Helping the Postal Service Help Itself

Volumes are being written about the fiscal state of affairs at the USPS these days. Sadly, much of it is oppositional commentary -- and what passes for reporting is increasingly incomplete or inaccurate. Many publishers are members of the Saturation Mailers Coalition (if you're not, and you mail, you should be!), where they receive the facts straight up -- along with critical analysis and a longstanding seat at the policy table.

Those who follow the US Postal Service closely understand that, in spite of cyclical and structural conditions, the USPS would actually be in the black if not for unique, burdensome mandates including pre-funding health benefits of yet-to-be-hired retirees. The casual observer of Postal affairs is hard pressed to find mention that this $5.5 billion annual obligation alone drives the revolving shortfall, or to read that the USPS is actually due somewhere between $50 billion and $75 billion for years of pension over-payments.

In so-called main stream media, even the successful ongoing efforts to cut costs and achieve operational efficiencies get short shrift -- like the $12 billion saved right-sizing its workforce the last few years or even the $3.8 billion in cuts from latest labor negotiations. Instead, the average citizen is exposed to Postal "news" in a simple, and generally false frame: Sinking ship bailing water with a teaspoon. Some of the harshest coverage has come from the Wall Street Journal, ironically with no disclosure that they oppose reforms to the below-cost priority delivery of their own publication (http://bit.ly/iJrYxh).

The latest cost-cutting measure, announced this week in a press release entitled "U.S. Postal Service Institutes Cash Conservation Plan -- Payments to FERS Suspended" (http://1.usa.gov/k00Sc4) is already getting the "grasping at straws" treatment. Coverage has universally depicted the anticipated $800 million current year savings (by not needlessly adding to the $7 billion account surplus) as a drop in the bucket, compared to the projected operating deficit. Missing again is the context: The unique pre-payment burdens and historical overpayments noted above -- and the fact that these and other operational fixes can only happen by Congressional action.

Most coverage of the latest Postal cost-cutting also missed another critical fact: There's legislation that would actually fix the immediate fiscal impediments. HR 1351 -- the Postal Service Pension Obligation Recalculation and Restoration Act of 2011 -- is endorsed by the Saturation Mailers Coalition and the broad, diverse consensus of Postal Stakeholders, including the Free Community Paper Industry. This important legislation will help the USPS help itself, allowing it to continue paving its self-sustaining path: http://bit.ly/mySCNR