Senator Sanders Says SAVE SATURDAY MAIL

February 13, 2013

Senator Bernie Sanders and 23 other senators say: Postal Service can’t stop Saturday mail

Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., has joined 23 other senators in challenging the postmaster general’s authority to stop Saturday mail service without congressional approval.

Legislation to modernize the U.S. Postal Service, save Saturday mail and repeal a crippling law responsible for 80 percent of the mail system’s funding woes was introduced in the Senate and House on Wednesday by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Peter DeFazio.

“While we all understand that the Postal Service is experiencing financial problems today and that changes need to be made as the Postal Service adjusts to a digital world, these issues can be dealt with in a way which strengthens the Postal Service rather than initiating a series of cuts that could eventually lead to a death spiral,” Sanders said.

The Senate bill is cosponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy, Kirsten Gillibrand, Al Franken, Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley, Tom Udall and Sherrod Brown.

“Congress must work together and pass legislation that will sustain the Postal Service, avert unnecessary closures that hurt communities and save American jobs. Most of the financial issues facing the United States Postal Service are due to short-sighted actions by Congress. Congress must unshackle USPS so we can deal with these problems and allow the Postal Service to better compete,” DeFazio said.

Under the legislation, proposed cuts to Saturday delivery would be prevented. “Providing fewer services and less quality will cause more customers to seek other options,” Sanders said. “Rural Americans, businesses, senior citizens and veterans will be hurt the most by ending Saturday mail.”

The measure would let the Postal Service look for innovative new ways to make money by lifting legal bans on services such as notarizing documents, issuing hunting and fishing licenses and allowing shipments of wine and beer. It also would clear the way for the Postal Service to help customers take advantage of email and Internet services. Moreover, a commission would be created composed of successful business innovators and representatives from small business and labor to make recommendations on other ways the Postal Service could generate new revenue and thrive in the 21st century.

Arguably the most critical financial reform proposed by Sanders and DeFazio would be to rescind an onerous 2006 law pushed through a Republican-controlled House at the behest of President George W. Bush. Unlike any private business or other government agency, the law makes the post office pre-fund 75 years of future health care benefits for retirees over the course of 10 years. The $5 billion annual payments have been piling up in a fund that experts say already has more than enough in reserve. Since 2007, the pre-funding mandate is responsible for $4 out of every $5 in Postal Service debts.

The bill also would reinstate overnight delivery standards to speed mail delivery and prevent shutdowns of mail sorting centers. Safeguards also would be put in place to protect rural post offices.

12 Responses to "Senator Sanders Says SAVE SATURDAY MAIL"

  1. ” The postal service’s board said Wednesday (4/9/13) that it will continue to deliver mail six days a week. In February, the agency announced a plan to stop delivering mail on Saturdays, except for packages and express mail.

    The board said Wednesday it decided to stay the course because of a Congressional mandate for Saturday delivery that had been on the books since the 1980s. Congress decided to keep that mandate last month when it passed a funding measure to keep the government running.” (Reference: CNN)

    Saturday only delivery of medicines, express mail and parcels could really work if planned properly. But stating that they wanted to get rid of 6 day delivery was poor presentation. Most of the public panics when they hear the words “6 Day Delivery” again. The PMG should have ASKED for 5 day delivery of letter mail, flats, circulars and other non-essentials like those stupid car warranty post cards. Mail processors, maintenance, and mailhandlers at processing plants (P&DC) and such will still have to work Saturday and Sunday. The savings would have been minimal, yet still a savings but it’s water under the bridge now.

    Getting rid of the 2006 congressional mandate would be a good place to start to return us to solvency also.

  2. According to the save the post office website, After the appropriations resolution passed, Congressman Darrell Issa and Senator Tom Cole issued a jointed statement saying the Postmaster General could still go ahead with his plan of 5-day delivery since the USPS is not eliminating a day of service, but is merely altering what products are delivered on what day…..Have been a letter carrier for 34 years and have seen alot of changes. In those 34 years Saturday delivery has always been a waste of money. UPS and FedEx do it, we can to. Any full time carrier will tell you that it is. Instead of waiting until August it should have been affective immediately. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch……..come on 5-day delivery so we can save our postal service!

  3. “kentuckywoman2 says: – Our country is in a DIRE financial mess – you should be patriotic enough to do what you can to help get us out of it and that sometimes means sacrifice. Good grief, buck up and do your part!”

