Boycott Staples

[Lonestar_logic]

its not a private business. Govt is not a private business. Theres a ton of things USPS is not but that doesnt mean anything either

If it is run like a private business, and the government doesn't fund them, then what difference does it make?

how many private businesses have to get permission from 3 or 4 committees a board of governors and congress before they can do something major?....

Define "something major".

 

[bedowin62]

■Similarly, the USPS has advanced the myth that an unfair and incorrect pension funding formula has forced it to overpay the old Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) by as much as $75 billion. The USPS is wrong. The funding formula was set by law more than 40 years ago, and both the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have firmly rejected the USPS claims.


libs are liars and deniers

 

[bedowin62]

■Lastly, the USPS is disputing its contributions to the Retiree Health Benefits Fund. In 2006, Congress required the USPS to fully fund future retiree health benefits through a series of payments over 10 years on a pay-as-you-go basis. As with the other funds, prefunding these promised benefits is essential to protect taxpayers from the dangers of a shortfall.

 

[Harry Dresden]

It's a simple question.

http://www.usmessageboard.com/politics/352857-boycott-staples-20.html#post9046975

It's a circle jerk.

But they don't generate enough money to sustain themselves.


The Bailout Of The US Postal Service Begins: Cost To Taxpayers - $110,000 Per Union Vote "Saved Or Gained"

before 2007 they were.....like i said from 2003 thru 2006 they had a surplus....

 

[jc456]

That argument ran out of steam long ago.
The fadct is the USPS employs too many people who are using archaic methods of getting the work done.
Hand sorting mail for carrier routes? Come on....All mail should be bar coded and sorted by machines.
The USPS is a bloated federal bureaucracy.

were the hell have you been hiding Spoon?....hand sorting?....they have been using bar codes and machines for about 35 years now for letters....and the new ones they are using now for flats are the most Sophisticated on the planet....they put the Magazines like the letters in route order.....when these new ones went on line...we had a group from Japan Post come in to look at it....im sure they ordered one....the Machine is huge and 70-80 yards long....its the reason they dont need many clerks anymore...

On a side note, there's a set of stamps of Postal Workers that was put out in the 70's. My mom was in one of the pictures. She asked how much they would get paid so of course, they made them artist drawings instead of the actual pictures. There's my mom, with her red hair and the green pants she was wearing that day right there on the stamp. She was hand sorting the mail. I remember how much she practiced so she could get that job.

I think it's sad to see those old jobs go. Up to date computers may be great, but I miss the old fashioned switchboard that I used to operate. Times change, but not always for the better. I would rather see more people working and less automation.

And there use to be rotary dial telephones with operators, now there are cellular phones with wireless connections. The world has progressed.

 

[Meister]

If it is run like a private business, and the government doesn't fund them, then what difference does it make?

how many private businesses have to get permission from 3 or 4 committees a board of governors and congress before they can do something major?....

Define "something major".

Raising the price of a stamp by as little as 1 cent.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Neither workers nor our unions caused this crisis.

In 2006, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. This law requires the Postal Service to do something that no other business or government agency has to do–pre-fund its FUTURE retiree health care benefits. This is a 75 year liability that has to be paid in 10 years. The Postal Service makes a payment of approximately $5.5 billion on September 30 at the end of every fiscal year to meet this obligation. The Post Office has been paying these benefits the past seven years into a trust fund for employees who have not even been born yet. This is the burden that is creating the “financial crisis” for the Post Office. The recession that has gripped America the past few years has undoubtedly affected the Postal Service, but even in the worst economic times since the great depression, the USPS has had a net profit of $611 million dollars. Unfortunately, the red ink associated with the post office is the mandated pre-funding since 2006.

They know this. Lonestar, JC and Sayit know this. This is a game for them.

What does that have to do with the discussion? We all know that the PO cannot pay for itself. Yes it generates money, but it still loses money every year, 5 billion last year alone.

Apparently we are all in agreement that the USPS needs to be out of government control and in private hands.

were did that 5 billion go?....so if they did not have to pay that useless payment....then they broke even right?....

 

[Disir]

Page not found from your link.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr6407

What section is it you'd like me to read? I ain't reading the whole document today. Looks like a contract. Maybe it is since the government owns them and use unionized labor.

Title VIII.

 

[Harry Dresden]

I think bulk mail rates should be eliminated. Let them pay the full rate per ounce just like everyone else.
BTW, so called junk mail which is comprised of ads for stuff most people have no intention of buying is the origin of the phrase "circular file"...
So unless junk mail advertisers are selling their wares to trash cans, they are wasting their money.

your wrong....i have read quit a few articles saying direct mail is the most effective way to advertise,its a multi-billion dollar industry for a reason........and the biggest complaint i ever had on my route was when the Tuesday food ads were either late or someone did not get one...Advo pays the PO in excess of a Billion a year to deliver those things....Penny Saver about the same....you people may not think anyone wants those things....guess again....

