Senator Carper introduces legislation to virtually end the USPS

[Omaha Steve]

Source: NH Labor News

By Bill Brickley

Democratic Senator Tom Carper has moved the Postal Service one big step closer to extinction this weekend by introducing his new Postal Reform Act S 1486. Mr Carper a long time ally of wealthy corporate interests intends to drive the stake into the heart of the worlds best Postal Service. His bill on many levels closely resembles Congressman Issa’s HR 2748 which passed out of a House committee 10 days ago on a party line vote, with only GOP support.

Carper’s S 1486 will allow the elimination of Saturday delivery in just one year. That itself will put the USPS in a death spiral. Cutting service is clearly not the way to compete in a 21st economy. Cutting 16% of the USPS services to save at most 3% of the budget doesn’t seem to be a rational strategy. Saving any money itself is in question as studies have shown that losing Saturday delivery would reduce mail volume by 7.7% that itself would result in a revenue loss of $5.3 Billion far exceeding the money projected to be saved by cutting a day of delivery.

Other aspects of this bill that would harm the American public is that this bill requires the Postal Service to change your mode of delivery to the deivery mode “that is most cost – effective and in the best long-term interest of the Postal Service” This may save the Postal Service some delivery time but to force elderly people into a situation where it will be difficult for them to retrieve their mail in the harsh winter or sweltering summer is not a matter that a civilized society should put a price on.

This Senate bill also removes safeguards for rural customers that have been in place to guarantee them reasonable access to a post office. There will be no limit on how far you must travel to get to your “local” post office. I guess for Mr Carper being a Senator from Delaware that issue does not resonate with him.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://nhlabornews.com/2013/08/senator-carper-introduces-legislation-to-virtually-end-the-usps/

---

About Bill Brickley

Bill is a member of the National Association of Letter Carriers, serving on the NH Letter Carrier Executive Board as CD1 Legislative Liaison. Also serves on the NH AFL-CIO Executive Board. Former NH Area Coordinator Amnesty International and NH Labor News Blogger Follow him on twitter @BillBrickley

[heaven05]

1. democrat

from delaware. Man what a sold out jerk. I hope it dies in committee. I a retired USPS worker and very proud of the service we provide to the american citizen.

[NOLALady]

38. Hey,

Another retired USPS worker here

[heaven05]

44. way

things are going, maybe we're the lucky ones. Hey, you made it through, you got my respect. backatcha

[NOLALady]

74. It seems

that we (including my hubby) got in at the right time and out at the right time. Thank Heavens!

[heaven05]

75. 10-4

on that. I salute hubby also.

[Harmony Blue]

40. I agree what a jerk

What the hell is wrong with Democrats lately?

[woodsprite]

48. One of the founders of the DLC -- but for DE he's been better than someone like "the witch" n/t

[blkmusclmachine]

56. Pure, bi-partisan gold.

[yurbud]

64. not every Democrat is a progressive

[NHLabor]

2. Be sure to follow us

Together we can fight back against legislation like this that is designed to break up the USPS and feed it to the hungry privatization wolves.

Be sure to follow the NH Labor News at NHlabornews.com, Twitter:@NHLabor_News, or on Facebook/NHlabornews.

Thanks again steve for posting!

[CTyankee]

70. Wasn't the USPS stipulated in the U.S. Constitution?

I thought it had special status but maybe I'm wrong.

I don't see how the Tea Partiers or other conservatives can be so oblivious to something stipulated by the founders. I thought they were all about "original intent" and all that...

[Angleae]

72. It is allowed but not required.

Article I, Section 8 states that congress has the ability "To establish Post Offices and post Roads" but is under no obligation to actually do so.

[CTyankee]

73. thanks for the clarification.

[diabeticman]

3. And YET another so-call Democrat stabs us in the back!

[winterpark]

19. Sometimes I stop and wonder why 1/2 the dems in the senate and house don't just get

real with their constituents and put R next to their name, because nothing they do represents the D platform or goals

[blkmusclmachine]

57. And that includes the Big One at the top.

No change.

[jwirr]

4. What chance does this bill have of reaching the president?

[hobbit709]

5. It's getting harder and harder to tell a D from a R.

[blkmusclmachine]

58. +1000.

1 Party, 2 Faces

[niyad]

6. kick for visibility

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

7. I am shocked by this!! I expected this from the Republicans who have been trying to destroy

the Postal Service for a long time now.

[RC]

15. You didn't think there was anything to the "no difference" phrase?

Surprise, it's based on reality. It is only a matter of degrees, all Right.

How could it not be?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

52. I think there are liberals, moderates, and conservatives in the Democratic Party

and that's our blessing and our problem. I don't think there's much of a difference between conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans. But I do think that, by and large, there are very real differences between the two major parties.

I'm not down with this "no difference" crap. We have wonderful progressives in the Democratic Party.

If you don't think there's a difference between the two political parties, then I'm not sure why you're on Democratic Underground.

