what do you do if you're a republican
and you have some way above masina
with the largest unionized employees were in the United States
I'm in a way to seriously damage to
you take it
right so back in 2006 there is a Pisa
relatively innocuous legislation came a US House represents
to reform the Postal Service to bring them up to up to speed
actually postal service that point I was making a profit and they were talking
about
%uh using electric cars they had the largest
single owner fleet a vehicle's in the United States
and they were talking about elector fine at least
path love them he would've been a huge jump start for the electric car industry
it would've been a huge slap in the face to the fossil fuel industry in the Koch
brothers all their buddies there
and
it was the largest unionized employees are in the country the pasta you
Postal Union second largest employer in the country behind Walmart which of
course
is not unionized so this piece of legislation came out of the house to
help the post office cinema long do
come into the 21st century and went over to the senate and something
interesting happened for some reason somebody in the Senate decided
let's require the post office
to pay over a 10-year period in advance
all the health care retirement costs for all of their workers
seventy five years from now people who have not even been born yet let's
require them right now to prepay
those health care costs a course is a mindboggling I'm on a monitor not be 10
billion dollars a year over a ten-year period and
it has wiped out the post office this was in 2006 here's congressman peter
defazio describing how it happened
well as really a darker than I think a there was a pretty non-controversial
bill in the house for some post reform which was to extend no authority
to them to partner with UPS and FedEx so we we're extending that authority this
day at that point they didn't have the authority to do that
and then the bill went over to the senate and
up someone's at some point snuck in
a section in the senate that no one quite understood at the time it talked
about
a retirement a that retirees health insurance
and prepayment and the bill came back to the house lame duck session of Congress
virtually Christmas Eve I think was actually two days before Christmas
voice vote no one noticed this change the senate it's not Kim
that's how it happened and that's how it happened and so senator Bernie Sanders
introduced legislation last year to fix that got 62 votes in the Senate went
nowhere that included fourteen republicans
went nowhere in the house a course which is republican-controlled he has a new
one that has 28 cosponsors
butter so far it hasn't gone very far
of course nothing in the house representatives and meanwhile
as senator Carper has a introduced a bill
along with Tom Coburn democrat Republic republican
only two cosponsors not 28 like burnings that would
cut Saturday delivery into a lot about the nasty things the post office and
doesn't do away with this
middle of the night thing dance ciphers the executive vice president Lexington
Institute Lexington Institute .org
apparently a big fan up the car per coburn bill to
kneecap the post office to have that right anton to the doctor the time
it some it's certainly a PR that recognizes some other political
realities
that would need to happen for something to to get past and and become law
in other words let's cut out to the republicans welp
I wouldn't say necessary that that I'm a big fan
up the legislation what I am though is a is a fan
love congress figuring out a way to get something done
to address a problem that only but when I peer here people see that
say that use that kind of language in over big knowledge political realities
get something done
typically what it means is kiss the ass is that the republicans
Frank you know part might French but I think I can say that on the air and that
that certainly seems like
you know that data and I don't see why we should do that
min why I think that your your introduction to the issue was
was was spot on I think that that accurately got guidar
it go important hit all the important one to service I think with the one
exception
that fundamentally we have an institution
that lost your sixteen billion dollars last year
that is in danger of getting into sorta Detroit auto bailout size
losses all because others think this poison pill that was inserted by
Republican on the Senate in 2006
well all because the legislation that was passed in 2006 this one poison pill
that you described in a good thing he described it well
I'm it requires the the postal service to pre-fund
five billion dollars a year by billionaire yes fifty billion dollars
for over ten year period
but the Postal Service lost sixteen billion dollars last year so it was an
important part of the equation but
but what about the lost five billion dollars in 2006 five billion dollars in
2007 five billion dollars in 2008 58
pretty sisters to add up pretty soon cripples your ability to do things
pretty sorry cripples your ability to market and advertising compete
pretty sinister scaling back on that was your they've been doing and guess what
it puts a it puts company into a death spiral
any company I do agree that that that pre-funding mandate is is problematic
it's more than problematic it was a poison pill in with this was an attempt
by the republicans
too and and by the way carper and coburns bill
has a provision in it that basically starts taking apart the Union
mean this is all about destroying the largest unionized employees and a larger
and where the largest unions
in the United States pure and simple
eat out it is and it does and the approach that the
Senate legislation took in contrast to a bill that passed the House
where the Senate bill work for instance
that congress' has forever put really strict rules on the management of the
postal service about what it can and can't do they have to make or lose money
right and not have these bills fundamentally change that in fact he
took the bills in different ways
put more restrictions on the leadership of the Postal Service is responsible for
bouncing their
balancing the budget because your your listeners should remember that the
Postal Service's
self sustaining it doesn't rely on taxpayer dollars to generate the revenue
that it needs for its operating France
tightness is something this new nixon last 30 years or so
yes yes I'm and I don't know if it's sustainable moving forward or not
because
the model that we've always used before which is that monopoly consumers like
you and me when we
mail that when we way online and buy a stamp and mail a letter
hair for the money that that stamp cost after that
that we are forty sensor or well as as the price of stamps cannot
has gone toward subsidizing other functions
above the postal service that are not making money and that always used to be
adequate as you said before the postal service was always generating a small
profit
thought I think they would be need to find new ways to to fund the business
model
I think they would be enough they were allowed to do other things I mean
they're so
so many different things post offices in other countries you know they have
banking capabilities they they can provide
email but capability could give gmail a run for its money
I mean there's there's all kinds of things at the post office could be doing
and and but they're not allowed to by law there they're blocked from all of
these things they could do you know
rural post offices could become basically community centers
you know there's there's just a you know which in
the old small town you know where the post office was a part time thing and
some small towns are still is
actually works but please forgive my my earlier
you know kiss there but white which I that was inappropriate I II was
I I'm upset about this moderate reduction for free because my policy
doctor well you know no one really knew what the implications of that work we're
going to be an hour to hold different landscape for the Bible deposit area
and my apology anybody who may be on have been offended by it arm
but why a promote carper spill which only has one cosponsor tom coburn who's
the pretty talks a guy in my opinion instead a Bernie Sanders bill which has
twenty eight co sponsors a sitting there right now
and it and it fixes the post office and doesn't do away with the union is that
why because the political realities are that the republicans want to anything
keeps the Union in place
I don't think any of the bills being talked about now are adequate to really
solve the problem
I think we have to go back not just to to
the legislation the 2006 legislation but ok let me go back to 1971 in the
legislation that richard nixon find how this is organized
the questions you asked before about other things and other activities to
promote
service should be allowed to do that it's doing it right Italy and around the
world but you know we can still post office fast enough I think you have to
be pretty quick
yeah okay good point maybe we should do consider
reconsider Ben Franklin you know store the first post office in his notion that
this is something the
is a functional legitimate function government is after all thing I'm just
saying
this is the Thom Hartmann program it is our
after all an article one the Constitution section hate Dan Seifert
Lexington Institute .org
thank you again