Postal Service tries to stem red ink

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

The U.S. Postal Service has long vowed that neither bad weather nor gloom of night will keep it from delivering the nation's mail. But sagging incomes, rising debt and the nation's increasing reliance on electronic communication are threatening the organization like Mother Nature never could.

 

To keep the post office's financial head above water, its board of governors recommended a 3-cent emergency rate increase to mail a first-class letter, bumping the price to 49 cents. If approved by the independent Postal Regulatory Commission, it would follow a 1-cent rate increase that went into effect early this year.

 

The proposed rate bump, which likely would kick in early next year if approved, would generate an estimated $2 billion annually.

 

But with the agency facing $15.9 billion in debt and expected losses this year of $6 billion, the new stamp price would fall far short of solving the financial crisis.

 

Sign Up for the Politics Today newsletter!

While the Postal Service is a federal agency, it doesn’t receive money from the government — yet still needs congressional approval to make any major structural changes.