Post Office Union Irked by Obama's Diss

By: Stephanie Condon
Topics: White House

(AP)

President Obama at a recent town hall meeting picked on the U.S. Postal Service for not being able to keep up with its private competitors -- and representatives of the post office are not too thrilled at becoming the target of the president's mockery.

A union representing postal supervisors, managers and postmasters sent a letter to the White House late last week, the Washington Post reports, asking Mr. Obama to reconsider some recent comments he made comparing the Postal Service with UPS and FedEx.

The president has invoked the Postal Service to prove that a government-run program will not necessarily drive private competitors out of business -- a common argument against a government-run health insurance plan.

"I mean, if you think about it, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? No, they are," Mr. Obama said at a recent town hall meeting in New Hampshire. "It's the post office that's always having problems."

In the letter, National Association of Postal Supervisors President Ted Keating reportedly said there was "collective disappointment that you chose the Postal Service as a scapegoat and an example of inefficiency."

"Your negative references to the Postal Service without knowledge of the facts was a disservice not only to the members of our organization, but to all postal employees," he wrote.

A recent government report showed that the postal service could face a nearly $7 billion loss this fiscal year, even after a recent 2-cent increase in the price of stamps. The Postal Service's problems, according to the report, stem from a nationwide shift to e-mail.

Postmaster General John Potter has asked Congress for permission to reduce mail deliveries from six days-a-week to five.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said at his daily press briefing Tuesday that Mr. Obama has probably not seen Keating's letter.

"I doubt he's seen that letter, and I don't have any reason to believe he regrets (what he said), since he repeated it," Gibbs said.

Gibbs also made the comparison on Sunday when speaking about health care reform on CBS' "Face the Nation.".

"I don't think (President Obama) was saying that what we were going to do is create the postal service for health care," he said.

Stephanie Condon
Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.
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by ruaspecker August 18, 2011 2:24 PM EDT

****** "JUNK MAIL REVENGE" *** ! ! ! ****** And help the Post Office live on, and help it's worker's also. The P.O. does need a new plan but not death!! It's time for the P.O. to "CUT THE FAT"!!! The world is changing, lets spread the wealth!!
THE POST OFFICE NEEDS ARE HELP ! ! ! We can all help the Post Office at ZERO cost to the every day user. We all need the Post Office. Small Biz needs the P.O. The P.O. is part of America ! ! ...... Here is one of my ideas that I started to do and now some freinds are helping by taking part. This will help bring in REVENUE for the P.O. at no cost to you (Tens of $Millions or much more maybe $BILLIONS if we can get it to go *****VIRAL : ) Help me TECHIES & YOUTUBERS. This could get the post office out of debt and stop the use of "JUNK MAIL" and save some trees and jobs to boot. It started with 1 (me) about 9 weeks ago "6-7-11" and now I know more have joined in doing it ! ! ! But we need more, Millions more of every day user ! ! ! It's very easy, and it's part of what you already do with your mail. Look at it and TOSS the JUNK on a daily basis. ***So lets make it pay off. I call it ** "JUNK MAIL REVENGE" ** ! ! ! ! Here is how it works; When you get junk mail from any one that provides you with a "NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES" return envolope... (in other words the sender gets charged for each postage paid return envolope, and sometime at a premium of up to about $0.75 each) just open that JUNK MAIL take out the postage paid envolope, LICK it and SEND IT BACK !!! Put in a note asking them to stop sending you their junk mail or write stop sending on the back of the return envolope. I get about 10 a week mostly from Banks, Credit Card Companies and Lenders. You know, the ones that sucked TRILLIONS of Dollars out of the pockets of every day AMERICANS and put this country into a historic TAILSPIN never seen before with their greed for profit at any cost. And than we bail them out with our Tax Dollars??? It's time for them to bail someone out. And the P.O. couldn't be a better choice. We will all gain, AMERICANS across the board will win. LETS STICK IT TO THEM ! ! ! ! Start today and tell your friends ! Put this on facebook ! Twitter ! and anywhere else you can think of. This will work ! ! Three cheers for us all ! ! Lets make the Front page of every news paper... and talk show !!! 60 Minutes... : ) We can do it ! ! ! ! !

