So the Post Office just posted a $5.2 bn loss (YES BILLION) for the 3 months ended on June 30th. How can this happen? Who is in charge? This is what drives me crazy about government. The post office for years has lost market share to Fed Ex, UPS and the internet etc, but has refused to change. They also are burdened with massive pension and medical obligations they can not fund. So what do we do....if we are the government, we suggest closing post offices, raising prices etc. But then every person in Congress gets upset they are closing their local post office or distribution plant, nothing gets done and the losses keep ticking. I realize that this maybe a tough pill to swallow, but we can not have everything anymore. The taxpayers are footing the bill for an enterprise that will lose billions this year. I also realize a lot of the losses are related to prepaying medical benefits, but the PO is still massively unprofitable.
My solution is cut service on Saturdays, close post offices, streamline operations and make a stamp price that allows the Post office to be profitable. If the price is too high then the Post office must realize that it may become obsolete. That is the way the cookie crumbles in capitalism. In the end, we will always have a Post Office, but when the American people are picking up the tab, we should care a little bit more....
PS: I do love forever stamps.....imagine a stamp that costs X and you can use it forever even when the price is 2X.....who would ever buy real stamps....(I feel like that was a Seinfeld joke)