Former Congressman Newt Gingrich seems to think “Forever Stamps” will lead USPS to bankruptcy and a taxpayer ‘bailout.’
Post Office Bait And Switch
A new initiative by the U.S Postal Service that appears on the surface to be a good deal for customers is in fact setting the stage for bankruptcy and a future bailout of the Post Office with taxpayer money.
This week, U.S. Postmaster General Patrick Donahue plans to announce that all future stamps sales will be so-called “forever stamps,” which can still be used even if postage rates go up.
Anyone who has had to hunt around for 1 or 2 cent stamps to add to their old stamps after an increase may consider this good news.
However, consider the implications of this action. The Post Office is currently experiencing a severe budget deficit and has been unable to gain approval for a postal rate increase. In addition, they are threatening to stop delivering mail on Saturdays as a way to cut costs. As Peter Schiff astutely points out in this interview with The Daily Bell, the Post Office is trying to solve their short term revenue problems at the cost of even bigger problems down the road.
The Post Office will try to use any short term increase in sales from these forever stamps to solve their immediate fiscal problems. But if the Post Office is already having trouble operating at full capacity with current prices, imagine how difficult it will be to do so in five or ten years after inflation has pushed their costs up AND they are selling even fewer stamps because so many people already purchased them in the past.
In fact, this move is setting the stage for a future taxpayer bailout of the Post Office because it virtually guarantees its future bankruptcy.
The low price of stamps is not the reason why the Post Office is facing such huge deficits. The Post Office is seeking a 5.6% increase in the price of stamps despite an inflation rate of just 0.6%.
Instead, the Post Office is facing budget shortfalls because it is unwilling to engage in the necessary reform of its operations necessary in the modern economy.
As I discussed in To Save America, which is now out in an updated paperback version, the Post Office’s union work rules require it to pay a large group of employees more than a million dollars a week to do nothing. Instead of being able to lay off redundant workers, the Post Office (and by extension, every American who uses the mail) keeps them on salary through a program called “standby time.”
If the Post Office really wants to solve its fiscal challenges, it needs to engage in the difficult work of reforming its operating procedures, including its suffocating and costly union work rules like “standby time.”
Congress should block the Post Office from implementing this genuinely dumb move and force it to confront the true cause of its budget woes and implement real reform.
Just another anti-government employee idiot who can’t pass up an opportunity to spread falsehoods. In lieu of postal issues, Ginrich should stick to things he knows about. This would include cheating on his wife and lying to the American people when he was in Congress. Pathetic human being.
What rock did he come out from under? Oh! Thats right ther e is a Presidential election in a couple of Years!
Stand by is being used in areas where excessing is imminent. At my plant, we were required to sit in a room for 2 hours before being released to work. This occurred until clerks were excessed to a facility nearby. I’ve heard the same thing occurred in a plant North of us in the same state. I have no idea as to whether or not this is still happening anywhere or if the numbers stated are accurate. My guess is they are not.
Newter is way off the mark. Who in their right mind thinks they will reap a financial bonzana by buying and stocking up on forever stamps. It makes sense to print them with no amount. They can use them forever. Newt goes down a few notches on my list. That puts him at number 9,999,999,999,999…….
This asshole is just out to plug his crappy book!
Who cares. Newt is another dumb right wing dumbass.
Congress, John Q. Public, EVERYONE it seems keeps pumping out statistics as if they were actually true! No one really knows the “financial” state of the Postal Service, GM, Wall Street, THE COUNTRY ITSELF…..I do not remember taking any math courses called “fuzzy”……LOL. Newt, the inflation rate is NOT 0.6%….again, it is when computed with “fuzzy” math…..it is much higher, government and the elitists (you Newt) took out and/or ignore real inflation factors…….unfortunately, John Q Public will believe every negative word printed…..never questioning, never “considering”….pitiful.
“Standby time’ is manufactured by management to be used by politicians like Gingrich. Actually, the only standby time Newt is familiar with is standing by his mistress while his wife is dying of cancer. That is mistress #1: I think he dumped her for mistress # 2 a few years later (Google it-it’s all public record).
I don’t agree with Mr. Gingrich on the foreever stamp being the down fall of the posta service. As rates go up so will the foreever stamps price. I don’t foresee companies buying millions of stamps to save a few cents in the future. if they do, more revnue for the P,O, It will save millions of dollars in having tp print one,two and three cent stamps. He is correct on the “stand by time”. Changes in work rules are needed to maintain the postal service competive in the future, A more flexible work force, a revision of the “National agreement” with all the unions involved is going to be required. All parties involved will benifit from new collective barganing agreement. if not the future does look bleek. I do not want to see a U.S. with out a postal service
He will say and do anything to keep his name in the public eye…..trying to sell his book and his ego is still benign…..he was a loser before and will remain a loser…why am I even wasting my time writing this….he is an ego maniac
Newt is using the post office problems for union busting in the same way democrats use unstable gunman as a reason for gun control. Did everyone notice Newt’s attempt to get folks to send him money at the end of his article. What Newt didn’t want anyone to consider is he was a government worker, elected maybe, but a government worker just the same and all our problems in America can with very little effort be traced to legislation of elected government workers. These same elected government workers will not take an equal share of the cuts they are recommending for the rest of America. Newt is getting a pension, healthcare, and he wants to cut everyone else. This reminds me of the Orwell book Animal Farm.
What ? What group of standby employees being paid one million per week ?
From what depths of his fat ass did Newt Gingrich pull this bogus stat from ?
Instead of attacking labor unions, maybe Gingrich should tackle the real standby travesty in the USPS. Postmasters level 17 and above. They are now relegated into being nothing more then figure heads. They can’t make a move in their office without directives from above and there are already front line supervisors in place to fill those orders. So the Postmaster is on standby as he makes his salary and benefits that range anywhere from 100,000 to 250.000 per year.
Maybe Newt, you can help the USPS get the over payment back with the pre-funding and you will see a profit. Top management should be looked at before considering stopping a day of service to the citizens who rely on it. The unemployment rate is so high would you like to add to it as this will surely do that!
again you stupid people missed the point of this bad article. Forever stamps ARE NOT NEW like Newt thinks…LOL…been around for 5 years already. And no one has bought thousands of them to save a FRICKEN PENNY OR TWO LATER ON IN LIFE. You would be better putting your money in a saving account paying 1.0 percent than buying stamps…dumb ass Newt..
BUT AGAIN THE ARTICLE IS 5 YEARS TO LATE, JUST LIKE NEWT.
Standby time is running rampet . Just look at all the managers . They must be on it at least 10 hours a day . But i’am sure they are charging it some how to the workers . Because they aren’t the ones loosing thier jobs !
msfaye:
I was a Letter Carrier in Delaware for 22 years. In the first 19 years I never heard of standby time either. Then all of a sudden we were having problems with the DPS machines in our office, we actually had our DPS run by our clerks right in our office. Carriers were running out of mail so the Postmaster or supervisor would tell us to punch on 342 on the time clock which is standby time. This was done by our wuss of a Postmaster for one reason, so our office wouldn`t be showing excessive amounts of office time for the corresponding amount of mail we had and in turn he would catch heat from the District Manager. So yes I guess that standby time does exist.
in my 32 years of working at the post office i have never heard of stand by time. i have never had any supervisor let me stand around doing nothing. maybe someone can explain stand by time to me so i know if i had it and didn’t know it.