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by uncle_fweddy November 16, 2011 5:19 PM EST: I've been doing this for years. Sometimes, with particularly annoying advertiser, I'll tape their postage reply envelope to a brick, and send that to them. I agree that the Post Office is an integral part of America, but it hasn't kept up with necessary changes. OK, the e-mail phenomenon has cut into their volume. So what do we do? Outlaw e-mail? No, the Post Office has to learn to compete in the new environment, perhaps employ fewer people, offer fewer benefits, whatever. Private sector employers must do these things. I'm sure the unions will attempt to block any progress along these lines. So, would the unions prefer that their host die from the constant blood sucking? That's where we're headed. Just dig in your heels, and be dragged over the cliff.


by USMC1969 March 2, 2011 8:30 PM EST: Like the UAW the USPS obligations to retirees is the death kneel! Very few companies can sustain these high cost obligations and all those union demands are finally coming home to roost. Just one more reason why we should hot have unions inside the government! Want a pension! Pay for it!; Reply to this comment

by swin5 August 19, 2009 11:28 AM EDT

Let me see if I get Obama's logic. He is using a government agency that can't compete with private enterprise as an example of why we need to create a new government agency to compete with private enterprise.

Does anybody out there really take this guy seriously.

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by pasmalltown August 19, 2009 9:45 PM EDT: To swin5 August 19, 2009 11:28 AM EDT -
Which came first - the chicken or the egg? To understand another's logic you must first comprehend what he or she is saying.

AN EXACT QUOTE from the article above follows and sort of explains why compared UPS, FED EX and the USPS - "The president has invoked the Postal Service to prove that a government-run program will not necessarily drive private competitors out of business -- a common argument against a government-run health insurance plan."
When Obama said "I mean, if you think about it, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? No, they are." "It's the post office that's always having problems." In simpler terms, brainiac, he didn't think his healthcare plan would greatly effect the current profitability of private insurance companies i.e "run them out of business". Agree or disagree if you will, but don't twist his statements around to fit your agenda. So giant brain, to suggest you have a clear understanding of Obama's logic is both an illusion and illogical.

AND most importantly, Obama subsequently toned down and further clarified his remarks about the USPS vs FED EX/UPS comparsion with go'vt vs private healthcare thru Gibb's last remark. It was unfair analogy from two aspects - first, comparing mail delivery to healthcare is unfair and secondly, suggesting that the USPS is able to compete directly and on an even basis with private companies like FED EX and United Parcel is a common myth.

by MPHgrad August 19, 2009 7:52 AM EDT

The the post office is and has for a long time been quite inefficient. It has the same problem as so many government entities in which poorly performing employees are allowed to keep their jobs. In the private sector these people would have been fired.
Also, the post office doesn't even perform all of its duties. They contract a great deal of sorting to private companies which get the job done more efficiently without all the bureaucracy.

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by pasmalltown August 19, 2009 8:40 AM EDT: TO MPHgrad August 19, 2009 7:52 AM EDT -
"They contract a great deal of sorting to private companies which get the job done more efficiently without all the bureaucracy."

Would like to know where you pulled this "fact" from, especially the idea about "a great deal" of sorting thing. Is it just your opinion or are there any facts you can cite to back this statement?

Had package delivered a few weeks back that origined with FED EX - FED EX "passed" it along to the USPS somewhere along the line. I wondered why until I realized FED EX couldn't make a buck on the final delivery, so they dumped on USPS knowing they(USPS) didn't have an option to return the package to sender. Could this be an example of how you got your "ideas" about how the USPS was "poorly performing"???? and "inefficient"


by uncle_fweddy November 16, 2011 5:50 PM EST: It is true that the Post Office contracts a lot of work out. I used to have a star route...used my semi tractor to pull Post Office trailers to a route of Post Offices, and made good money doing that. Driving past a lot with hundreds of Post Office owned Mack tractors, I asked an employee why they hired private guys like me. Why not just let Postal employees drive one of those Macks. He answered that they're union drivers, and cost significantly more to employ. He also confided that many of them deliberately damage the tractors in order to not have to work. And that the cost to repair all that damage was very high.

by formrusmcsgt August 18, 2009 9:38 PM EDT

In the letter, National Association of Postal Supervisors President Ted Keating reportedly said there was "collective disappointment that you chose the Postal Service as a scapegoat and an example of inefficiency."
---
I guess he expected praise for running $7B in the red......

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by pasmalltown August 18, 2009 9:53 PM EDT: TO formrusmcsgt August 18, 2009 9:38 PM EDT -
"I guess he expected praise for running $7B in the red......"

