First Class Failure
Sep 6, 2011 Political
The United States Postal Service is a study in failure and is closer than ever to defaulting. The Postal Service is warning that without a government bailout (read, using taxpayer money to cover losses) it will default and could stop mail delivery completely.
The USPS has seen a steady decline in the amount of mail it moves because of the Internet. People use email for instant communication which means there are fewer letters being sent. Couple this with the advent of electronic cards, online bill paying, and the ability to browse catalogs online and it spells disaster for an agency that depends on moving mail to make money.
There are plenty of problems at the USPS and one is the generous benefits package that its 600,000 employees enjoy. Postal Union employees not only enjoy more generous benefits than their counterparts in other government agencies, they also have a provision in their contract that does not allow them to be laid off. No matter what the volume of mail is, Postal workers still get paid. About 80% of the USPS’s costs are for labor which is well above the private sector companies UPS and FedEx.
The government needs to contract out the delivery of mail. This constant bailout of the USPS is a drain on the budget and it will only get worse as more and more communications are completed electronically. It is time to rethink the benefits package and the number of employees needed to handle the job. While the USPS might not be able to lay off employees, it can let them go as part of a reduction in force (unless that is part of the contract as well).
Reduce mail delivery to five days a week, close unneeded post offices, reduce the fleet and contract the delivery of mail to private sector companies who must work within a budget and who cannot run to the taxpayer when financial trouble hits.
If the government decides to use taxpayer dollars to bailout the USPS then that bailout must come with provisions to rework the union contract, eliminate the no lay off provisions (and any reduction in force clauses that exist) as well as reworking the benefits package that USPS employees enjoy.
There is no reason taxpayers should feel the pain of the financial problems of the USPS while postal employees continue the ride pain free.
Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: financial trouble, generous benefits, taxpayer bailout, union contract, usps
Bankrupt Cities
Dec 20, 2010 Political
So, the city of Central Falls, RI, says that they cannot continue to exist because they simply cannot afford to. They need to merge with a larger city AND receive state help (cash), or they will collapse fiscally.
Oh, and the state already took over their school system and gave the city $604 million in the past 2 decades. The city says they need $2.1 million immediately from the state. Oh, and the city has a $48 million unfunded pile o cash that they owe to government employees. Oh, and another $36 million they owe in government employee health care payouts.
The city has only 19,000 subjects and owes $80 million that they don’t have. In case you’re interested, that’s over $4,000 for every man, woman, and child in the city, that they owe right now, not including ANY current obligations or to keep the city running. Quick: what’s the solution?
Of course, it’s make other taxpayers give them money. The state, the feds, other cities, whatever. Just take the money and give it to them because they want it.
The other solution, a nice, freedom-based solution, would be to let the city go bankrupt. And I don’t mean one of these halfway bankruptcies, where they continue to exist and just don’t pay back loans and that stuff. Let the city cease to exist. Other than government employees, do you think anyone would notice? I bet not.
Of course, if the city did just disband, opportunities would abound. People could start up schools without government interference (well, maybe not, because of state laws). People could create businesses to do the things the city was doing (like trash collection) at a lower rate (well, it is a union state, so they might not be allowed to). Arrests would likely go down because police would not be spending all their time trying to raise revenue for the failing city.
In the end, if a city should cease to exist, I think most non-government employees honestly would not care and would, in fact, be MUCH better off than being forced to continue to support a failed system. Sadly, in America today, a country based on government control and power, that will never happen. Instead, tax rates will be raised and other people will be forced to pay to continue the pointless city of Central Falls. Why? Because government employees will continue to use force to rationalize (and pay for) their own existence.
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Tags: bankrupt cities, government, money, taxpayer bailout