 |
| U.S. Postal Service |
Whether it brings commodity as special as a handwritten card or commodity as necessary as drug, theU.S. Postal Service is the only institution able of going the last afar to reach, serve, and tangibly link every American — but now it needs ourhelp.In the shadow of COVID-19, demand for correspondence and appreciation for it surged. But also on came 2021, and our correspondence got slower, less dependable and moreexpensive.During my four terms in Congress, I supported for a strongU.S. Postal Service. That’s because dependable correspondence is critical for our country. Nearly everyplace I go now, still, I hear people talking about their correspondence — indeed rent, bills, and tradition specifics — being late and dear tosend.And as we head into the Christmas vacation, people across the country are legitimately wondering if presents will get to their destinations on time. That’s because in October, the over-to-three- day service standard for First-Class Mail rose to five days, with consumers across the country reporting indeed advanced deliverywaits.Why? TheU.S. Postal Service has a 10- time plan in place not only to decelerate the correspondence but also to make it moreexpensive.In fact, the cost of first- class correspondence and" ever prints"are adding at an unknown rate for everyone. But indeed more concerning, charities and other nonprofits, magazines, community journals, and registers are facing indeed bigger postage hikes which could indeed drive them out ofbusiness.So, what can we do about it? Well, the Postal Service does have licit reasons to save plutocrat, but putting the squeeze on correspondence is n’t the right way to do it — especially if you consider that business- related correspondence generates 90 of Postal Servicerevenue.One answer lies in passing bipartisan civil legislation called The Postal Service Reform Act. It would guarantee six- day correspondence delivery while freeing the Postal Service from a 2006 law taking it to set away finances for retiree health benefits 75 times in advance — a huge liability that has added further than$ 40 billion in losses to the Postal Service’s balance sheetThe Postal Service Reform Act not only has bipartisan support, but it has also been approved byU.S. Postal Service leadership and labor unions. The legislation presents a rare occasion for Congress to fluently make a positive difference in the lives of all Americans — every namer, every family, and every business in thenation.Another way to fix the Postal Service is to keep massive rate increases from passing every many months. Advanced postage drives more correspondence from the system, especially when combined with service detainments and consumercomplaints.Some might claim that private couriers like FedEx and UPS could replace theU.S. Postal Service, but that’s not true. The Postal Service is obliged to serve every American, no matter how remote. Now it’s our job to fix it — and make sure it can keep delivering for all of us. Kevin Yoder is a former Republican Congressman from Kansas who spent four terms serving in theU.S. House of Representatives. He's administrative director of" Keep US Posted"-a crusade aimed at conserving theU.S. Postal Service. For further information, visitwww.KeepUSPosted.org.