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Will The Government Shut Down Affect The USPS Delivery Service ?? ANSWERED
Jimnight
Posts: 10,846 ✭✭✭✭✭
Should coin collectors hold off from ordering or just order as if nothing has happened ?
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Not according to reports from yesterday.
The USPS is self supporting and not funded by the government. Has been that way since 1971.
The U.S. Postal Service is an independent agency, so it's not affected by the government shutdown.
At least that's what I've read. And after all, everything you read on the internet is true, right?
Thank you, that's all I needed to know.
Not funded by government, yes. Self supporting, no. There is a huge pension obligation that will probably turn into a government bailout.
The USPS's funding status is not quite as simple as they make it appear. USPS gets subsidized in a few ways: below market rate loans, avoiding most taxes, such as property, gasoline/diesel, vehicle registration fees, tolls, etc. They also have a monopoly on being able to deliver to mailboxes and the legal protections they provide.
There is a relatively small amount of direct funding for things like providing free mailing for the blind and overseas voters.
Whether or not any of this is good or bad is a different matter, but the self-supported marketing line the postal service promotes isn't a full picture. For anyone interested, here is an interesting study on the subject: sonecon.com/docs/studies/Study_of_USPS_Subsidies-Shapiro-Sonecon-March_25_2015.pdf
I'm mailing a couple things today. It's Saturday. Most government employees aren't working anyway, today.
How was your MLK day off ? LOL
https://acoinshop.com/ —-> https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
That pension funding obligation is what is choking the USPS. Although USPS operates outside the Government, it is the only agency that is required to "pre-fund" future retirement obligations.
This pre-funding amounts to billions of dollars, and hampers the USPS when it, itself, needs money.
NO OTHER agency is required to do this.
All this happens behind the scenes, leaving the rest of us to wonder why things are so screwed up.
Pete
Of course with the prospect of a government shutdown I wondered about the status of my passport renewal, fortunately I got my new one in the mail just this morning. Took a week and a half, not even an expediting fee - I could wait up to a couple of months. At least now I can get back into the USA, if I want to.
Definitely will not affect the mail.... however, they are financially a wreck and I foresee some sort of government intervention in the future. Cheers, RickO