[blkmusclmachine]

59. Bloodless coup.

No change.

[Jerry442]

8. Since the 1% don't need the USPS for anything, it's clearly obsolete and should be shut down. NT

[rdking647]

9. in order to save the post office

what really needs to be done is rates need to be raised. a lot
here are first class stamp rates in the rest of the world

UK .72
germany .75
canada ,57
japan .90
italy .82
france .82
netherlands .63
us .46

of course raising rates to match those in the rest if the developed worl is politically not possible

[Orrex]

14. If we paid $1.00 for a first-class stamp it would still be a bargain

You're right about the political obstacles confronting such an increase, but it would be well worth the price of the stamp.

[ceonupe]

17. But most of those countries

Have changes already we are just starting to make. For one they are much more dense populations. They have long had cluster boxes and in some of those countries Saturday delivery cost extra.

Also raising price will also reduce volume especially the junk mail as more and more directed advertising goes digital and more specificly mobile with geo-location.

But yes something has to change or the service will continue to lose money and eventually may not be able pay for its liabilities.

The extra payments it has to make on pensions is sucking money out of it but if it fails those extra payments still won't cover the liabilities.

Personally I'm cool with making Saturday delivery only for premium services and encouraging cluster mailboxes (but I understand the issues with elderly ).

Also while I hate it when ups/FedEx offloads a package to them for final delivery I see this as a way USPS can remain profitable. They already have the feet on the ground touching all of these addresses almost daily so it makes sense. And now that the USPS has updated its processes and technology I hope they form more partnerships like this. USPS has lots of potentional but the future for it may be quite different from letter delivery of the past.

[Fuddnik]

22. Wrong.

Got a link to the claim that those other countries have already made the changes we're just starting to make?

And a fact: The Postal Service would be turning a profit, if it weren't for legislation that requires them to fund pensions and health care 75 years down the road. In other words, for employees who won't be born for another 20 years.

[ceonupe]

24. Easy

In the UK most already live in dense population and their mail system never was always door to door. They have cluste mailboxes for a while I visited a nebihorhood built in the late 60/70s and there was a community mail center sort of like what you have in an apartment complex.

You are right about them having to fund out the pension to such a crazy level. No other governmental agency or group has this legal binding requirement.

But I'm not aginst the service modernizing. They have te best door to door delivery network in the whole world. I could see amazon and other e-retailers partnering to do next day delivery from regional distribution centers. Things like this would be great but not sure congress would let USPS really compete with ups/fedex

[enlightenment]

28. My son lives in New Cross (London)

and gets door delivery of his mail. Cluster boxes are not consistent.

[ceonupe]

29. Not yet

But just like what's is being proposed her its happening there.

My biggest problem with them is for the elderly and those not able to easily retrieve the mail.

[enlightenment]

30. Won't disagree with your concerns! nt

[tazkcmo]

47. In Furfeld, Germany

You must go to the post office to get your mail. Nobody has a curbside mailbox. That was 1976.

[YOHABLO]

50. Yes, this is the major knife in the back of the USPS. It's an outrage and should be done away with.

[Posteritatis]

34. Yeah, us Canadians sure are crammed in here, cheek to jowl.. (nt)

[ceonupe]

35. You guys have a system that works for you

That's great our system could be great but there are power that be on both sides that have an investment in how things are currently and they will fight changes.

Right now one problem is the postage is too cheap for the service they are delivering and the large legacy costs they carry. People say don't raise the rate because people will send less mail. While this may be true technology is already rapidly reducing the amount of mail and changing the type of mail being sent.

Most people don't pay bills by check via the mail any more. Now it's ebanking, transfers and autodrafts. But in our business we get packages daily from the USPS that are originally sent ups/FedEx. This seams to be the trend I know my drive complains about the packages and hates having to actually get buzzed in the entry door vs just slipping it in a slot like the flat mail.

[KamaAina]

45. Canada has a much more dense population?

Eh?

[geek tragedy]

10. There's no excuse for Carper being in the Senate. He represents a deep blue state nt

[meow2u3]

12. Carper needs a primary challenger

The more pro-worker, the better. This DINO needs to go.

[blkmusclmachine]

60. +1000.

No more DLC/NEW DEMS/Third Way/bipartisan/Centrist/Blue Dog a$$hole$.

[Enthusiast]

65. PLUS ONE! nt

[SoapBox]

11. K & R

[historylovr]

13. K & R

[glinda]

16. k & R n/t

[librechik]

18. gun control suggestion--Democrats quit shooting yourselves in the foot!

kick this guy to the curb, 2014. Or whenever, since he's a SENATOR!

[dragonlady]

20. Re-elected in 2012 with 66% of the vote

Your "whenever" would be 2018. Next best choice: flood his office with demands to help the USPS, not hurt it.

[librechik]

21. ok--but once these guys are bought they seem to stay bought.

They are there to obstruct citizen aspect to government, not improve it. We have to come up with some other solution for the entrenched corporate weasel. Money seems to work, wish we had some more. Or alternatively that we had public financing which makes big money irrelevant.

