Reader addresses postal problem

I urge readers to contact their Congressional representatives and demand that Congress fix the problem it created for the United States Postal Service.

In 2006, Congress decreed that the USPS must fully fund current and future employees' pension and health care costs to the tune of $5.5 billion a year. Congress required this funding to be done in 10 years to cover the costs for the next 75 years!

No business pays 75 years into the future for its employees' pension and health benefits. No business pays such costs for employees not even born yet. However, Congress requires this only of the USPS.

According to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the USPS had about $44 billion dollars in this pension and health care cost fund and, with compounding interest around 3%, there was more than enough money in 2012 to cover the costs for the next 75 years.

Without this staggering payment of $5.5 billion, the USPS would be in the black. In 2013, the USPS is still in the red and is seeking remedies.

Without Congressional action, the USPS could lose up to 200,000 employees (many of whom are veterans), Saturday services could be cut, and thousands of small and rural post offices could be closed.

The USPS receives no taxpayer money for its operations. It earns all its revenues (including the required $5.5 billion a year) from postage and stamp sales.

If Congress decreed today that the USPS no longer had to set aside $5.5 billion a year, the USPS could be operating at a profit and definitely has enough money to pay retirement and health care costs 75 years into the future. This seems reasonable.

Congress needs to remedy this problem now.

Duane Pitts,

Moses Lake