On the recordMarch 19, 2012
This approach by the Postal Service is all the more inexcusable given its unfortunate reputation for fuzzy math. By cutting service and raising prices and not fully calculating the resulting disastrous revenue losses, the Postal Service has put forth numbers that we simply cannot rely upon. Unfortunately, this is not new. The Postal Service's assumptions about the projected losses and savings from service cuts have proven unreliable in the past, as the Postal Regulatory Commission has found. Furthermore, we are relying on the Postal Service's data and projections without giving the Postal Regulatory Commission the opportunity to provide its advisory opinion, which is expected this summer. I hope my concerns can be addressed. But it raises real questions about whether proceeding with the postal reform bill is futile. If the Postmaster General is eroding the customer base and implementing service cuts before we can enact legislation, are we just wasting time trying to pass a bill? Can we still save the Postal Service? So I find myself in a quandary, one created by the Postmaster General himself as he shifts from plan to plan, from negotiation to negotiation. This makes it extraordinarily difficult for those of us who are so committed to saving the historic Postal Service so it can continue to be a vital American institution for generations to come. ____________________
