Should We Get Rid of the Post Office?

Katie Pavlich | May 12, 2011 2:27 PM

In just three short months, the Post Office has lost a whopping $2.2 billion dollars, setting the pace for the government entity failure to post a $8.8 billion loss by the end of the year. In 2010, the operation posted a $8.5 billion loss. I see a pattern here....

Meanwhile, taxpayers are still stuck with paying for postal worker pension plans and benefits.

If there is a light at the end of the tunnel for USPS, it’s an oncoming train, as it projects that by September it will run out of cash and default on a payment owed to the U.S. Treasury for retiree benefits.

USPS lacks the ability to make the changes that are needed. It is, for instance, prohibited by law from closing individual post offices simply because they are losing money. Congress is also keeping USPS from dropping Saturday delivery, although that step would save close to $2 billion a year.

So, the question is: Do we really need the Post Office?