Why not allow States and the Postal Service the ability to declare bankrupcy?

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ivwshane

ivwshane

Lifer
May 15, 2000
33,741
17,395
136
Thebobo said:
*****(2 days after it was introduced it was passed by both senate and house-- That is Fast!)***

Last Action: Dec 20, 2006: Became Public Law No: 109-435.

Other Titles: -- Postal Civil Service Retirement and Health Benefits Funding Amendments of 2006
***
Votes: Dec 8, 2006: This bill passed in the House of Representatives by voice vote. A record of each representative’s position was not kept.
Dec 9, 2006: This bill passed in the Senate by Unanimous Consent. A record of each senator’s position was not kept
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How is that possible/legal? Some pretty shady stuff going on imo.

How the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act was passed
Full info https://www.democraticunderground.com/10022335782
Click to expand...

Its weird that I can't find a single real news source that covered this at the time. Anyone else find one?
 
Thebobo

Thebobo

Lifer
Jun 19, 2006
18,574
7,672
136
Leave the USPS alone. We all here live in the digital age but there still is a large parts of america where they still get their bills in the mail. Make sure broadband is available at a reasonable cost to all of america then we can talk about changing it.
 
13Gigatons

13Gigatons

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2005
7,461
500
126
Thebobo said:
Leave the USPS alone. We all here live in the digital age but there still is a large parts of america where they still get their bills in the mail. Make sure broadband is available at a reasonable cost to all of America...
Click to expand...

So that will be year 2099...maybe?
 
cmdrdredd

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
Thebobo said:
Leave the USPS alone. We all here live in the digital age but there still is a large parts of america where they still get their bills in the mail. Make sure broadband is available at a reasonable cost to all of america then we can talk about changing it.
Click to expand...

That's fine but at least UPS and FedEx have an accurate record of my package as it travels to its destination. With the USPS they basically don't have a clue until it shows up somewhere. They claim to bleed money but their services are lacking basics that we have come to expect from others.
 
J

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,686
136
cmdrdredd said:
That's fine but at least UPS and FedEx have an accurate record of my package as it travels to its destination. With the USPS they basically don't have a clue until it shows up somewhere. They claim to bleed money but their services are lacking basics that we have come to expect from others.
Click to expand...

Bullshit.

https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input

The USPS also has a cooperative agreement to carry UPS & FedEx parcels the last leg for many rural customers.
 
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frozentundra123456

frozentundra123456

Lifer
Aug 11, 2008
10,451
642
126
who? said:
Postal workers are in the same Federal Employees Retirement System as all other federal employees have been in since it was created during the Reagan administration. The civil service retirement system was eliminated as a choice for federal workers hired on or after Jan. 1 1987.
Click to expand...
I worked under both the CSRS and FERS. Fortunately, I had enough service under the CSRS that I had the option to stay in that system when the FERS system was introduced, which I did. I was not sure if the Postal Service was under FERS or not.
 
pcgeek11

pcgeek11

Lifer
Jun 12, 2005
22,414
5,012
136
Thebobo said:
So it's not true? please provide some proof.
Click to expand...


3 cosponsors (2D, 1R)
Davis, Danny [D-IL7] (joined Dec 7, 2006)
McHugh, John [R-NY23] (joined Dec 7, 2006)
Waxman, Henry [D-CA30] (joined Dec 7, 2006)

And as you stated they were all voice votes and not recorded. How many were Dems and how many were Repubs? We don't know do we.

Afterwards the Democrats were in power and could have "saved us all". Did they? No, of course they didn't. They liked it just fine as it was.

If the blame is to be placed, it is on them all R's and D's.
 
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Zorba

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
15,613
11,256
136
cmdrdredd said:
That's fine but at least UPS and FedEx have an accurate record of my package as it travels to its destination. With the USPS they basically don't have a clue until it shows up somewhere. They claim to bleed money but their services are lacking basics that we have come to expect from others.
Click to expand...
Comparing a 50¢ postage to a $25 postage makes sense. If you use priority or delivery confirmation they provide tracking just like UPS or FedEx.
 
O

obidamnkenobi

Golden Member
Sep 16, 2010
1,407
423
136
13Gigatons said:
The postal service is just that a service. It's not intended to run like a business. It's not intended to obsess over profits. I also don't want to pay $10 to send a first class letter so the CEO (postmaster general) can get paid $20 million a year. Truthfully if all that pension money was returned the postal service bottom line would look a lot better.

