The USPS Saturday Mail Delivery Saga Continues

According to his blog post "Sanders to Postmaster General: Postal Service Must Keep Saturday Mail" U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) yesterday called on Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe to withdraw his plan to stop Saturday mail delivery.

In the blog he stated that "the opinion by the non-partisan GAO unambiguously declared that the Postal Service has no legal authority to end Saturday mail without the approval of Congress. In fact, Congress just last week passed a bill that restated the requirement for the Postal Service to maintain Saturday mail delivery."

In a letter addressed to the Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, Senator Bernie Sanders encouraged  Mr. Donahoe to clear up any confusion on this topic. "Therefore, I am urging you to make it clear to the American people that the USPS will continue Saturday mail delivery in adherence with the law as soon as possible."

He goes on to explain that he understands that much of the financial shortcomings that the post-office has faced since 2007 can be attributed to the Congressional mandate that the post office pre-fund 75 years of future retiree benefits over a 10 year period; something that no other government agency, nor any other corporation in America is mandated to do. "Before this pre-funding mandate was signed into law by President George W. Bush, the Postal Service was making a profit. In fact, from 2003 through 2006, the postal service made combined profit of more than $9 billion." Senator Sanders continues "I look forward to working with you to end this onerous mandate once and for all which would keep the Postal Service healthy and thriving for years to come."

Also mentioned is the fact that a law passed in 2006 banned the Postal Service from expanding its services with new and innovative products and other offerings. Such innovations could aid the Postal Service to increase much needed revenue, and compete with other shippers such as FedEx and UPS.

What is your opinion, is this the right move? Do you prefer the post office revert to the normal 6 day delivery plan? Will the government follow through with Senator Sanders' suggestion to remove the pre-funding mandate? Will that be enough, or do you feel the Postal Service would be better off by continuing with the 5 day delivery plan in addition to the mandate? Let us know what you think in the comments below!