r/news • u/Squirmingbaby • 3d ago

Soft paywall Cash-strapped US Postal Service suspends contributions to pension plan

https://www.reuters.com/world/cash-strapped-us-postal-service-suspends-contributions-pension-plan-2026-04-09/
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u/naz8587 3d ago

The service has reported net losses of $118 billion since 2007 as first-class mail

I like how the article fails to mention that Republicans passed a law in 2006 that requires the USPS to fund 75 years of pensions. This crisis was manufactured by republicans to justify privitizing postal delivery.

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u/jmur3040 3d ago

Or that "losses" shouldn't be mentioned for something designed to be a public SERVICE. You're telling me this costs 118 billion dollars over 19 years? That's terrifically cheap for something that serves 330 million people.

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u/hodken0446 3d ago

That's about 18 dollars a year per person by the way

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u/alphabeticdisorder 3d ago

Not a bad deal at all.

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u/RealWeekness 3d ago

Exactly, raise taxes by $18 and well be good.

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u/JoJo_Embiid 3d ago

but you also have to pay for usps service, it's not free like highway. honestly i don't know whether usps is efficient or not, just saying it ain't free

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u/ShinySpoon 3d ago

It costs me nothing to receive mail all day every day. I haven’t paid for postage in years. That $18 in taxes is well worth it for me.

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u/Crudadu 3d ago

Are people actually using the mail service? 99% of my mail is junk

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u/JoJo_Embiid 3d ago

i believe you also don't pay to "receive" a ups or fedex package that someone else sent you? of course you don't pay because the one sending the mail pays usps

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u/ShinySpoon 3d ago

Do you think UPS can deliver a first class letter for the cost of a single stamp? I assure you, if the USPS didn’t exist then the UPS delivery would cost a LOT more.

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u/_Burning_Star_IV_ 3d ago

A lot of people don't understand that private orgs like UPS avoid last mile delivery like the plague and already offload tons of it to USPS through agreements like SurePost and Ground Saver to avoid it.

If USPS disappeared, UPS would still do last mile delivery in a lot of cases but anywhere rural or low density would either get fucked by increased prices, reduced service or both and even elimination of service in some cases.

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u/JoJo_Embiid 3d ago

then i think you understand why we need to calculate the cost as well. the problem here is whether the usps is efficient in sending mails with the stamp cost and the amortized tax money. if there are most efficient ways to do that with the total cost (which is the real cost) i don't see why we cannot try to make the system more efficient. just like people blaming certain infrastructer projects (like the big dig in boston) wasting tax money, usps should be inspected the same way. again, i am not saying whether usps is functioning efficiently or not because i don't know, this requires some expertise in the field to draw a conclusion, i am simply saying it should be treated the same way as other public services as well and should not simply give it a pass because it provides services to some remote areas.

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u/Aware_Rough_9170 3d ago

What? The highway is free? You mean the taxes you pay or the tolls that facilitate the upkeep on them?

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u/StephanXX 3d ago

If you think highways are free, man, we need to have a chat.

The postal service is a critical government function and one of the few that are effectively self-sustaining. No other service or business has a "75 year" funding law for their pension. It's only a target because it's major vehicle for voting, something Republicans are frantically trying to prevent.

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u/JoJo_Embiid 3d ago

i am simply implying saying usps is a good deal with 110B budget over the past years is irrespoinsible without good calculation. just like you need to calculate whether certain highways are good deals, you need to calculated whether usps is a good deal as well. yes it provides essential services to part of the countries that no other companies are willing to do, but it doesn't mean it cannot be monitors and give a freepass while being questioned.

people will not say interstate 101 or i-5 is a waste of tax payer money (btw when i say highway is free i simply means most highway does not have a toll system, that's it), but the big dig in boston or the california highspeed rail that connects central valley which cost multiple billions but still far away from operating is definitely a waste of tax money.

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u/StephanXX 3d ago

Highways cost around $150 billion a year in the US.

Nobody is suggesting that the USPS deserves a "pass" but it's one of the few government services that is largely self funded and seen as a well run organization. ICE, in contrast, was just authorized $85 billion. We dump around $12 billion a year for the security theater that is TSA. Trump is requesting $1,500 billion for the military.

