2 ms·

I'm sorry, this is just mis-information. A couple of points: - The USPS lost money literally every year between 1960 and 1988. (Tab T30800-A), and then they lo

I'm sorry, this is just mis-information. A couple of points: - The USPS lost money literally every year between 1960 and 1988. (Tab T30800-A), and then they lost billions more in the 1990s before a few years of mixed profitability and then back to billions in losses. Their total profit and loss since 1960 is in the negative hundreds of billions. https://www.bea.gov/national/Release/XLS/Survey/Section3All_xls.xlsx https://www.bea.gov/national/Release/XLS/Survey/Section3All_... - The pre-funding period lasted 10 years, from 2006 to 2016. It's been half a decade since the pre-funding requirement ended. If you look at their financials, their total pension billing in 2019 was $3.8 billion. They lost $8.8 billion on operations. There is no mathematically possible way their pensions are to blame for this.

burkaman 5y ago
The USPS is a government service, it can't "lose money". Does the fire department lose money? It doesn't make any sense. The USPS is a revenue generator and a budget item, but those two things are not linked.
kube-system 5y ago
Should the USPS be profitable? It's not an investment, it's a public service that supports the operational needs of the country.
- missedthecue 5y ago
  They have a literal monopoly on the deliver of letters. They have a monopoly on the use of mailboxes. Profitability is a gauge of efficiency, and the USPS is a funds incinerator. Having a monopoly on the delivery of letters should be a self sufficient operation. I'm for removal of the monopoly entirely. Most other countries like Japan, Germany, the UK, Netherlands, and others have privatised post with great success. There is no reason the government should continue to run it in the US.
  - kube-system 5y ago
    You can deliver documents via for-profit couriers in the US. They're going to charge you profitable rates, though -- not necessarily rates that are accessible for poor citizens. Those countries you've listed that have privatized (or partially, in the case of some of them) are subject to strict regulations so that they continue to provide basic levels of service to keep their countries moving smoothly. If you want to see what Deutsche Post would do without those government regulations they're subject to domestically, look no further than the price to send a document across the US via DHL. The bottom line is, many of the mail services that countries need to operate smoothly are not profitable. The only difference between any of the mail services in any country on the planet is the mechanism by which the government forces them to provide those services.
    - missedthecue 5y ago
      You cannot ship first class mail with anyone but the USPS in the US, and they are litigious about it. Yes, you can put documents into a large manila envelope, or in a parcel, but you cannot mail an envelope using FedEx or UPS.
      - kube-system 5y ago
        Even if FedEx did fold your 8.5x11 document into thirds, they still couldn't profitably send it across the country for 58 cents. Nor do any of those other privatized mail services in their smaller home countries.
        missedthecue 5y ago
        Yes because the law mandates they charges higher rates than the USPS. If FedEx could sell first class mail (envelopes) in volume, they could do it profitably.
        kube-system 5y ago
        Japan, Germany, the UK, Netherlands can’t do it either. They have higher rates than the USPS, smaller service areas, and beg regulators to let them charge more because they struggle to make it profitable.

burkaman 5y ago

The USPS is a government service, it can't "lose money". Does the fire department lose money? It doesn't make any sense. The USPS is a revenue generator and a budget item, but those two things are not linked.

kube-system 5y ago

Should the USPS be profitable? It's not an investment, it's a public service that supports the operational needs of the country.

missedthecue 5y ago
They have a literal monopoly on the deliver of letters. They have a monopoly on the use of mailboxes. Profitability is a gauge of efficiency, and the USPS is a funds incinerator. Having a monopoly on the delivery of letters should be a self sufficient operation. I'm for removal of the monopoly entirely. Most other countries like Japan, Germany, the UK, Netherlands, and others have privatised post with great success. There is no reason the government should continue to run it in the US.
- kube-system 5y ago
  You can deliver documents via for-profit couriers in the US. They're going to charge you profitable rates, though -- not necessarily rates that are accessible for poor citizens. Those countries you've listed that have privatized (or partially, in the case of some of them) are subject to strict regulations so that they continue to provide basic levels of service to keep their countries moving smoothly. If you want to see what Deutsche Post would do without those government regulations they're subject to domestically, look no further than the price to send a document across the US via DHL. The bottom line is, many of the mail services that countries need to operate smoothly are not profitable. The only difference between any of the mail services in any country on the planet is the mechanism by which the government forces them to provide those services.
  - missedthecue 5y ago
    You cannot ship first class mail with anyone but the USPS in the US, and they are litigious about it. Yes, you can put documents into a large manila envelope, or in a parcel, but you cannot mail an envelope using FedEx or UPS.
    - kube-system 5y ago
      Even if FedEx did fold your 8.5x11 document into thirds, they still couldn't profitably send it across the country for 58 cents. Nor do any of those other privatized mail services in their smaller home countries.
      - missedthecue 5y ago
        Yes because the law mandates they charges higher rates than the USPS. If FedEx could sell first class mail (envelopes) in volume, they could do it profitably.
        kube-system 5y ago
        Japan, Germany, the UK, Netherlands can’t do it either. They have higher rates than the USPS, smaller service areas, and beg regulators to let them charge more because they struggle to make it profitable.