US Post Office, a Once-Thriving Model, May Soon be in Default

The Post Office was once a well-oiled machine that ran in the black. Taking no tax money to operate, the Post Office's days of glory passed when Congress began raiding the postal pensions. Now the Post Office may be in serious trouble because of Washington's mismanagement. Well let's call it what it really is--THEFT.

The U.S. Postal Service warned Wednesday that it may default on some of its financial obligations later this year after reporting yet another quarterly loss.

The USPS, a self-supporting government agency that receives no tax dollars, said it suffered a loss of $329 million in the first quarter of federal fiscal year 2011. That compared with a loss of $297 million a year earlier.

Because mail volumes are down, the Post Office is having problems meeting its obligations, mainly these pensions that were raided and never paid back. This is how things work in Washington--and to think Social Security is a much larger example of this that will soon be telling the same story.