Bullseye, I did a search for "USPS deficit" and got a confusing array of results. Some say yes, some say no, but it seems Congress gives them money every year, either way.
Heheheheh. It's government budgeting. . .you expected something
other than confusion?
Here's the way I think it works: Congress mandates the terms of service provided by USPS. Thus, for example, you and I pay the same 44¢ to mail a first-class letter across the street or across the continent. Books and educational media may be sent at a subsidized rate. Federal Express and UPS cannot by law leave a delivery in your mailbox. And so on. . .
Because of these "non-market forces" the Post Office cannot charge full value for all of the services it delivers. In those years, Congress makes up the difference between revenue collected and the revenue which would have been collected had Congress not imposed terms of service that cause USPS to be unable to charge full price (cost) for its services. No other subsidies are supposed to be forthcoming.
People like to complain, but in 1971 dollars, a first class stamp actually costs less today than it did in 1971 (I think that was the year) when the Postal Service became a government-sponsored corporation. I just sent a book to
Onomea in Tokyo for a measly eleven bucks, and it got there in four days. FedEx would have been four times that, and no better service.
This isn't to say that I do not love FedEx -- they are my go-to carrier when a critical document, or money, has to get there by a time certain. On the other hand, when I get an Express Mail envelope, my rural PO calls me at 8:00 AM and asks if I want to wait until the carrier brings it at 3:00 in the afternoon, or pick it up myself beforehand. That's a courtesy, and I appreciate it.
In a small rural community, there are no slackers on the public payroll. Your customers are your neighbors and everyone knows you, and your business, "so be good for goodness' sake." The postal workers I know bust their hind quarters getting the mail out on time.
The TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) is another quasi-government corporation, and so is the FDIC -- the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Most notoriously, so too are Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
This link describes further this hybrid critter -- the quasi-governmental corporation:
Government-owned corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Oh. The reason you cannot bring a firearm into a Post Office is because these are actually owned or rented by the General Services Administration and then leased to Postal Service. So, the facilities are indeed "Fedrul proppity."
Bullseye
