(Image Source: Sandusky Register)
BY KYLIE MCGIVERN
You're watching multisource US video news analysis from Newsy.
The U.S. Postal Service delivered news that could mean the end of an era.
Nearly 3,700 post offices across the country could close their doors as early as January. Fox News Reports...
“The golden age where people depend of their post offices turned into the digital age. Customers are now paying bills and ordering stamps with the click of a mouse.”
“I mostly use online so I’m not even surprised by that.”
“You can do a lot of your postal stuff right online.”
“People are going online, doing things more efficient that way so, it’s one of those things that seems to be somewhat inevitable.”
Some question - what took so long? The USPS ink - has been red for years. CBS news reports, now it’s billions in debt.
Reporter: “Donahue has urged Congress to drop Saturday delivery and reduce payments for future retirees health benefits. If not, economists warn, in the next five years taxpayers could face a $100 billion bailout.”
Reporter: “Do you ever worry that one day the post office go the way of horse and buggy in this country?”
Donahue: “Well, we’re going to deliver 170 billion plus pieces of mail this year. I don’t think it’s gonna go away any time in the near future."
CNBC’s The Kudlow Report countered the Post Master General’s optimism, opening his own envelope of financial concern. And seeking reinforcement from the conservative CATO Institute.
Anchor: “Mr. Donahue, if you’re profitable you wouldn’t have to go to Congress. And it’s an $8 billion hole, that’s what all the reports say. In fact, President Obama had you in for 8 billion in the debt ceiling negotiations. That’s not profitability, sir.”
CATO Institute: “The Post Master General is right, we need to run this like a business and you know, we’re lagging behind Europe here. In Europe they are moving ahead, turning their post offices into businesses."
Privatizing is one proposed solution. But critics are resistant to stamping out tradition. The Bakersfield Californian comes to the post office’s defense.
“...bridges between the technical have-nots - who tend to skew toward poverty and lower incomes - and the rest of society... computer users in these back-road burgs tend to be not as well served by digital providers as their city brethren... We can't afford to support a federal agency that loses billions of dollars annually, but neither can we justify leaving rural America to bear so many of the consequences."
The USPS suggests returning to “village post offices,” run under contract by local businesses. Federal Times explains...
“Such facilities would sell stamps, offer post office boxes and accept flat-rate boxes. They would also allow communities to keep their ZIP codes, often a major point of rural pride.”
The widespread closings are expected to begin within the next four to six months.
Transcript by Newsy.
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