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| Government |
| The unique, arcane accounting rules causing Postal Service's massive losses |
| 2020-08-25 |
| [MSN] The House of Representatives on Saturday approved legislation for a bailout for the US Postal Service, which, on paper, has been posting huge losses for years. But in reality, the agency is generating billions in cash. Virtually all of the agency's financial problems stem from a unique, arcane accounting system that no other business or government body follows and that doesn't accurately reflect real costs. ("Utterly absurd," as one politician calls it.) The financial problems have nothing to do with the expected surge in mail-in ballots for the election in November. And they are certainly not because of its contracts to handle delivery of Amazon packages, no matter what President Donald Trump |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #12 Pretty much anyone could do better. Moved to Denver with a 90 day settlement. Rented a room. Went to the USPO to rent a box. Xmas approaching, line of box mailers. Got my turn, told them I needed a PO box. "Here, fill this form with your current address." "I don't have an address. I want my mail forwarded to a PO box." "You have to have a physical address to get a PO box." "If I had a physical address, I wouldn't need a PO box." Downhill from there into a SNL skit. The lobby was ROTFL. I went to Mailboxes-r-US |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-08-25 17:58 |
| #11 Gore said Lockbox, SNL made it unforgettable. Why can't they privatize the Postal service? Pretty much anyone could do better. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2020-08-25 17:27 |
| #10 "Lock box"...didn't know al-Gore came up with that one! |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-08-25 16:22 |
| #9 /\ Spot on analysis! Had it not been thrown into the general fund (and exploited for social causes and endless wars), there would be plenty of Social Security resources on hand. Difficult to imagine a mandatory enrollment insurance program going broke, difficult indeed. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-08-25 16:03 |
| #8 When Social Security was challenged in court, the administration got away with it by saying it was a tax not a pension system. However, they kept the charade up till the mid-60s when during the Johnson years, the Donk controlled congress finally did away with double books and combined them into one general fund for taxes. As long as the central government has the printing presses and mint stamps, its all covered. They call it 'inflation' when it just good old debasing the currency practiced since money as an exchange came into existence. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2020-08-25 13:59 |
| #7 Drop 'bulk mail' discounts. And go to 2 or 3 mail deliveries per week. |
| Posted by: Clyde Thraiter7206 2020-08-25 13:04 |
| #6 Social Security is flat broke, too, with only a bunch of IOU's. Yes, it was built on the next generation owing the last generation. The Future Financial Status of the Social Security Program A SUMMARY OF THE 2020 ANNUAL REPORTS If you're worried about it, get a job and have kids. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-08-25 11:48 |
| #5 Drop 'bulk mail' discounts. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-08-25 11:17 |
| #4 They'd in Al Gore's "lockbox..." |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-08-25 09:22 |
| #3 Do the postal pension funds exist anywhere besides a Treasury IOU? Social Security funds were spent years ago, and only exist as obligations. Private pensions have to have genuine assets. Are postal pension funds real, or just mythical? |
| Posted by: Gordon Scott 2020-08-25 08:54 |
| #2 Social Security is flat broke, too, with only a bunch of IOU's. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-08-25 06:21 |
| #1 Actually all private companies with pension funds have to account for all pension costs accrued during the year that year and have a limited time to top up their pension fund with cold hard cash if it has a projected deficit. That's the right way to do it and governments should have the same rules. The USPS problem is that it was funding its pension fund "pay as you go" like a government entity until it was told to switch to using the private company approach and was told to catch up in a limited time. The USPS is currently insolvent. If you shut it down today it would not have the money in its pension fund to meet its future obligations. That needs to be fixed. |
| Posted by: Michel Friedman 2020-08-25 04:17 |