But as Washington begins to battle over the next round of coronavirus relief funding, the United States Postal Service, for many the most familiar face of the federal government, has landed improbably at the center of one of the most bitter political disputes over who should be rescued, and at what cost. The Post Office needs $25 billion in direct funding to keep going, which the Democrats included in the most recent coronavirus relief bill. fyi: the price of stamps goes up not bc of inflation but bc congress says it does. But after nearly reaching a bipartisan deal for a multibillion dollar bailout in the last coronavirus rescue package in late March, Republicans and Democrats have sharply diverged over whether to provide a lifeline. Postal Service says it will be insolvent next month, and wants to lay off 120,000 people. It was the White House that intervened in March, nixing a bipartisan plan to provide $13 billion to the Postal Service. It takes in more than $1.5 billion annually. The Post Office on the other hand, is running in the hole by billions. https://t.co/5wPQvbA951. Important conversations are happening now. President Donald Trump said Thursday he opposes funding for the U.S. By the end of September, the Postal Service will be on the brink of defaulting on all its employee pension obligations, unable to borrow any more money, and only have enough cash to cover one week of operations. Today is National Voter Registration Day! In fact, it existed, in some form, even before the United States came into existence. These things directly replace a lot of the Postal Service’s bottom line. Everyone would feel the absence of the U.S. And that’s what has contracted at an alarming rate. My cousin has a pen pal in Sweden, and they write back and forth, and it transmits right away, and doesn’t cost anything. And then a few years into this trend, Congress makes another consequential decision. That changed in 1971, when Congress passed the Postal Reorganization Act , turning it into an independent, self-sustaining agency. Though 90 percent of its income is derived from the sale of stamps, the post office is also the largest savings bank in the country, and the largest agency with a transfer of money. “We are defenders of all of these programs because you can’t be treated differently just because you’re an American and you live in a village without a road.”. The Postal Service traces its roots back basically as far or farther than the country itself. That it’s getting its packages delivered far too cheaply, and that Bezos is being enriched off of this government service. Alan Rappeport contributed reporting. Conservatives and centrists are calling on the USPS to slash employees benefits and restrict mail delivery. I spoke with the Postmaster General again today. Absolutely. Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection, via Library of Congress. Funded by the public. The agency, which makes its money on the sale of postage and other products that have declined in popularity since the advent of email and online billing, has not relied on taxpayer funding for decades, instead issuing debt as losses have mounted. I mean, the agency never really fully recovered or regained its footing. The first one is this large change that we’re all familiar with in consumer habits and the way that people communicate and spend money, and that’s just —. Postal Service (USPS) is a large business enterprise operated by the federal government. Yet because the Postal Service technically operates under the executive branch, and President Donald Trump has displayed a bizarre hostility to it since taking office, it seems likely that the agency will receive some pushback. Why are we so afraid of a word that is inherently friendly? Personal correspondence, billing, business solicitations, and things like that. And I’m carrying a lot more essential needs. 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