Yeah, I get upset when the ads come on Wed instead of Tue. I plan my shopping around the sales.

apparently many do....

 

[bedowin62]

this is the bullsh*t the Left tries to pass off as informed debate:


The FERS “Overpayment”

Two postal reform bills are pending in Congress. S. 1789 would transfer approximately $11.4 billion from the CSRDF to the USPS during fiscal year 2012 as a refund of “overpayments” that the USPS has made on its FERS funding obligations.[2] As reported by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, H.R. 2309 also calls for a refund of FERS contributions. The USPS cites OPM figures to claim that it owes $75.9 billion for future FERS pension benefits, but has a balance in the trust fund of $87.3 billion.[3]

While this surplus appears to exist, it should be retained in the trust fund and used to offset future USPS funding requirements. This is how the private sector handles temporary surpluses in defined-benefit funding. The OPM estimates that the USPS will owe the CSRDF approximately $3 billion annually and given the USPS’s uncertain financial prospects, retaining the surplus would protect both its employees and the taxpayers. As long as the surplus remains, USPS would have lower expenses.

However, that surplus may not last. It is based on estimates of earned interest and the eventual cost of promised benefits. As private-sector employers that sponsor defined-benefit pensions for their employees have discovered, both estimates can be volatile, and today’s surplus can become tomorrow’s deficit very quickly.

The CSRDF is composed of special issue treasury bonds with maturities of up to 15 years, which pay the appropriate interest rate when they were issued. Currently, interest rates are near record lows and have been since the 2008 financial crisis. This is reflected by lower earnings than predicted. For instance, the CSRDF actuaries predicted interest earnings of 6.25 percent for the FERS fund in 2009, but the actual figure was 5.18 percent. For 2010, the prediction was 5.75 percent, but actual earnings were only 4.77 percent. The earnings for 2011 were also projected at 5.75 percent, but actual earnings are unlikely to be better. In short, the estimated USPS surplus is based on overly optimistic assumptions. When estimates are adjusted to show actual earnings, the expected surplus will likely shrink. Given this, refunding the entire surplus is extremely irresponsible.

 

[Harry Dresden]

The Post Office was destroyed by the Internet.

Shouldn't you be boycotting it?

That certainly is a major contributor to the equation.

No. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr6407

yes it is....the Internet affected first class ....that bill did not....

 

[Harry Dresden]

That argument ran out of steam long ago.
The fadct is the USPS employs too many people who are using archaic methods of getting the work done.
Hand sorting mail for carrier routes? Come on....All mail should be bar coded and sorted by machines.
The USPS is a bloated federal bureaucracy.

were the hell have you been hiding Spoon?....hand sorting?....they have been using bar codes and machines for about 35 years now for letters....and the new ones they are using now for flats are the most Sophisticated on the planet....they put the Magazines like the letters in route order.....when these new ones went on line...we had a group from Japan Post come in to look at it....im sure they ordered one....the Machine is huge and 70-80 yards long....its the reason they dont need many clerks anymore...

On a side note, there's a set of stamps of Postal Workers that was put out in the 70's. My mom was in one of the pictures. She asked how much they would get paid so of course, they made them artist drawings instead of the actual pictures. There's my mom, with her red hair and the green pants she was wearing that day right there on the stamp. She was hand sorting the mail. I remember how much she practiced so she could get that job.

I think it's sad to see those old jobs go. Up to date computers may be great, but I miss the old fashioned switchboard that I used to operate. Times change, but not always for the better. I would rather see more people working and less automation.

i got nothing against automation as long as it does the job better.....the Flat sorting machine is "eating" the covers on many Magazines pissing lots of people off...

 

[Disir]

No. I already provided this information earlier. You must have been playing with your sock.

NO; you posted your usual stupidity; talking points wallowing in dishonesty

you must have been playing with your sock

====================================================

this is the bullsh*t you are trying to pass off as an "accounting error". In reality it is a disguised taxpayer bailout for PROGRESSIVE FAILURE.....

Abstract: Calls to refund “overpayments” by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to the retirement of postal workers are misguided. The estimates of overpayments are inflated by overly optimistic assumptions, as recent years have demonstrated. A refund would leave taxpayers on the hook for future shortfalls in USPS retirement funding. The better choice is to follow the private-sector practice of using the current surplus—whatever it is—to defray future retirement payments. Instead of giving the USPS a questionable refund, Congress should require it to make comprehensive reforms that recognize new realities and enable it to restructure its operations accordingly.

Missing something? How about a link.
Postal Pension Refund is a Disguised Taxpayer Bailout

Ya, you whine bag. You pull your shit from Heritage and didn't have the balls to link to them.

Again. The federal Office of Personnel Management.

 

[Harry Dresden]

No. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr6407

I have no idea what you want me to read in that 66 pages.

But, yes, the internet was part of it.

No. Here: http://www.usmessageboard.com/politics/352857-boycott-staples-5.html#post9044098

they are the wrong people to be boycotting....

