Researcher and Writer in Washington, DC

The U.S Postal Service’s Ghost Ship Board

February 10, 2016 Written by Kevin R. Kosar

Skeleton Pirate with Ghost Ship

To appreciate democratic dysfunction, one need look no further than the U.S. Postal Service. That single agency is home to all of the defining fights of modern politics, with all of the usual symptoms.

Postal policy currently is embroiled in disputes over how to define the agency’s role with respect to private industry; how to adjust public services to an evolving market; how to provide retirement security to postal employees; and how to manage the USPS’ long-term operating deficit. The service’s day-to-day operations are “off budget,” meaning the perennial deficits that result from these policy stalemates cannot be hidden in the broader federal budget. Despite years of media coverage highlighting the USPS’ financial crisis and other challenges, Congress remains divided on how to reform the Postal Service for the future…. (Read more)

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