WASHINGTON – House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., issued the following statement in response to the United States Postal Service announcement that it has reversed its decision to pursue modified Saturday delivery:

“I am disappointed that the Postal Service has backed away from plans to implement a modified Saturday delivery schedule that polling indicates the American people understand and support.  This reversal significantly undercuts the credibility of Postal officials who have told Congress that they were prepared to defy political pressure and make difficult but necessary cuts.

“Just a few months ago, when USPS announced that it would alter Saturday delivery service, it made no mention that this change could only occur if Congress eliminated an old and well-known provision of law.   Despite some assertions, it’s quite clear that special interest lobbying and intense political pressure played a much greater role in the Postal Service’s change of heart than any real or perceived barrier to implementing what had been announced.

“While I will continue to work on comprehensive postal reform legislation that can pass both the House and Senate, this reversal will clearly be a setback to such efforts.”

On the same day that the Government Accountability issued a legal opinion finding that the US Postal Service did not have the authority to unilaterally end Saturday mail delivery, Congressman Darrell Issa and Senator Tom Coburn sent a letter to USPS Board Chairman Mickey Barnett suggesting, in effect, that the BOG simply ignore the law and go ahead with five day delivery: Read the rest of this entry »

Congressman Darrell Issa, whose drastic postal reform legislation faced so much bipartisan opposition that it was never even voted on by the full House, will propose a watered down “interim” version of the bill during the lame-duck session. While it doesn’t include the elaborate additional bureaucracies and debt burden that were in his original bill, the new bill would eliminate Saturday delivery, and prohibit layoff protections in future contracts. Here’s how the congressman summarized the bill’s provisions in a letter to the President:

1. A reamortization of the remaining payment schedule for retiree health care benefits, using the plan you put forth in your fiscal year 2013 budget, which will not write down the liability as proposed in S. 1789, but will instead defer near-term payments until USPS is able to implement cost-cutting reforms.

2. A removal of the Congressionally ­imposed restriction that prevents USPS from going to 5-day delivery. On multiple occasions you have proposed to allow the Postal Service to shift to a mail delivery schedule by January l, 2013, and I agree with you that it is necessary that the Postmaster General be granted this authority.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this change could save USPS $2.5 billion per year. All recent polling data indicates the public understands the challenges facing the Postal Service and majorities of 70 percent or more support going to a five-day delivery schedule as a way to help save the historic institution.

3. A prospective ban that prevents federal agencies, including USPS, from entering into no­-layoff agreements with their employees. It is Vital that our government be able to scale both up and down its employment as the need for such employment changes.
Even our service members enjoy no special protection against force reductions in light of decreasing need.

To hear right wing pundits talk, you’d think the federal pension system was about to destroy America. That’s why millionaire politicians like Darrell Issa want to eliminate pensions for middle class working people (while clinging to their own more lucrative taxpayer financed retirement plans).

A recent Federal Times article discusses the “problem” in some detail, and comes to a surprising conclusion: there isn’t a problem!

But there’s no evidence to suggest federal pension plans are a financial bomb waiting to go off. That was defused when CSRS was ended, and since FERS is legally required to be fully funded, the unfunded liability will fade over time.

OPM and outside observers such as Adcock and Palguta aren’t the only ones saying the system is sound. The Congressional Research Service has published several reports in recent years on federal pension programs, all of which concluded the programs are on solid ground.

"Although the civil service trust fund has an unfunded liability, it is not in danger of becoming insolvent," CRS said in a January report.

Audit firm KPMG has consistently given OPM’s financial statements and retirement programs unqualified opinions, meaning they found no significant problems.

And the Government Accountability Office said in a 1995 report that CSRS’ flaws, which resulted in the unfunded liability, were resolved with the creation of FERS.

"Provisions have been made for the retirement fund to always have sufficient budget authority to cover future benefit payments," former Assistant Comptroller General Johnny Finch said at a House hearing.

via Fed pensions underfunded by $673B – FederalTimes.com.

(Perhaps one of the constitutional scholars in the Tea Party can tell us which article provides that a bill supported by a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives can be defeated “because Darrell says so”?)

