Postage Due

Ah, the good old days.

(Clouds fly backwards as we rewind time to 2009 - during that pesky Health Care 'debate')

Join me as I trek back in time to an article from August 17th, 2009 found at: Bloomberg Online...

The only way the post office can stay in business is its government subsidy. The USPS lost $2.4 billion in the quarter ended in June and projects a net loss of $7 billion in fiscal 2009, outstanding debt of more than $10 billion and a cash shortfall of $1 billion. It was moved to intensive care -- the Government Accountability Office’s list of “high risk” cases - - last month and told to shape up.

That didn’t stop President Barack Obama from holding up the post office as an example at a town hall meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, last week.

When Obama compared the post office to UPS and FedEx, he was clearly hoping to assuage voter concerns about a public health-care option undercutting and eliminating private insurance.
...

Hang on - we need to astral-project back to the present day!  Put on your Star Trek Time Time Paradox head shield (a.k.a.:  'Reynolds Wrap twisted tightly around your skull, topped off with a Hershey Kiss's 'Swoosh' on top.) 

For detailed design support, please see the following example:

Hey, thanks for joining me back here in 2047... 

Hold on, I've gone too far into the future - let me take a couple of twists out of my hat and...  Ah, that's better, we're back in 2011...

Yes, the President referenced the United States Postal Service in a speech given to a crowd of people wanting to know why they should trust the Federal Government to administer their future health care needs.  

Now that we're firmly once again seated in 2011, let's re-visit the US Postal Service to discover, how, exactly, the US Postal Service is doing today!?!?

The following is provided courtesy of CBS News, May 10, 2011:

(AP)  WASHINGTON - The Postal Service is continuing to hemorrhage money, reporting a loss Tuesday of more than $2 billion over the first three months of the year and warning it could be forced to default on federal payments.


Such a default would not interrupt mail service to millions of Americans, but it could further hobble an agency struggling with a sharp decline in mail because of the Internet and a tough economy.


The agency says the $2.2 billion loss covers Jan. 1 to March 31is sharply higher than the net loss of $1.6 billion for the same period last year. The post office also said it will have reached its borrowing limit, set by Congress, of $15 billion by the end of the budget year on Sept. 30.


Unless Congress intervenes, the Postal Service said, the agency won't have the cash for certain payment to the government, such as billions for a trust fund to provide health care benefits for future retirees.

...
"The Postal Service continues to seek changes in the law to enable a more flexible and sustainable business model," said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick R. Donahoe. "The Postal Service may return to financial stability only through significant changes to the laws that limit flexibility and impose undue financial burdens."

The last line from this report by CBS News?  Get ready, here it comes... 

"The Postal Service does not receive tax money for its operations."

Following my slightly disjointed train of thought, President Obama referenced the USPS in a speech to assure the nice folks in the audience that the USPS is 'just like FedEx' (with the obvious exception that the USPS, um, loses money for YEARS on end and now is at risk of not being able to pay health care benefits for its retirees).


Yes, the IRONY is rich today.  Still several years away from the actual implementation of the thus-far-Unconstitutional-Health-Care-Law and one wonders, "Who will pay the health care for the United States Postal Workers when the USPS defaults on its financial obligations?"

Oh come on, that's an easy question.

The hard question is, "Who will pay fo the health care of all Americans when the US Government mis-under-estimates ther cost structures associated with Health Care and then begin rationing care based your particular 'need' for health care?"

The harder 'answer' is this:  Don't worry, your 'need' will be determined by others.  Follow the link coming up in a moment, take a pill, and don't ask any more questions which are not 'useful'...  Ezekiel Emanuel LIVE and uncensored

I hope you (and I) do not find ourselves in the 'Dead Letter' office any time soon. 

I, at least, still FEEL useful...