Congress Is Just As Responsible for ‘Clusterfuck’ at USPS
“Congress is definitely complicit,” said Kevin Kosar, a USPS expert at the R Street Institute, a right-leaning think tank. The mix of challenges the Postal Service faces, he said, “can’t possibly play out well, and Congress has done nothing…”
Those who pay attention to the USPS know that the agency has broader problems than the pension mandate, like the technological changes that have led to sustained declines in demand for first-class mail. The coronavirus pandemic, which has hit the postal business hard, figures to make the hole even deeper. But for many observers, it’s hard to separate the agency’s current fiscal outlook from Congress’ however well-intentioned efforts to reform it.
“I think it was a good policy,” said Kosar. “I think it was badly drawn up… there’s $50 billion in unfunded retiree benefits they’re going to have to pay. This is an organization that is not turning a profit, and can’t be expected to turn a profit. How are they going to pay those benefits?”…
Some experts, like Kosar, argue a more lasting fix will involve concessions that factions in Congress have been reluctant to make to this point—like benefit cuts, for Democrats, and some kind of Treasury bailout for the USPS, for the GOP. “The choices we find ourselves with right now,” he said, “are unpleasant.”
Also seen in