 

[Harry Dresden]

You keep saying the government owns the PO. Where the does the government get its money to own anything from?

so who owns it then?....

The USPS is created as a government agency under Title 39, Section 101.1 of the United States Code which states, in part:

(a) The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people by the Government of the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by Act of Congress, and supported by the people. The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities. The costs of establishing and maintaining the Postal Service shall not be apportioned to impair the overall value of such service to the people.

No, the USPS is a Business!
the Postal Service takes on some several very non-governmental attributes via the powers granted to it under Title 39, Section 401, which include:
•power to sue (and be sued) under its own name;
•power to adopt, amend and repeal its own regulations;
•power to "enter into and perform contracts, execute instruments, and determine the character of, and necessity for, its expenditures";
•power to buy, sell and lease private property; and,
•power to build, operate, lease and maintain buildings and facilities.

All of which are typical functions and powers of a private business. However, unlike other private businesses, the Postal Service is exempt from paying federal taxes. USPS can borrow money at discounted rates, and can condemn and acquire private property under governmental rights of eminent domain.

Under federal law, only the Postal Service can handle or charge postage for handling letters. Despite this virtual monopoly worth some $45 billion a year, the law merely requires the Postal Service to remain "revenue-neutral," neither making a profit or suffering a loss.

In simple terms, it's a branch of the federal government. It owns itself.

really?....but yet they cant make a move without some Committee or the Board of Governors and finally Congress giving this self owning business permission to do anything that they feel they should do....and it takes a while to get that permission....if Congress has the final word....how do you figure they own themselves?...

 

[jc456]

No. I already provided this information earlier. You must have been playing with your sock.

NO; you posted your usual stupidity; talking points wallowing in dishonesty

you must have been playing with your sock

====================================================

this is the bullsh*t you are trying to pass off as an "accounting error". In reality it is a disguised taxpayer bailout for PROGRESSIVE FAILURE.....

Abstract: Calls to refund “overpayments” by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to the retirement of postal workers are misguided. The estimates of overpayments are inflated by overly optimistic assumptions, as recent years have demonstrated. A refund would leave taxpayers on the hook for future shortfalls in USPS retirement funding. The better choice is to follow the private-sector practice of using the current surplus—whatever it is—to defray future retirement payments. Instead of giving the USPS a questionable refund, Congress should require it to make comprehensive reforms that recognize new realities and enable it to restructure its operations accordingly.

So I have often wondered, why the negligence of the government handling pension money turns into a tax payer payback. Those who did not use the funds correctly should be expected to make up the shortfall outside taxpayer money.

 

[Harry Dresden]

If it is run like a private business, and the government doesn't fund them, then what difference does it make?

how many private businesses have to get permission from 3 or 4 committees a board of governors and congress before they can do something major?....

Define "something major".

when scanning packages started....Fed-x and UPS were doing it....the PMG at that time said the PO has to start doing that....by the time they got permission to invest in the Technology FED and UPS were already on the 3rd generation scanners.....thats one example....

 

[jc456]

so who owns it then?....

The USPS is created as a government agency under Title 39, Section 101.1 of the United States Code which states, in part:

(a) The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people by the Government of the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by Act of Congress, and supported by the people. The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities. The costs of establishing and maintaining the Postal Service shall not be apportioned to impair the overall value of such service to the people.

No, the USPS is a Business!
the Postal Service takes on some several very non-governmental attributes via the powers granted to it under Title 39, Section 401, which include:
•power to sue (and be sued) under its own name;
•power to adopt, amend and repeal its own regulations;
•power to "enter into and perform contracts, execute instruments, and determine the character of, and necessity for, its expenditures";
•power to buy, sell and lease private property; and,
•power to build, operate, lease and maintain buildings and facilities.

All of which are typical functions and powers of a private business. However, unlike other private businesses, the Postal Service is exempt from paying federal taxes. USPS can borrow money at discounted rates, and can condemn and acquire private property under governmental rights of eminent domain.

Under federal law, only the Postal Service can handle or charge postage for handling letters. Despite this virtual monopoly worth some $45 billion a year, the law merely requires the Postal Service to remain "revenue-neutral," neither making a profit or suffering a loss.

In simple terms, it's a branch of the federal government. It owns itself.

really?....but yet they cant make a move without some Committee or the Board of Governors and finally Congress giving this self owning business permission to do anything that they feel they should do....and it takes a while to get that permission....if Congress has the final word....how do you figure they own themselves?...

Not to be a jerk, but what is it you're thinking they can't do without permission from Congress?

Didn't they just outsource work?

 

[Harry Dresden]

how many private businesses have to get permission from 3 or 4 committees a board of governors and congress before they can do something major?....

Define "something major".

Raising the price of a stamp by as little as 1 cent.

yep.....3 or 4 committees the board of governors and then Congress...

 

[Disir]

That certainly is a major contributor to the equation.

No. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr6407

yes it is....the Internet affected first class ....that bill did not....

The internet did not say fund 75 years in advance.