U.S. Post Office Budget Deficit, a Manufactured Crisis

[Mark]

I would like to propose that OC, and perhaps OWS and others, adopt as a demand upon the political and business establishments the repeal of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. This is the law passed by the Republican dominated Congress of 2006 that requires that the U.S. Postal Service pre fund the pensions of its workers 75 years in advance, i.e., for postal workers not even born yet. It is responsible for ALL of the current U.S.P.S. budget deficit. Without it the Postal Service would be operating at a $1.5 billion surplus. This law, along with a similar law made to defund Medicare (Medicare Part D, passed by the same Congress) are what are called "poison pills" or attempts to sabotage public services.
The Postal Service gets NO taxpayer funding and funds itself entirely with stamp sales and customer service charges. Nor is it in any danger from its competitors, U.P.S., Fed Ex or DHL, who are not even close to overtaking the U.S.P.S. but instead are its biggest customers as whenever the private services don't want to make rural deliveries they pay U.S.P.S. to make them for them.
The only reason the Republican Congress seems to have wanted to run down the Postal Service seems to be that U.S.P.S. is the second largest employer in the United States after Walmart but is the LARGEST unionized employer.
Not many Americans know these facts. The Occupy Movement should take on the informing them of it and mobilizing them on it as its proper role.