GOP vs the USPS

[Rhea]

The GOP passed a law In 2006 that the USPS had to (unlike any other business entity in America,) pre-fund its retirement to some ridiculous amount (75%?).

I pondered today whether that fund is part of why the GOP also wants to privatize the USPS - to get its hands on that rather large pile of money that they’ve collected from teh American People.

 

[Horatio Parker]

The GOP passed a law In 2006 that the USPS had to (unlike any other business entity in America,) pre-fund its retirement to some ridiculous amount (75%?).

I pondered today whether that fund is part of why the GOP also wants to privatize the USPS - to get its hands on that rather large pile of money that they’ve collected from teh American People.

Could be, but my guess it's to keep the USPS in the red and therefore a get enterprise failure.

This guy's interesting:

https://savethepostoffice.com/default-or-design-demise-postal-service/

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I like how corporations aren’t legally bound to their pension plan.

 

[ZiprHead]

This probably deserves its own thread but bone spurs is pressuring the postmaster general to double the delivery rates on Amazon which just happens to be owned by the same person that owns the Washington Post, Jeff Bezos.

Using government departmental power against personal enemies of the president was one of the articles of impeachment brought against Nixon.

 

[Rhea]

This probably deserves its own thread but bone spurs is pressuring the postmaster general to double the delivery rates on Amazon which just happens to be owned by the same person that owns the Washington Post, Jeff Bezos.

Using government departmental power against personal enemies of the president was one of the articles of impeachment brought against Nixon.

It was reading about this topic that made me wonder about that pension fund... Cheeto has a very highly developed sense of pettiness and vengeance, but also a pretty highly developed sense of grift, too.

 

[fast]

When you say the GOP passed a law, does that translate into something more accurate, or do you mean that literally?

 

[laughing dog]

When you say the GOP passed a law, does that translate into something more accurate, or do you mean that literally?

In this instance, the 109th Congress which had a Republican majority in the House and in the Senate passed the Postal Accountability and Enforcement Act in 2006 which was signed into law by President George W. Bush. Given the severity of the pension accountability compared to common practice and the antipathy of the GOP towards gov't workers and the USPS, I think it is safe to say that this bill was a GOP bill.

 

[marc]

The GOP passed a law In 2006 that the USPS had to (unlike any other business entity in America,) pre-fund its retirement to some ridiculous amount (75%?).

Not 75%, 75 years. They need to have on hand money for the pensions of employees that haven’t been born yet

 

[Bomb#20]

When you say the GOP passed a law, does that translate into something more accurate, or do you mean that literally?

According to Congress's website, https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/house-bill/6407/actions , it was the very model of bipartisanship.

12/20/2006 Became Public Law No: 109-435. (TXT | PDF)
12/20/2006 Signed by President.
12/19/2006 Presented to President.
12/09/2006 Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR 12/8/2006 S11821-11822)
12/08/2006 Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR H9160-9179)
12/07/2006 Introduced in House

Not really all that surprising, since the pre-funding requirement was proposed by the Post Office in the first place. The Post Office already had a variety of ongoing financial difficulties, including the same serious underfunded liability problem all manner of public and private entities get themselves into, and a bunch of technocrats calculated that the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act was the best way out, so Congress said "Okay". They might even have turned out to have been right, if it weren't for the 2008 meltdown.

 

[Bomb#20]

The GOP passed a law In 2006 that the USPS had to (unlike any other business entity in America,) pre-fund its retirement to some ridiculous amount (75%?).

Not 75%, 75 years. They need to have on hand money for the pensions of employees that haven’t been born yet

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_Regulatory_Commission,

Contrary to statements made by some employee groups and other stakeholders, PAEA did not require USPS to prefund 75 years of retiree health benefits over a 10-year period. Rather, pursuant to OPM’s methodology, such payments would be projected to fund the liability over a period in excess of 50 years, from 2007 through 2056 and beyond (with rolling 15-year amortization periods after 2041). However, the payments required by PAEA were significantly “frontloaded,” with the fixed payment amounts in the first 10 years exceeding what actuarially determined amounts would have been using a 50-year amortization schedule.​

whatever the heck that means.

 

[laughing dog]

The GOP passed a law In 2006 that the USPS had to (unlike any other business entity in America,) pre-fund its retirement to some ridiculous amount (75%?).

Not 75%, 75 years. They need to have on hand money for the pensions of employees that haven’t been born yet

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_Regulatory_Commission,

Contrary to statements made by some employee groups and other stakeholders, PAEA did not require USPS to prefund 75 years of retiree health benefits over a 10-year period. Rather, pursuant to OPM’s methodology, such payments would be projected to fund the liability over a period in excess of 50 years, from 2007 through 2056 and beyond (with rolling 15-year amortization periods after 2041). However, the payments required by PAEA were significantly “frontloaded,” with the fixed payment amounts in the first 10 years exceeding what actuarially determined amounts would have been using a 50-year amortization schedule.​

whatever the heck that means.

It means that the required payments in the first 10 years exceeded the amount necessary according to the 50 year amortization schedule. In other words, if this was a 50 year mortgage, the required payments in the first 10 years exceeded the usual payments for a 50 year mortgage,

Interestingly, continuing from your link

This pre-funding method is unique to the USPS. In June 2011, the United States Postal Service had to suspend its weekly payment of $115 million into the fund because it had reached $8 billion in debt and the retirement plan had a surplus of $6.9 billion.

And, I am pretty sure the Post Office did not initially recommend such a harsh pre-funding payment system.

 

[arkirk]

So they had congress lay up a nice nest egg for the designated recipient of the department when it is given away. Soooo cleaver! Drat them damned Repugnicans! And the poor postal employees get the shaft once again!

 

[braces_for_impact]

It's (once again) really just an indictment on the idiocy of Trump, for calling up the US Postmaster and trying to get the shipping rates for Amazon raised (doubled, tripled?) Of course the postmaster has so far held Sir Stupid off, explaining things like "contracts" and "reviews". Something such an excellent, rich businessman should know before ever picking up the phone. Of course, maybe he was still busy trying to figure out the difference between HPV and HIV and which one he himself has.

 

[fast]

Is there a general rule of thumb for thinking whether something should be privatized or not?

My newbie thoughts are things that are essential should be up for consideration. I've heard that government oughtn't be in charge because of the bureaucracy that will lead to dismal results, yet there's a side of me that thinks that line of reasoning should be irrelevant and rather a challenge to overcome giving cause to remain steadfast in thinking that it's better in principle to have a well run governmental organization for certain things.

Yet, in practice, if things are as dismal as said and no viable options that can be stomached can be reached, then that brings me back full circle to wanting to know how a determination should be made for privatization.

 

[Ford]

Well it isn't like the postal service is part of the constitution...

 

[fast]

Well it isn't like the postal service is part of the constitution...

Milk and mail, buddy. Milk and mail.

Or is that cigarettes and mail? Can't recall.

Either way, it's irrelevant. Just reminded of it. Well, sorta, I guess. I remembered the mail part.

Still irrelevant.

[/pointless post]