PIPEWRENCH]

Not to mention that in 2006, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act that requires the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. Yes, 75 years into the future! This burden applies to no other federal agency.

Now that is a great law that should be implemented to every government agency that can be replaced by the private sector. Either that or government workers can lose their retirement just like everyone else in this country. The post office is still cheaper than any other package delivery system. Time to raise prices. It is also time for postal workers to work like the competition. I see UPS and the other delivery trucks day and night. Of course they have to because they can't just tax the people more. I think with wireless information we should see the end of the need to deliver a letter everywhere for a set price.

 

[HumblePi]

Today I learned something from the president's news presser.

I learned the post office is losing money because internet companies take thousands of packages to the post office and say, deliver them. The internet company is making money but the post office is losing money on the transaction.

Now I understand why he went bankrupt so many times and to think he told us before he was elected he would run the country just like he ran his business. Scary huh?

The U.S. Postal Service lost money in six out of the 10 years from 2001 through 2010, according to its financial reports and that wasn't because of internet commerce.

According to an official report on November 15, 2012, the U.S. Postal Service lost $15.9 billion its 2012 fiscal year.

The United States Postal Service on Friday reported a net loss of nearly $2.3 billion for the third quarter of fiscal year 2019, putting it on pace to lose nearly $8 billion in 2019.Aug 13, 2019

The Post Office Is on Pace for Its Worst Year since 2012 Default - Foundation for Economic Education

[snip] The Post Office, like any organization, has faced its share of obstacles. These include falling demand for mail delivery, high employee costs, and surging benefits. Its most popular product, first-class mail, has plunged 45 percent since 2000.

Yet, the Post Office also has advantages, as Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute has pointed out. It has a legal monopoly and, as a government entity, pays no taxes. (FedEx, on the other hand, paid more than $10 billion in taxes between fiscal years 2013 - 2017.[/snip]

 

[Moderate Right]

Today I learned something from the president's news presser.

I learned the post office is losing money because internet companies take thousands of packages to the post office and say, deliver them. The internet company is making money but the post office is losing money on the transaction.

Now I understand why he went bankrupt so many times and to think he told us before he was elected he would run the country just like he ran his business. Scary huh?

Ummmmmmmmmmm, the post office has been losing money for decades. Their main source of income is junkmail.

 

[roberthughey]

Today I learned something from the president's news presser.

I learned the post office is losing money because internet companies take thousands of packages to the post office and say, deliver them. The internet company is making money but the post office is losing money on the transaction.

Now I understand why he went bankrupt so many times and to think he told us before he was elected he would run the country just like he ran his business. Scary huh?

The post office has been losing money for many, many years.

 

[bongsaway]

AMTRAK has been operating at a loss since it started - despite the federal law specifically forbidding that.

So could we call that corporate welfare?

 

[bongsaway]

President Trump likes to say that about Amazon but it has never been true that the post office loses out on the deal.
PolitiFact | No, the Postal Service isn't losing a fortune on Amazon

It seems true to our president and I'm pretty sure the lemmings believe him. No proof needed, trump said it, must be true. Brain death is a horrible thing. It's amazing how he can just make stuff up and his followers defend his crazy reality.

 

[ttwtt78640]

So could we call that corporate welfare?

Worse, since it was basically designed to run at a loss with a (wink, wink) assurance by law that would not happen. This is not unique to AMTRAK - many (if not most) public mass transit systems not only use public funds to build them they rely on endless public funding to cover their basic operating expenses - a clever way to (endlessly) subsidize their fares (user fees charged to passengers) with general revenue.

 

[ttwtt78640]

President Trump likes to say that about Amazon but it has never been true that the post office loses out on the deal.
PolitiFact | No, the Postal Service isn't losing a fortune on Amazon

That fact check was very misleading since the USPS does, in fact, lose money (postal fees do not cover its operating expenses) and the spin was that Amazon alone might not be getting a special deal (but they have no idea since that deal is not publicly disclosed) when compared to other large commercial parcel postal users. It did say that the USPS is charging below market rates on all parcel deliveries.

It should have been rated partly true and the BS tossed in about pension funding requirements makes no difference since it is not in any way tied to parcel delivery rates.

 

[apdst]

Today I learned something from the president's news presser.

I learned the post office is losing money because internet companies take thousands of packages to the post office and say, deliver them. The internet company is making money but the post office is losing money on the transaction.

Now I understand why he went bankrupt so many times and to think he told us before he was elected he would run the country just like he ran his business. Scary huh?

The post office has been.losing money for decades...lol

 

[aociswundumho]

A guy in a shack in Nowheresville, Alaska can get USPS, but private carriers reserve the right to decline a shipment, if it's cost prohibitive. Maybe that's not as big an issue as it was 100 years ago, but it's still a legitimate need.

Why the hell should the taxpayers have to subsidize shipping to the guy who chooses to live in Nowheresville?

 

[aociswundumho]

Only a government institution could have a legal monopoly and still lose money.

 

[Barnacle]

Today I learned something from the president's news presser.
I learned the post office is losing money because internet companies take thousands of packages to the post office and say, deliver them. The internet company is making money but the post office is losing money on the transaction.
Now I understand why he went bankrupt so many times and to think he told us before he was elected he would run the country just like he ran his business. Scary huh?

Forbes, November 2017 - "... As you browse through the listings on sites like Amazon and eBay it is almost impossible not to be amazed at how cheaply China-based merchants are selling products for: xlr cables for $.99, a necklace for $.78, 10 watch batteries for $.78 -- all with postage included.

... These super low shipping rates are being subsidized by the U.S. Postal Service.

... In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service made special agreements with the national postal carriers of China and Hong Kong (and subsequently South Korea and Singapore) to allow tracking-enabled packages not exceeding 36” or weighing over 4.4 pounds to be sent to the U.S. for extremely low rates. They called this shipping option the ePacket, and the rates are so low that it's cheaper to ship small parcels from China to an American city than it is to send that same parcel domestically. ..."

As U.S. Postage Rates Continue To Rise, The USPS Gives The Chinese A 'Free Ride'

 

[eohrnberger]

That fact check was very misleading since the USPS does, in fact, lose money (postal fees do not cover its operating expenses) and the spin was that Amazon alone might not be getting a special deal (but they have no idea since that deal is not publicly disclosed) when compared to other large commercial parcel postal users. It did say that the USPS is charging below market rates on all parcel deliveries.

It should have been rated partly true and the BS tossed in about pension funding requirements makes no difference since it is not in any way tied to parcel delivery rates.

Politifact can't seem to refrain from injecting their bias in their 'fact checking', and this has been true for a long time already..
Snopes is even worse than Politifact, which is saying a lot.