I know, dream on.

[mtasselin]

23. vote

It is time to vote this piece of shit out, he is a dino and the time has come people like this must go. How much money is he getting from Fed Ex and UPS?

[blkmusclmachine]

61. FedEx and UPS?

Who else?

[kestrel91316]

25. With friends like this, who needs enemies?

[PennyK]

26. Makes me so angry!

I dashed off my message to him pronto! I have a post office right across the street from me, and it's a bustling, lively business. Can't imagine what folks would do without it.

[Koios]

27. Folks and businesses depend on USPS ...

... plus it's the one government service specifically stated in the Constitution.

[Blue Idaho]

31. Complete Insanity.

I really do not understand why this turncoat and the rest of the millionaire congress critters hate the Post Office so much. Really, what the hell? The Post Office costs congress nothing and provides Americans with real value for money. Imagine, for the cost of a postage stamp I am guaranteed hand delivery of an item to any address anywhere in the United States. Now that's service! in contrast - there are small towns here in Idaho the FedEx and UPS refuse to deliver to due to their size and remote locations. Think these duly elected idiots care about small town America? Not on your life.

I say let's take a popularity pole between the Post Office and Congress and who ever loses gets closed down and the bastards get sent home permanently.

[NOLALady]

36. I think the hate for the USPS

is because they still have a strong Union.

[blkmusclmachine]

62. Anti-Unionism in the (D)'s has ascended, along with the Senator from ILL.

[Enthusiast]

66. I think you nailed it.............nt

[lolly]

37. They hate the post office because it works

It is an example of a government service that works well.

Also, it is a source of decent jobs--it's one avenue for working class folks to move into the middle class. They would much rather have those jobs be minimum wage, with the difference going to a private corporation.

They have the same beef with public schools. It's been a solid source of upwardly mobile employment for generations--they're sensing a chance to cut off those jobs and eliminate one more chance for the working class to get ahead.

[Harmony Blue]

41. +1 Exactly

if a government service works they attack it anyway they can.

[blkmusclmachine]

63. +1000.

No change.

[liberal N proud]

32. Wealthy corporate interests!

Privatize, privatize, privatize, that is the only solution the republicans have for any problem.

[Gregorian]

33. Too many sick people in office. Why are damaged children representing us?

I wanted to post an original topic, but I have too much going on. The US bullying the world. The Congress representing corporations, and not the people. We're running out of time before talk will be in emergency terms, as the waters rise, and the temperatures become deadly.

[Enthusiast]

67. PLUS ONE! nt

[ctsnowman]

39. K & R

[alp227]

42. hard to believe this guy served with Biden n/t

[Harmony Blue]

43. Yeah Biden and him are miles apart

when it comes to political spectrum.

[MisterP]

46. since he's a D, the only people who'd object are those who have their hands tied

it's a neat reverse Catch-22: if "2010! 2014! 2016! 2018! NNNAAAAddeeeerr" doesn't work, then any primaries or boycotts can be painted as "losing the election for us" or just downright disloyal (even though they're the only options deemed kosher)

[JDPriestly]

49. I read that Dianne Feinstein's husband's business sells some of the post offices.

Facing a deficit of billions of dollars, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has floated a number of number of proposals to reduce that deficit, including selling off hundreds of post office properties in order to gain cash flow and reduce expenses. According to the Postal Service's 2012 report to Congress, more than 600 buildings nationwide have been "earmarked for disposal," and the "USPS Properties for Sale" web site currently lists 41 buildings for sale across the U.S. in addition to 11 land parcels.

In 2011, the CB Richard Ellis Group (now CBRE Group, Inc.), the world's largest commercial real estate
services firm, was awarded an exclusive contract to market USPS facilities, which CBRE touted by announcing: "Historically, USPS has worked with multiple real estate service providers. The new contract enables USPS to consolidate these activities with one service provider."

This award has been the subject of some controversy, as CBRE's Chairman of the Board is Richard C. Blum, the husband of Senator Dianne Feinstein, who represents the state of California in the U.S. Senate.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/blum.asp

The whole deal stinks if you want to ask me.

[Omaha Steve]

51. My mailman was shocked when I talked to him about this today

He said he would have a lot to talk about back at the shop.

[AverageJoe90]

53. Fuck Tom Carper.....nt

[senseandsensibility]

54. K snd R

I hope he hears about this.

[blkmusclmachine]

55. Big Money wants the competition out of the way.

And they've bought a dude to get it done?

[Hubert Flottz]

68. And they probably bought the SOB Cheap!

What a low life POS!

[bullwinkle428]

69. "WE JUST NEED TO GIVE TEH PRESIDENT MOR DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS!!1!"

[Hekate]

71. A Democrat did this?!

Any word on the chances of this passing the Senate? This is sick, sick, sick.

Read the whole article at the link. It's enough to make the angels weep in despair at our utter folly.