From the American Postal Workers Union:

House Panel Approves Postal ‘Destruction’ Bill

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform approved an amended version of the Issa-Ross postal bill on Oct. 13 by a vote of 22-18. All but one Republican (Rep. Todd Platts of Pennsylvania) voted in favor of the bill; Democrats voted against it.

The APWU has denounced the bill, H.R. 2309, as a “reckless assault on postal services and postal employees.” The bill demands that the USPS implement $3 billion worth of cuts in post offices and mail processing facilities in a two-year period. It also would reduce “door delivery” by 75 percent.

In addition, the legislation would gut collective bargaining: The amended bill prohibits postal unions and the USPS from negotiating protection against layoffs.

Bill Guarantess Layoffs

The Postal Service announced in August that it wants to reduce the workforce by 220,000, and is seeking authority to lay off as many as 120,000, including tens of thousands of military veterans. H.R. 2309 would authorize layoffs; the wholesale elimination of post offices and mail processing facilities demanded by the legislation virtually guarantees that massive layoffs would take place.

The bill also would empower a new “solvency authority” to unilaterally cut wages and abolish benefits.

“This legislation would destroy the Postal Service as we know it,” President Cliff Guffey said. “It would lead to drastic cuts in service to the American people, and it would pave the way for privatization of this crucial public service.

“The bill violates fundamental principles of our nation: fairness, the right of workers to engage in free collective bargaining, and respect for seniority,” he said.

“The APWU will continue the fight to save America’s Postal Service,” Guffey said. “We will be joined by our brothers and sisters in the other postal unions, veterans, senior citizens, and communities that rely on a robust Postal Service.”

Other Amendments

In addition to the amendment that would prevent bargaining over layoffs, several other amendments were adopted: An amendment offered by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL) would remove postal employees from the federal injury compensation program and would require the USPS to develop a separate program for workers who are hurt on the job. It also would force disabled employees to retire as soon as they are eligible.

An amendment offered by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) would permit the Postal Service to eliminate up to 12 delivery days per year rather than requiring an immediate abandonment of Saturday delivery. An amendment offered by Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY) would limit to 10 percent the number of rural post office closures.

An amendment offered by Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) to evaluate the impact of layoffs on veterans was adopted. The amendment was introduced in response to an ad sponsored by postal union and VoteVets, a prominent veterans’ organization, decrying the layoffs of tens of thousands of veterans that H.R. 2309 would cause. The ad appeared in Washington publications that are widely read by lawmakers on Oct. 12 and 13.

“Two of the adopted amendments were clearly regressive,” said APWU Legislative and Political Director Myke Reid, referring to the prohibition on negotiating limits on layoffs and removing postal employees from the federal injury compensation program. “Some of the others may appear to improve the bill,” but they just “nibble around the edges” without changing its basic character, he said.

“If passed, H.R. 2309 would be a disaster for the USPS and for postal employees.” The bill must be passed by the full House and Senate and signed by President Obama before it can become law, he pointed out.

“H.R. 2309 fails to address the fundamental cause of the Postal Service’s financial difficulties,” Reid added. The bill does nothing to correct the requirement to pre-fund the healthcare benefits of future retirees, which forces the USPS to fund a 75-year liability in just 10 years, he said. No other government agency or private business is required to make these payments, which cost the Postal Service approximately $5.5 billion annually. The bill also fails to address billions of dollars in USPS overpayments to federal pension accounts, Reid noted.

GAO Report as a Backdrop

An Oct. 13 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that rejected the findings of the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) regarding USPS overpayments to the Civil Service Retirement System served as a backdrop to the deliberations. Two independent actuarial studies performed at the request of the OIG and PRC concluded that the USPS has overpaid $50 billion to $75 billion into the account, due to a faulty funding formula.

The OIG and PRC provided a vigorous rebuttal to the GAO report, and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) called it “terribly flawed.” Nonetheless, at the hearing, Rep. Buerkle and Rep. Pat Meehan (R-PA) cited the GAO findings and voiced reservations about their previous support for H.R. 1351, the bill postal unions are supporting.

The APWU issued a statement denouncing the GAO report, calling it “seriously flawed.”

