As the Beltway grapples with reviving the American economy amidst Coronavirus, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is asking for $85 billion in government bailout money to weather this crisis. But the costs inflicted by the virus are just a drop in the bucket when compared to USPS’s decades-long financial troubles. Rather than pouring billions of additional taxpayer dollars into a failing system, USPS needs to show significant progress in reforming its business operations to reduce debt and increase financial transparency.
Like most industries nationwide, the pandemic has certainly impacted revenue at the Postal Office. But there’s a discrepancy in their reported losses these last few months and the amount of relief they are requesting.
According to Postmaster General Megan Brennan, USPS stands to lose $13 billion due to the pandemic. However, despite receiving a new $10 billion line of credit, the USPS Board of Governors is now asking for an additional $75 billion.
You can read this entire op-ed at The Economic Standard