People love to say that the USPS operates at a loss. Supporters urge us to go buy stamps. But this won't solve anything. The losses are driven by those trying to dismantle the USPS. In 2006, Congress passed a law that imposed extraordinary costs on the U.S. Postal Service. / 1
The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act required the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, and they had to do it for 75 years into the future. This burden applies to no other federal agency or private corporation. /2
If the costs of this mandate were removed from the USPS financial statements, it would have reported operating profits in each of the last six years, according to the Institute for Policy Studies. /3
This unique and extraordinary mandate created a financial “crisis” that has been used to justify harmful service cuts and even calls for postal privatization. So don't forget how we got into this mess. It was by design. And now that is being exploited to tip the election. /4
