Bankrupt or billion dollar retirement fund?
Topic: A controversial issue in my career.
General Purpose: To persuade.
Specific Purpose: To provide data that will persuade the audience to agree.
Central Idea: To persuade you to believe that the USPS isn 't going out of business.
I Attention:
Attention getter: Everyone wants to save money and everyone hates to see postage going up. You have probably been told that the reason is because the USPS is going bankrupt, but do you really know why?
Purpose statement: By the end of today I hope you will consider doing one of the hardest things in your life; pick up a pen and paper and write a letter to each of your congressmen urging them to revise the postal accountability and enhancement act of
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It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities.” (3)
In 1970 The Post office gained semi-independence as it stopped being tax-payer funded and became completely self- funded with postage rates determined by seperate regulatory agency. It was at this time that the Post office started paying tax just like every other business. This happened August 12, 1970 when President Nixon signed the Postal Reorganization Act. This is when the Post ofice became known as the United States Postal Service or USPS for short. (3)
We are all familiar with the economic crisis that President Obama inherited. We also know that it started long before he took office in 2008. One of the first cities to feel the pinch was Detroit. From the very beginning there was talk and concern that Detroit would have to file bankruptcy and default on their retirement pensions. A person could then make a leap of logic that the fear of government entities going into bankruptcy would cause instability and chaos. One way congress could provide stability would be to make sure that the USPS would not be in the same situation as Detroit.
To ensure that the USPS would never default on their retirement pension promises the 108th Congress passed Public Law 108-18 of April 23, 2003 called “Postal Civil Service Retirement Systems Funding Reform Act of 2003” In
Another point the USPS should take into consideration when restructuring, is that it is too easy for most Americans nowadays to forget the significance of a hand written letter or card, when we can communicate within seconds through technology. Come to think of it, I remember running to the mailbox in excitement every November to collect a special, pink birthday card from my grandma with her messy cursive scrawled across the envelope. Now, my “special” birthday wishes are in a 30 second voicemail she leaves from her cell phone every year. The USPS must remind us of the significant difference it can make in communication by recapturing its emotional importance through advertising.
Postal Service is facing a major financial crisis and imminent collapse due to new technologies coupled with national economic struggles that have led to an incredible drop in mail and postage revenue (USPS receives no money from taxes). On top of these revenue drops, the Postal Service is burdened with unfair and difficult financial obligations that were imposed by Congress. This dangerous combination has sent the Postal Service into an economic downward spiral.
In July 2009, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) listed the budget of the United States Postal Service as “high risk” and recommended oversight from Congress and the Executive Branch. Specifically, the GAO stated that “Amid challenging economic conditions and a changing business environment, USPS is facing a deteriorating financial situation in which it does not expect to cover its expenses and financial obligations in fiscal years 2009 and 2010” (“Restructuring”, 2009, pg. 1). The GAO claimed that the mail volume in 2009 would likely decrease by about 28 billion as compared to 2008 and that the USPS would likely see declining volumes for the next five years (“Restructuring”, 2009, pg. 1). Clearly, the USPS is currently facing a
In Daniel Stone’s editorial article, “Flying Like an Eagle”, he advises the USPS some guidance to boost up their profit and their usage to the community. One of his inputs on the
The Post Office Department known as the United States Postal Services (USPS) (Annual Report, 2009) today, is a dominate player in the mail delivery arena and has been existence since 1776. The Post Office was originally a governmental agency, but due to mismanagement by Congress, was reorganized in 1971 and no longer a part of the presidential cabinet; but became an independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government. To date, the USPS maintains a monopoly on the day-to-day delivery of mail but competitors do share the market on some of the other types of deliveries; shares the market on some of the other types of deliveries (i.e. express
There are a great deal of changes that the USPS systems needs to make. For one, they need to stop bombarding their customers with junk mail. According to (SOURCE E), 44 percent of marketing mail isn’t opened. Nineteen states have opted to pass bills that would allow people to opt out
The Stamp Act was effective on November 1st 1765.The act was placed without a say from the colonies. Taxes were placed on playing cards and almost everything else.
