USPS Will Be In Default By Sept 30: Rep Issa offers viable pathway to fiscal sustainability

An update to yesterday's post: Postal Office Nearing Default, CouldStop Operating By Winter

Via PJ Tatler:

On June 23, 2011, Rep. Issa and Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., Chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and Labor Policy, introduced H.R. 2309, the Postal Reform Act of 2011, which would implement sweeping, structural reforms to the USPS in order to bring the institution back to fiscal solvency. Click here to get the facts on the Postal Reform Act of 2011.

The Postmaster General has announced that on September 30, 2011, he expects the United States Postal Service to default on payments to the U.S. taxpayer. Last year, USPS lost $8.5 billion and is projected to lose $9 billion in FY 2011. Find out what Postal Service default means to you here.

Visit SavingThePostalService.com for more information, including facts on the Issa-Ross Plan and the latest news on Postal Service reform.

The highlights of the reform effort that Democrats are sure to resist:

• No Taxpayer Bailouts: plan delivers an efficient, effective Postal Service without the thinly-veiled taxpayer bailout proposed by other bills.
• Savings through Flexible Delivery: the Postal Reform Act saves an estimated $3 billion a year by giving the Postal Service the option of eliminating Saturday delivery.
• Pay the Real Delivery Cost: phases out expensive loopholes and special deals that force the Postal Service to actually charge certain customers less than the true cost of delivery.
• Ending Special Treatment for Political Parties: our plan eliminates the cut-rate prices now benefiting national and state political committees of all stripes.
• A Team Approach: a team of postal experts will target and eliminate the expensive excess the Postal Service doesn't need. In just a year, the Commission on Postal Reorganization will focus on redundant post offices - saving at least $1 billion a year. Year two will focus on excess mail processing - saving at least $1 billion per year - and the 30% of management facilities without much to manage.
• Pitching in for Health & Life Insurance: mandates that postal workers pay at least the same health and life insurance premiums federal workers do.
• Constant Accountability: when the Postal Service fails to pay its bills for more than 30 days, an independent watchdog is empowered to cut costs much like a bankruptcy judge when corporation can’t pay its bills – this includes addressing expensive labor agreements. And we don't ask taxpayers to foot the bill: the watchdog can borrow up to $10 billion with postal facilities as collateral.
• New Revenue: even though the Postal Service is supposed to act like a private business, it can't make money from selling advertisements. The Issa-Ross Postal Reform Act allows USPS to sell advertising space on vehicles and facilities, as long as the ads respect the Postal Service's integrity.
• Fair Pay: right now, the law says "compensation" means only a postal worker's paycheck. Our plan eliminates this fuzzy math so that compensation means the same thing it does everywhere else: pay and benefits.
• Rightsize Non-Profit Discounts: today, non-profit organizations enjoy a 40% advertising discount from the Postal Service. The Postal Reform Act gradually reduces this discount by 5% a year until it reaches 10%.

It's too little, too late. Compensation needs to be brought in line. It's 80% of the costs and Issa is focusing too much on either 1) the other 20% of the costs, or 2) making the service more expensive. He should only have two bullet points - one to get healthcare costs in line and the second to get pension costs under control, preferably by eliminating those plans.