Conley
11-11-2011, 10:38 AM
You might have heard that the United States Postal Service is in trouble: that it's losing billions, that it will have to end Saturday service and close branches — and most inflammatory, that it might need a government bailout. Perhaps you heard that the Postal Service couldn't pay $5.5 billion bill that came due Sept. 30 and that only an emergency postponement saved it from the government's equivalent of default.
In fact, it's the Postal Service that’s currently bailing out the U.S. government. Politicians have been raiding Postal Service revenues for years, using them to make the federal deficit appear smaller than it really is. The fiscal gyrations are so twisted that the Postal Service is right now forced to pre-pay health care benefits for employees the agency hasn't even hired yet — in fact, for many future employees who haven't even been born yet — all to artificially shrink the federal deficit.
http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/07/8191425-twisted-government-accounting-behind-postal-service-woes
The Post Office's annual revenue is $65 Billion a year, which would be in the top 50 of private companies. Of course no private company would pay healthcare costs for employees they haven't hired yet 75 years into the future. They are forced to do that to keep military pensions off the Treasury's books (and make the deficit seem lower than it really is).
Like Social Security the Pols have raided it time and again to spend, spend, spend. Read the link if you want to know more!
In fact, it's the Postal Service that’s currently bailing out the U.S. government. Politicians have been raiding Postal Service revenues for years, using them to make the federal deficit appear smaller than it really is. The fiscal gyrations are so twisted that the Postal Service is right now forced to pre-pay health care benefits for employees the agency hasn't even hired yet — in fact, for many future employees who haven't even been born yet — all to artificially shrink the federal deficit.
http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/07/8191425-twisted-government-accounting-behind-postal-service-woes
The Post Office's annual revenue is $65 Billion a year, which would be in the top 50 of private companies. Of course no private company would pay healthcare costs for employees they haven't hired yet 75 years into the future. They are forced to do that to keep military pensions off the Treasury's books (and make the deficit seem lower than it really is).
Like Social Security the Pols have raided it time and again to spend, spend, spend. Read the link if you want to know more!