Due to the rising popularity of email and the easiness of scanning documents, less and less mail is being sent every year and because of competitors like FedEx and UPS the United States Postal Service (USPS) is having financial problems. All over the world there has been sweeping postal reform. New Zealand moved to three day mail delivery, Canada eliminated home delivery in cities, and the United Kingdom recently privatized their mail system. The United States Postal office has been losing money and reported a loss of $15.9 billion dollars in 2012. The USPS has been increasing stamp prices to make up for this financial loss, most recently increasing stamp prices from forty-four cents to forty-five. With congressing blocking the latest USPS
The United States Postal Service has existed for more than two centuries. As the people have grown into the new world of digital technology and electronic communication, the USPS continues to become more of a disservice to the American people. The USPS has still used the same rules and principles for more than two centuries, which does not intrigue any more customers. The USPS needs to be reconstructed in order to fit the needs of a changing world. As the world grows and develops into higher levels of thinking and technological advances, the USPS should grow with them, changing to become more useful to American people.
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The tax was set for all American colonists and required them to pay tax on each and every piece of printed paper they used, including legal documents, licenses, newspapers, and even playing cards! The money gained from the new act was used to help pay for all the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian
They continued to deficiency employees declining to make responsible pension payment. That combined with the national financial downfall, causes Chicago’s pension debt to balloon into a full blown financial crunch. The difficulties in Chicago have only gotten worse; even as the city’s long-range economy has become better. In Houston, the city’s healthy economic position has helped to pad the punch of substandard pension funding decision thus far, but surroundings are changing. The decrease in the oil markets along with the property tax revenue cap could quickly enlarge the city’s pension predicament and outcome in much like the one in Chicago. In order to stay from dire consequences, leaders must immediately take action to fundamentally reform Houston’s pension systems so that they are impartial and maintainable for both employees and taxpayers. City official must access local management over the city’s pension systems in order to negotiate changes directly with workers and enact those changes locally. In addition, they must fully fund the pension system pay off the debt in 20 years or less; and make the projections, historical data and financial news publicly available. Retirement plans for public workers in the U.S of America face serious challenges. These pension plans are greater extent expensively, underfunded, and retention of the most talented public servants and create
The goal of The United States Postal Service is to create “a free flow of information between citizens and their government as a cornerstone of freedom, often spoke of a nation bound together by a system of postal roads and post offices.” (Longley 2013) Postal offices are forbidden to open any letters unless it is undeliverable The United States Postal Service (USPS) is responsible for providing postal services for the United States to all Americans no matter the geographical location. The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States federal government that was
Ed O’Keefe on the Washington post wrote “ The Postal Service experienced a 13 percent drop in mail”. Cullen, Kevin of commercial news points out how the postal service (USPS) is losing money. Also McDevitt, Caitlin of Newsweek mentions it’s a waste of due to junk mail. Throughout the years of the USPS not being restructured to save money for other needs.
The USPS is at a point where it does not have the financing available to maintain its operations. One reason for the annual net losses is due to the declining rate of first-class mail. The second reason has to do with the required prepayment of $5.5 billion per year toward retirees’ healthcare costs. In order for the USPS to overcome this deficit, they will need to consider their short time frame, government restrictions and labor union backfire in considering the best alternative. One alternative would be to privatize postal services operations which would allow the USPS to change its pricing structure, yet it would potentially significantly reduce market share. A second alternative would be to undergo a system-wide
The goal of The United States Postal Service is to create “a free flow of information between citizens and their governemnt as a cornerstone of freedom, often spoke of a nation bound together by a system of postal roads and post offices.” (Longley 2013) Postal offices are forbidden to open any letters unless it is undelieverbale. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is resposible for providing postal services for the United States to all Americans no matter the geographical location. The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States federal government that was