    Do you really want to help our country get out of this “DIRE FINANCIAL MESS” then start here:
    113th U. S. Congress = 100 Senators + 435 Representatives + 6 Non-voting members.
    Salaries = As of January 2010, the annual salary of each Representative is $174,000. The Speaker of the House and the Majority and Minority Leaders earn more: $223,500 for the Speaker and $193,400 for their party leaders (the same as Senate leaders). (Reference:Wikipedia)
    And this is not counting their staff of para-legals, legal secretaries, speech writers and other contributors and family members. Oh yes and don’t forget FREE USE of the USPS system. So what is it that they are doing for your tax dollar?

    Yea the USPS is a very bad place isn’t it?

    I don’t think that most of the USPS employees that I have worked with since 1974 are thinking only of their paychecks when they go to their workplaces each and every day. This is just another one of those vile and unsubstantiated accusations leveled at those of us that work hard and have pride in what we do. We do not set our pay scales, management negotiates the salaries during contract negotiations and the salaries they agree upon have to be comparable with the revenue that this organization takes in and the six figure salaries being paid at the top. This confusion is not about 6 day delivery, that’s just a smoke screen. But don’t worry, your wish probably WON’T come true. In fact, Congress just last week (3-21-13) passed a bill that restated the requirement for the Postal Service to maintain Saturday mail delivery. (Reference: PEN) The new spending bill passed by Congress on Thursday appears to continue the requirement for six-day mail delivery, like it or not.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/tarunwadhwa/2013/03/20/like-it-or-not-the-us-postal-service-isnt-going-away-anytime-soon/

  4. Coming from a carrier, Saturday delivery is a HUGE waste of money. VERY LOW mail volume on Saturdays which means 5 hours of work gets us 8 Hours OVERTIME. If your for 6 day delivery your only thinking about your pay check and have no interest in saving the Post Office as a whole. Wake up Congress and listen to those of us that actually sees whats going on………5-day delivery!!

  5. We do NOT need Saturday LETTER mail delivery. The postmaster was very explicit about CONTINUING to deliver packages on Saturday.

    I’m a senior citizen and there’s NOTHING I NEED TO HAVE DELIVERED ON SATURDAY!!!!! Virtually everything, from Social Security to food stamps, is delivered electronically these days, through automatic deposits into one’s account.

    Medicines and other packaged items would still be delivered, which is what is important.

    The one blessing about not having Saturday delivery is when one receives a bill that is incorrect, and there’s no way to speak to someone about it until Monday – and these days, with billing and customer services reps often OUT OF THE COUNTRY, THERE ARE MANY BILLING ERRORS. This has happened so often at our house that we have a rule NOT to open Saturday mail until Monday! So whatever is put into our mailbox isn’t taken out until Monday already – and we’ve been doing this for YEARS, ever since my heart problems and one instance where, upon receiving a bill which was erroneous, I suffered heart problems. NO STRESS is what I was ordered and so now I don’t open the mail UNLESS I can deal with it IMMEDIATELY.

    So I vote YES! STOP SATURDAY LETTER DELIVERY! IT’S A WASTE OF MONEY!

    The ONLY people I see opposing this would be the unions and those postal workers who are used to that Saturday OVERTIME. My message to them? STOP BEING SO GREEDY AND SUCK IT UP.

    Our country is in a DIRE financial mess – you should be patriotic enough to do what you can to help get us out of it and that sometimes means sacrifice. Good grief, buck up and do your part!

  6. “Lilly says:
    February 25, 2013 at 10:13 am
    First of all the USPS was established to be a Profitable Business. It is a service just like the Police dept,fire dept,military,Homeland security,etc. which are subsidized with tax dollars.”

    ????????????????

  7. First of all the USPS was established to be a Profitable Business. It is a service just like the Police dept,fire dept,military,Homeland security,etc. which are subsidized with tax dollars. A few years back the USPS had the opportunity to support itself when everything in the economy was great. Things have reverted back and now either the government needs to subsidize again or cut service. I know the unions are against this because it may lead to further cuts in service. The only way this will happen is if the mail keeps drying up, which means maybe the service is no longer needed. The USPS employees are mixed when it comes to the decision of no Sat delivery. The overtime hogs who are living beyond their means are worried and the union reps are worried about losin Union paying dues members which are both self servant. Why don’t the union conduct a survey of the Postal employees and see what they really want instead of dictating and talking down to them. Stop the bleeding.

    Lilly – Until adoption of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, the U.S. Postal Service functioned as a regular, tax-supported, agency of the federal government. According to the laws under which it now operates, the U.S. Postal Service is a semi-independent federal agency, mandated to be revenue-neutral. That is, it is supposed to break even, not make a profit.

  8. This sounds like a dream! Hopefully we will wake up and the dream will continue. Working for the Postal Service, this sounds like the best way forward.

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