For those that still don't understand the postal service is like infrastructure (a road or bridge) that everyone gets to use. We make the profits and the USPS takes one for the Team America.
Click to expand...

Is the military run at a profit? How does the revenue stream of the air force look? They really need to pump up the profits.
 
G

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
obidamnkenobi said:
Is the military run at a profit? How does the revenue stream of the air force look? They really need to pump up the profits.
Click to expand...

They do! I departed from Savannah\Hilton Head airport yesterday. Saw ~16 F-22s on the ground. That represents around 6.4 billion in revenue and hundreds in millions of profits for Lockheed Martin.
 
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M

momeNt

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2011
9,290
352
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The Post Office essentially is a non-profit, there is no real reason for it to be run at a profit.

In fact, it may serve the public better to operate at a loss, if it operates at a loss, the prices are too low, and since it directly competes with private post, it creates price pressure for the private posts to stay competitive.
 
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glenn1

glenn1

Lifer
Sep 6, 2000
25,383
1,013
126
momeNt said:
The Post Office essentially is a non-profit, there is no real reason for it to be run at a profit.

In fact, it may serve the public better to operate at a loss, if it operates at a loss, the prices are too low, and since it directly competes with private post, it creates price pressure for the private posts to stay competitive.
Click to expand...

I'm unsure why folks are complaining that states and USPS can't declare bankruptcy. First off the bankrupt party generally gets put into receivership, which means the state (or USPS) wouldn't be in charge of their own destiny anymore and the entire body of elected officials become powerless figureheads who have "austerity" forced on them which progressives typically hate. Secondly, the entity will have most of their assets sold off to creditors which means the states would probably see their parks and other monetizable properties disappearing. In the case of USPS, it might mean liquidating the entire business and selling off the pieces to competitors like FedEx. And finally, the primary creditors in a state bankruptcy would be the very interest groups the state had typically gone into debt for in the first place - the state employee pension plans, the contractors who maintain state roads and services, etc. Wiping out the state's debts and leaving the state workers and retirees holding the bag doesn't seem like a huge improvement on the circumstances for a state like Illinois if you're a progressive although a conservative would probably cheer it on.
 
pauldun170

pauldun170

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2011
9,558
5,806
136
NAYs ---19​
Blackburn (R-TN)
Braun (R-IN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
Johnson (R-WI)
Lankford (R-OK)
Lee (R-UT)
Paul (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Romney (R-UT)
Rubio (R-FL)
Sasse (R-NE)
Scott (R-FL)
Scott (R-SC)
Shelby (R-AL)
Toomey (R-PA)
Tuberville (R-AL)
Not Voting - 2​
Hagerty (R-TN)
Inhofe (R-OK)
 
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zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,992
31,551
146
nickqt said:
Dear Christ yes that's great news.

If the USPS actually got access to the BILLIONS they've been pre-funding for years, they'd stop being "bankrupt" and have a ton of cash on hand to hire enough workers to do the things they've been delegated to do.
Click to expand...

nah, sure that money got "spent somehow"

sex trafficking for your jr chud congresscritters ain't cheap, you know?
 
trenchfoot

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
16,134
8,726
136
pauldun170 said:
NAYs ---19​
Blackburn (R-TN)
Braun (R-IN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
Johnson (R-WI)
Lankford (R-OK)
Lee (R-UT)
Paul (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Romney (R-UT)
Rubio (R-FL)
Sasse (R-NE)
Scott (R-FL)
Scott (R-SC)
Shelby (R-AL)
Toomey (R-PA)
Tuberville (R-AL)
Not Voting - 2​
Hagerty (R-TN)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Click to expand...

Oh look, Manchin broke away from his fellow Repubs on this one. /s
 
Meghan54

Meghan54

Lifer
Oct 18, 2009
11,684
5,228
136
zinfamous said:
nah, sure that money got "spent somehow"
Click to expand...
I don’t think you’re far off…GWB was responsible for the 75 year pre-funding of retirement healthcare costs being added to the 2006 bill that passed. The legislation originally didn’t carry that stipulation.
Bush intimated the excess funding would help pay down the deficit…LOL.
 
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