>The American Postal Workers' Union says this is a "phony crisis" caused by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which requires the Postal Service to

>The American Postal Workers' Union says this is a "phony crisis" caused by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which requires the Postal Service to pre-fund retiree health care costs. >No other government agency - or private business - bears this kind of burden. >As a result of the pre-funding mandate the USPS begins every fiscal year more than $5 billion in debt. In fact, the act requires the USPS to pre-fund 75 years' worth of retiree health care costs in just 10 years. >If the pre-funding requirement weren't in place the Postal Service would actually have a $3.7 billion surplus - over $1 billion each year for the past three fiscal years - despite declining mail volume due to increased use of electronic mail and an economy in crisis. http://www.peoplesworld.org/deficit-hawks-take-aim-at-postal-service/ http://www.peoplesworld.org/deficit-hawks-take-aim-at-postal... Emphasis mine. It's just a generally insane burden that's not getting enough attention.