The federal deficit — a thorn in the taxpayer’s side

Last week, I took part in an insightful panel on Fox Business News on which we focused the debate on government waste. Although I went postal after one of my fellow panelists made rather ignorant remarks, some of the issues we discussed will really blow your mind.

Did you know that the U.S. Postal Service projects a net loss of $7.8 billion this year and $238 billion over the next 10 years? That’s a lot of money, and it’s about time Congress stepped in on behalf of taxpayers.

Another tidbit: the United Nations freely spends $15 billion each year, wasting billions with no accountability, and U.S. taxpayers pick up 25 percent of this tab. Shouldn’t we only pay for legitimate purposes and not for a bloated and corrupt bureaucracy?

As an independent government agency, the USPS has a debt limit of $15 billion. If the status quo continues, it will reach that by next year and be forced to borrow from the Treasury, becoming an even larger burden to the federal government.

Companies like FedEx and UPS adapted to technological advances and made billion-dollar profits by shipping more efficiently, but the USPS lagged behind. This certainly makes an argument for privatizing it rather than forcing taxpayers to bail it out.

It’s time to cut the waste and consolidate. Last year, mail volume was down 12.9 percent, and this statistic is only rising. Clearly, there is no need for more than 36,000 post office buildings. There are more post offices in this country than there are McDonalds, Starbucks, Walmarts and Walgreens combined!

Next, we must switch to a five-day mail schedule. This would mean no mail delivery on Saturday, but I think most Americans could live with that.

Lastly, like so many other businesses, the USPS must change its bloated employee retirement plans. Instead of pre-paid retiree health benefits, the USPS should switch to the pay-as-you go program utilized by other government agencies and the private sector.

Between streamlined retirement plans and a five-day postal week, the USPS could save up to $90 billion over the next decade.