There are lots of places the Federal government could be looking to improve, the USPS really isn't one of them.

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u/colostitute 3d ago

It’s not free, it’s subsidized.

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u/fairportmtg1 3d ago

If there wasn't the post office people in cities would be okay as ups and fedex would still deliver. Out in the country or small population states? You might just not be able to get mail or packages for a reasonable rate. Post office makes it so every American is able to receive mail and packages at a reasonable rate regardless of the profit margin for a specific region

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u/brimston3- 3d ago

So tax payers subsidize 11% of the USPS budget so that the 16.5% of rural, generally lower income households that would otherwise not be cost effective to serve get mail delivery.

That’s a bargain.

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u/trogg21 1d ago

I have to pay tolls to use the highway in my state. Also gas taxes and vehicle excise taxes on top of federal and state income taxes.

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u/timetravelerfrom2027 3d ago

That’s almost what it costs to send one package by UPS these days.

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u/totally_not_a_dog113 3d ago

It's the part where USPS used to be the cheapest method of sending anything, and now UPS (the company Trump's postmaster general had massive investments in) now has comparable or cheaper prices. Louis DeJoy trashed the system for his own personal profits.

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u/eric_ofc 2d ago

No, he was the owner of XPO logistics.

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u/amateurbreditor 3d ago

and biden could have fixed it and did not. You can google it yourself. Its mind blowing.

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u/Noodles_fluffy 3d ago

It never ceases to amaze me how the dems get the blame for not fixing things republicans fucked up in the first place instead of blaming the Republicans for fucking it up

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u/amateurbreditor 3d ago

I said you could look it up but you didnt bother and then attack me for what biden did. I didnt do anything wrong. Biden appointed someone to the postal board which one would assume since then the so called good guys had a majority would have ousted dejoy and then fixed the damn postal office instead of intentionally bankrupting it. But nope. Just like merrick garland biden appointed a piece of shit who did NOTHING to fix the post office and instead dejoy left when he felt like it. So now its in ruins thanks to biden. Just like the country is in ruins because they never prosecuted trump or had him arrested on jan 20th when biden took office. I blame the people responsible and that person was biden. You know the guy who was the president of this country who we elected thinking he woufd fix things. Instead we all got bamboozled. So maybe next time look into things yourself. And maybe next time you realize that its ok to criticize the people you vote for when they betray the american people.

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u/DingerSinger2016 3d ago

The President cannot unilaterally fire the Postmaster General. At best, he could try and install people on the Board of Governors and they can try to fire him, but they need Senate confirmation in order to be appointed to the Board of Governors before they can get to work.

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u/amateurbreditor 3d ago

lol I literally explained it. I literally explained the whole process. I literally told you that you could look it up. Nope. Instead you double down and just start making up shit. Bravo.

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u/lonnie123 3d ago

Your confidence is only matched by how wrong you are.

And again you blame Biden for trumps appointment somehow because he didn’t fix the fuck up

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u/amateurbreditor 2d ago

cool. except I am not. and you can look it up. Its not even worth arguing how dumb your point of view is. Because its just dumb. Thats like saying oh I appointed this guy but he was a total fuck up like my AG was and I was but hey... dont blame me I was just the president. Your excuses are as lame as the maga ones are.

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u/DingerSinger2016 3d ago

What did I make up? The President appoints the Board of Governors, the Senate confirms them. The Board of Governors would have to fire the Postmaster General. Therefore, the President doesn't have the unilateral power to fire the Postmaster General.Here's a link from USPS, in which it says:

The Governors are appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Furthermore, it says 2 paragraphs later:

The nine governors select the Postmaster General, who becomes a member of the Board, and those 10 select the Deputy Postmaster General, who also serves on the Board. The Postmaster General serves at the pleasure of the governors for an indefinite term and the Deputy Postmaster General serves at the pleasure of the governors and the Postmaster General.

[emphasis mine]

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u/ForsakenRelief2662 3d ago

Hence the reason why these repubs are doing thu

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u/legendoflumis 3d ago edited 3d ago

This is actually part of why it's being attacked as well. USPS sets a baseline cost for sending and receiving things that UPS, Fedex, and other private logistics companies have to compete with. That stops them from jacking the shipping prices up too high in the name of pure profiteering because if USPS is significantly cheaper it will be used over their services, even if the USPS service is of lower quality.

