Rural Republican Voters should Blame Themselves for Postal Closings and Mail Delays.

Rural voters aren't getting it. It's their own party's attack on the postal service, and their attempts to privatize it, that is prompting the closing of rural post offices across the country. They even think they can have it both ways.

I posted the story back in 2009, that pretty much tells the whole hypocritical story.

But the latest attempt to privatize the post office ignores that history. The postal services troubles were created by Republicans who wanted to drain their profits into a retirement fund, a fund the GOP could borrow money from, all the while privatizing it.

But this recent ad reminds postal supporters and opponents who they employ:



Again, the conservative voters in rural area's need to wake up and blame their own party for attacking and nearly breaking up the U.S. Postal service.

Think I'm exagerating? Here's what came up on my search of postal stories on the right:

A group of U.S. Senators announced a bipartisan plan last week to help keep the financially ailing Postal Service solvent and continue six-day mail delivery for at least two more years. The question is "Can Congress pass a reasonable reform bill?" The Postal Service lost $8 billion last year and has been looking at drastic measures such as cutting service to five days. A substantial part of that loss is a Congressional requirement that it prefund retiree benefits much more aggressively than any other federal agency.

The proposed legislation would not only stretch the prefunding requirement over several years, but refund money to the agency that it had overpaid earlier. That refund would be used to set up a buyout program aimed at reducing staff by 100,000. The postmaster general would be given authority to negotiate with unions on a possible alternate health care system that would cost less. The workers' compensation program would be overhauled. Currently the Postal Service has 2,000 workers over age 70 receiving workers' compensation. Switching them to retirement programs could save money.

The postal service and mailing groups are in support of the bipartisan proposal. Some members of Congress will hesitate to refund money that belongs to the Postal Service because it will make the reported budget deficit look worse. And other members may want to protect underutilized sorting centers in their districts to impress voters.