"USPS Is Cost-Cutting Itself To Death"

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In 1788, Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the authority to create the Post Office, which came into being in 1792. The Post Office was created to provide a service to the American public. The Post Office Department became the Postal Service in 1971 through a change in the law which reads in part, "The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people by the government of the United States."

The Postal Service continues to be defined by law as a universal service to the American public, even though it has received no taxpayer money since 1982.

Over the years, service has taken a back seat to cost. Mail was delivered on Sundays until the 1830s, and was delivered twice daily to residences until 1950 and to businesses until the mid-1960s. Thirty years ago, first-class mail earned overnight delivery from Eugene to Portland. Now, we're hearing about three-day delivery from Eugene to Springfield. These changes move the Service further and further away from its core mission of providing a service to the public.

I was once told that "efficient" is defined as "going fast," and "effective" is defined as "going fast in the right direction." The Postal Service may become more efficient, but I believe that at the same time it is becoming less and less effective, and the American public is being shortchanged.

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What has created the Postal Service's dire financial situation is a requirement under the 2006 Postal Reform Law that forces USPS to pay $5.5 billion a year to prefund 75 years' worth of future retirees' health benefits, all within a 10-year period (that includes people who aren't even hired yet, or even born).

That is a burden no other company or government agency is forced to do.

That situation caused the USPS's books to reflect losses of $20 billion during the past four years. Without that, the USPS shows an operating profit of nearly $700 million, despite dramatic increases in the use of email and online bill payments.

Some critics in Washington are saying that USPS is just trying for a bailout. But it is not a bailout; the money belongs to the Postal Service.

Another fact — for the past 30-plus years, no tax money was needed to support USPS operations.

The Postal Service delivers to 150 million addresses, six days a week. It has been the most trusted federal agency six years in a row. Postage costs are the lowest in the world and USPS delivers 40 percent of the world's mail.

It is at the center of a $1.3 trillion mailing industry that supports between 8 and 9 million jobs and binds this nation together. USPS employees are in every neighborhood and often informally double as police officers, firefighters and finders of lost children. There is no comparable network in the U.S.