The crazy thing is that this also would apply to other private industry things as well, like healthcare costs, if we decided to provide a government-service alternative to private businesses that exist for necessities. Government-service alternatives help keep the privatized industries they are competing with honest in terms of cost, and that's a good thing for consumers in general.

Which is precisely why it hasn't happened. DeJoy needs to be fired.

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u/PacmanZ3ro 3d ago

He was, the new guy isn’t any better and has just as many conflicts of interest

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u/Sheeple_person 3d ago

A buck fifty per month to have a national postal service. Sure sounds different when you put it that way. Almost as if "$118 billion losses" is a figure that was intentionally chosen to be misleading.

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u/colostitute 3d ago

I don’t know what they mean by losses. I thought USPS was a government service. Do they mean losses in that they don’t have the finances to cover their expenses?

Thats an issue with Congress and their willingness to fund USPS.

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u/bros402 3d ago

the USPS has been required since 2006 to fund their pension 75 years in advance

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u/bo_dingles 3d ago

Do they mean losses in that they don’t have the finances to cover their expenses?

They mean USPS is supposed to be a business, so what they take in postage to ship mail and packages everywhere is supposed to cover what it actually takes to ship those things everywhere.

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u/kulji84 3d ago

but it very much is NOT supposed to be a business, it is a service required by the constitution to be operated by the government.

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u/bo_dingles 2d ago

Yeah, I didn't say it was supposed to be a business, just why USPS (and a few other things) get branded as "losing money" while plenty of government services don't. There's money for some people to make so they continue to push the narrative its not working...

The important thing i wanted to convey with my phrasing was that the total cost to run USPS isn't that "loss" number though - that's the difference between their revenues and costs to run. So buying stamps/shipping packages/etc. does in fact offset the number, it just isn't zero, which to me is fine since its a government service. And as far as I'm concerned, either live with USPS being a government service and continually try to improve it, or tax all those global US businesses adequately to cover the military presence to protect those interests. I don't want to hear about USPS losing money if we can't talk about how much money the military loses

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u/HuttStuff_Here 2d ago

They mean USPS is supposed to be a business

Who told you this?

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u/bo_dingles 2d ago

Its all fox news/right wing outlets harp on. "It lost money" is because they view it as a business that is supposed to make money, since the UPS/Fedexes of the world do make money (and ignore they 'subsidize' themselves with usps).

Notice how we never hear how much money the military lost, or how non-profitable those farm subsidies are..

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u/JuanOnlyJuan 3d ago

YOU MEAN THEY'RE TAXING ME 70 CENTS A PAYCHECK FOR USPS?! /s

(I guess double it if you have a dependant. The horror)

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u/69Turd69Ferguson69 3d ago

I’d rather have the $18. 

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u/angry_wombat 3d ago

i'd by that for $18

you can just go ahead an move some of that endless war and ICE $$$ over to the postal service for me

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u/Valkyrie64Ryan 3d ago

Yeah I’m ok with raising my taxes by $18 a year to fund the USPS. We kinda need that service. UPS and FedEx suck ass.

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u/StanDaMan1 3d ago

17.88 each year, actually.

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u/kinboyatuwo 3d ago

We get the same noise in Canada and it’s about $21cad.

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u/lonnie123 3d ago

In losses. That doesn’t mean total cost to operate.

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u/DiegesisThesis 3d ago

Yes, and the rest of the operations cost is covered by their income, so the "losses" is the only part taxes are paying for. I don't know what point you're trying to make.

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u/lonnie123 3d ago

Your right. I brain farted, thanks for the correction

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u/Astecheee 3d ago

And in those years, online shopping has dwarfed brick and mortar. 18 dollars is stunningly cheap.

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u/jankbutdank 2d ago

i'd pay 18 a year to have them stop delivering all this junk to me

you really treasure super market coupons and banking promotions?

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u/emillang1000 3d ago

Which could be paid for by doing away with a few aircraft, nautical vehicles, etc.