We need to ask Senators Sherrod Brown (614/489-2083) and Rob Portman (614/489-6774) to refund the U.S. Postal Service.
The Postal Service was established in the Constitution. It was not created as a for-profit business, but as a public service. Unlike UPS and Fedex, it must deliver mail to all citizens no matter where they live no matter or what conditions are.
In rural areas we depend on the USPS for government checks, prescriptions and daily business. For us, the USPS is almost as essential as the US Public Health Service or even the military — and they aren’t required to make a profit!
I remember in 2008 we had terrible flooding in Bluffton that cut the town in half. The Post Office is on the other side of town from me, and it was separated from our house when Riley Creek turned into a huge river of water. I didn’t believe that I would be getting mail that day. But I remember around 4 p.m. seeing the USPS mail truck zipping into my street. To this day I don’t know how they did it. They delivered when UPS and Fedex did not.
USPS has made many reforms to make it more cost-effective. But in 2006, Congress passed a law that required the USPS to fund 75 years of retiree health benefits — benefits for future employees who may not even be born yet! — in 10 years. No other government agency or organization is required to do this.
Call Sens. Brown and Portman and ask them to fund the US Postal Service.
Lisa Robeson, Bluffton