You need to do more home work before flipping that opinion out here and now - The USPS is "perceived" as a prime example of inefficiency by many who do not take the time to understand what a complex job they have to perform and a complex set of regulations they must adhere to - I believe Mr Keating was just suggesting that Mr Obama's comments would fan the flames on this misconception and was simply expressing his disappointment with the choice of words. Apparently, as judged by a lot of these posts, Mr Keating was correct.


by USMC1969 March 2, 2011 8:38 PM EST: $7,000,000,000 is not a misconception! It is red ink not matter how you spin it. How this equates to Obamahealthcare scam it moot. What Obama is really saying is that like the USPS the Obamacare will be in the red too. He is preparing us for a sea of red ink! Will he gently villifys the American corportations that are very very fast and effectant.


by sbelknap01 August 18, 2009 9:28 PM EDT: the post office needs to stop whining. I pay postage increases while they deliver phone book sized unsolicited catalogs to my house at my expense and then whine about not having enough money. Charge the junk mail a fair price for delivering their trash and solve your money problems - or allow me to opt out of u.s. mail delivery; Reply to this comment

by rhs648 August 18, 2009 9:17 PM EDT

The US Postal Service employs around 664,000 people. Many of the postal workers that I know were very excited about President Obama winning the elections. Will these people remain excited about President Obama after his comments?

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by pasmalltown August 18, 2009 9:36 PM EDT: TO rhs648 August 18, 2009 9:17 PM EDT
"Will these people remain excited about President Obama after his comments?"
Only the smart ones.

by stn_sage August 18, 2009 9:01 PM EDT

For over 200 years, the USPS has managed to stay in business and provide excellent service---let's see if FEDEX or UPS can say the same thing in 200 years more!

It's only been the last a couple years that the USPS has been running in 'the red' due to an increased cost structure, NOT it's whole history!
Detractors AND Mr. Obama should take that into consideration BEFORE they 'trash talk' it!

So far, Mr. Obama isn't doing a very good job at president and doesn't have much room to be criticizing others!

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by formrusmcsgt August 18, 2009 9:40 PM EDT: During MOST of that history, carriers CARRIED mail. Now they drive 60ft., shut off the engine, get out of the truck, stick the mail in the box, get back in the truck, start the engine, drive 60ft...............


by pasmalltown August 18, 2009 10:05 PM EDT: TO formrusmcsgt August 18, 2009 9:40 PM EDT -

"Now they drive 60ft., shut off the engine, get out of the truck, stick the mail in the box, get back in the truck, start the engine, drive 60ft........"

Did that start for you around 1971 or so? Just curious. Most rural carriers use their own vechicles, sot their own mail, aren't full time postal employees and don't receive healthcare benefits........... Even full time USPS employees I've seen park the USPS truck in one spot and walk their routes back to their truck. Where are you from?


by sjc_1 August 18, 2009 8:13 PM EDT: The USPS is a product of their management and mandate. They are to deliver HUGE volumes of mail at deep discount pricing. The management is 50 years behind the curve and will never change until THEY are changed. There is nothing wrong with the USPS that can not be fixed, but they must do it now and they must make it continuous and permanent ongoing effort with results.; Reply to this comment

by krazytaz312 August 18, 2009 7:48 PM EDT

If the Postal Service is the example we need to look at for Government run programs, we are in for a HUGE disappointment. It is just another example of a government run failure. UPS and FedEx would be no different than the health insurance industry if the government put the squeeze on them.

How stupid does this president think we are!!

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by jwesel1 August 18, 2009 9:26 PM EDT: First USPS has a different cost structure compared to Fedex or UPS. US Postal service charges you the same whether you send the letter next door or to the remote corner of Alaska, try to get the same favor from Fedex.


by jlawyer4 September 17, 2009 5:56 PM EDT: Where to begin. I don't know why someone who actually knows
what goes on at the post office isn't more forthcoming.
There are so many total lies out there about everything about it.
For one thing you tell me how any company in the US would ever be
expected to put 6 billion a year to prepay the retirement health
insurance costs of their employees and expect to be solvent.
How much insanity can one person take when it comes to reality?
Supposedly the post office has cut 5 billion from their budget this
year alone. Supposedly 900 million more needs to be cut.
Many who work the mail suggest that a good place to start might
be to cut back a little on the number of people who are not actually
working the mail. Now there's a novel concept. Most of what I read
is written by people who know absolutely nothing at all about how the
PO is run but they can spout off just like I can. And the post office
is not eating up millions of your tax dollars. The only money they
get from tax dollars is money that is allotted by the government to
pay for mailings that it deems are in the public interest such as
mailing absentee ballots and probably some other social interest.
The post office isn't getting your tax money so calm down.
There are a lot of people who think that postal jobs are total gravy
but most of them quit in less than a month because they don't want
to work graveyard for 12 years or more to get a day job if they
are a clerk or they don't want to put in 9 hours of their day to
get paid for 4 or 5 hours like I do. I was disappointed that Obama
would make comments about the post office as he did. Fedex and
UPS would not want the mail delivery of letters to every house in
America because it would not be profitable. So before everyone
wishes the postal service into oblivion might I suggest that
there be a bit of a reality check here.