“Fortunately, there are many in Congress who reject this discredited report and will continue to tell the truth about the need for reform and fairness on this issue,” the union said.

“The report was clearly designed to undermine support for H.R. 1351,” Reid said, “so APWU members will have to make sure members of Congress remain steadfast in their support for this important legislation.”

H.R. 1351 would help provide the Postal Service financial stability by allowing the Postal Service to apply the pension overpayments to the pre-funding obligation. It would provide the USPS with financial stability it needs to modernize and adapt to changes in communication.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), has 226 co-sponsors – including 29 Republicans. The number of co-sponsors is significant because it represents a majority of the members of the House of Representatives; nonetheless, Rep. Issa has refused to allow it to come up for a vote.

“I am deeply disappointed that Rep. Issa would thwart the will of the majority and prevent Congress from debating a bill that has wide bipartisan support,” Guffey said. “But he will not be able to stop the American people for long!”

House Panel Approves Postal ‘Destruction’ Bill.

From Ed Schultz last night on MSNBC:

msnbc video: Post Partisan.

The following is being run as a full page ad in Politico, The Hill and CQ Today, in an effort to remind members of Congress that many of the postal workers who would be fired under Darrell Issa’s “reform” legislation are (unlike the sponsors of the bill) veterans:

APWU Veteran October 2011

More from the APWU:

The APWU has united with a prominent veterans’ organization and other postal unions to urge members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to vote no on H.R. 2309 when the committee deliberates on Oct. 13. [Click here for live Webcast - committee deliberations begin at 10:30 a.m.]

The bill would force the Postal Service to lay off workers, including tens of thousands of veterans.

In a print ad appearing in publications [PDF] that are widely read by members of Congress, the APWU and VoteVets point out that “The USPS hires more veterans than any other civilian employer in the country.

“Some in Congress want to fire them,” the ad continues.

“Putting tens of thousands of America’s veterans out of work won’t fix the Postal Service,” the ad notes. “Congress talks a lot about patriotism, but there’s nothing patriotic about destroying the USPS, devastating mail service, and telling our veterans they’re not wanted.”

The Postal Service has announced it wants to reduce the workforce by 220,000, and is seeking authority to lay off as many as 120,000. H.R. 2309, which was introduced by Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and co-sponsored by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL), would grant authority to a newly-established control board to carry out layoffs, despite any provisions in union contracts that limit such actions. The bill says that employees who are eligible for retirement must be laid off before employees who are ineligible, and dictates that retirement-eligible employees with the longest service must be separated first.

If 120,000 postal workers were laid off, approximately 26,000 veterans would be affected.

The Issa-Ross bill calls for $1 billion worth of cuts in post offices in the first year and $2 billion worth of cuts in mail processing facilities in the second year. If facilities are shuttered, veterans would be among the employees laid off, even if they are covered by the Veterans Preference Act.

“H.R. 2309 would destroy the Postal Service as we know it,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey. “In the process, it would devastate many dedicated workers, including thousands of military veterans.

“This mean-spirited bill fails to address the fundamental cause of the Postal Service’s financial difficulties,” said Legislative and Political Director Myke Reid. ”It does nothing to correct the requirement to pre-fund the healthcare benefits of future retirees, which forces the USPS to fund a 75-year liability in just 10 years, he said. No other government agency or private business is required to make these payments, which cost the Postal Service approximately $5.5 billion annually. The bill also fails to address billions of dollars in USPS overpayments to federal pension accounts, Reid noted.

“We call upon APWU members to step up their opposition to H.R. 2309 and their support for H.R. 1351,” Reid said.

H.R. 1351 would help provide the Postal Service financial stability by allowing the Postal Service to apply the pension overpayments to the pre-funding obligation. The bill, introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), has 225 co-sponsors — including 29 Republicans — but Rep. Issa has refused to allow it to come up for a vote.

Also sponsoring the ad, which will run on Oct. 12 and 13, are the National Association of Letter Carriers, the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will vote Oct. 13 on a bill that the APWU has denounced as “a reckless assault on postal services and postal employees.” The bill, H.R. 2309, is sponsored by Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL). The committee will Webcast its deliberations, which will begin at 9:30 a.m. The Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and Labor Policy approved the bill on Sept. 21 by a vote of 8-5.

