USPS Fail
@gunbunny I've read and heard that USPS is losing billions of dollars each year.
Is that not the case?
On paper, yes. But this is due to a couple of factors.
1. When Congress submits a budget, the funds come from two major sources. A. IRS and B USPS. The $ amount is based on the last year's revenue. A couple of years ago Congress projected that the USPS would generate a profit of $80 Billion. They fell short of that mark and only generated $62 Billion. When the P&L report came out, it was reported that the USPS took a $16 Billion loss. So on paper, yes they lost $. But in reality, they still generated $62 Billion.
2. The 2006 Congressional mandate to pre-fund retiree health benefits for 75 years. This is a $50B a year that the post office is required to pay. This mandate is funding retirement payments for people who aren't even born yet. So, if not for the $50B mandate, the P/O would have been $12B to the good a few years ago.
All of these issues were created by Congress.
In an attempt to meet the goals set by Congress, the P/O has offered retirement packages, that I took BTW, to employees who fell into certain criteria. They then replaced those employees with less expensive people. Now you get what you got, crap service.
So, to answer your question, from an accounting perspective, yes they have lost money. Only because they didn't meet a projected profit margin.
From a banking standpoint, the P/O is a profitable branch of the government. They are able to cover costs and generate an annual profit.
If they ever truly go into the red, then they would have to tap into the tax base.
Another thing to understand is, that when the P/O fails to hit those goals, those $ are still spent. The burden falls to the IRS and ultimately is added to the National Debt figure. So the P/O takes the blame as costing taxpayers money. Which is how most people get the impression that the P/O is tax funded.