The Legislative and Political Department has asked APWU members whose representatives serve on the committee to contact them and urge them to vote no.

“The bill would destroy the Postal Service as we know it,” President Cliff Guffey said.

The Issa-Ross bill calls for $1 billion worth of cuts in post offices in the first year and $2 billion worth of cuts in mail processing facilities in the second year.

It also would abrogate the Collective Bargaining Agreement by granting authority to a newly-established control board to carry out layoffs, despite any provisions in union contracts that might limit such actions. The bill says that employees who are eligible for retirement must be laid off before employees who are ineligible, and dictates that retirement-eligible employees with the longest service must be separated first.

“This is an outrageous assault on the fundamental principles of unionism – fairness and respect for seniority,” Guffey said.

The Postal Service has announced it wants to reduce the workforce by 220,000, and is seeking authority to lay off as many as 120,000, including tens of thousands of military veterans. H.R. 2309 would authorize the layoffs.

The bill also would empower a newly-created “solvency authority” to unilaterally cut wages and abolish benefits.

“H.R. 2309 fails to address the fundamental cause of the Postal Service’s financial difficulties,” said Legislative and Political Director Myke Reid. The bill does nothing to correct the requirement to pre-fund the healthcare benefits of future retirees, which forces the USPS to fund a 75-year liability in just 10 years, he said. No other government agency or private business is required to make these payments, which cost the Postal Service approximately $5.5 billion annually. The bill also fails to address billions of dollars in USPS overpayments to federal pension accounts, Reid noted.

“We call upon APWU members to step up their opposition to H.R. 2309 and their support for H.R. 1351,” Reid said.

H.R. 1351 would help provide the Postal Service financial stability by allowing the Postal Service to apply the pension overpayments to the pre-funding obligation. The bill, introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), has 225 co-sponsors – including 26 Republicans – but Rep. Issa has refused to allow it to come up for a vote.

via House Committee to Vote on Issa Bill.

Darrell Issa has written a piece entitled “Delivering Postal Service Reform” for the National Review. Having read the article, we have edited it slightly for brevity, while preserving the spirit of the piece, as well as its complete analysis of the situation:

Bailout
Bailout
Bailout
Bailout
Bailout
Bailout
Bailout
Bailout
Bailout

The full text of the original article is available at the link below:

Delivering Postal Service Reform – By Darrell Issa – The Corner – National Review Online.

This is starting to get confusing! We told you this morning that Twitter had shut down the “fake Darrell Issa” account created by a postal employee to poke fun at millionaire career politician and self-appointed postal “watchdog” Darrell Issa.

This afternoon, perhaps to fill in the void left by the departure of the fake Darrell, the “real” Darrell started posting a slew of phony tweets:

Of course, you already know how much the “crisis” has cost the taxpayers- zero. The USPS doesn’t get “taxpayer dollars”, and hasn’t asked for any. So where does Darrell come up with the $15 billion on his “bailout clock”? Easy- it’s the amount of the deficit Congress forced the USPS to incur under PAEA. It isn’t taxpayer money. Calling it a bailout is like calling your home mortgage a “bank financed bailout”. Except your mortgage bought you a house to live in- the USPS just gets to loan the money back to the Treasury. And, of course, you presumably applied for your mortgage- Congress didn’t force it on you.

More importantly, Darrell’s little ticker ignores the fact that the USPS has an undisputed $42 billion in past USPS profits sitting in the PAEA mandated trust fund already. That’s in addition to an undisputed $6.9 billion in FERS overcharges- and it doesn’t include the $50-75 billion in CSRS overcharges attested to by independent auditors.

Darrell somehow manages to pretend that forcing the USPS to borrow billions of dollars so that it can then loan those billions back to the Treasury means that the USPS is “already costing” taxpayers billions of dollars.

That’s not an exaggeration- that’s an outright lie, and Darrell knows it.

Footnote: If you don’t find lying politicians loathesome enough, ponder this tweet Darrell posted later this afternoon:

Darrell Issa comparing himself to Steve Jobs- I’m speechless…

Twitter / @DarrellIssa: how much is #Postal Crisis ….