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This column reflects the opinion of the writer. Learn about the differences between a news story and an opinion column.

Congress created mess

Our poor Postal Service. It has been saddled with costs by Congress that would bankrupt any company in this country or any other country. Let’s take a look at the headlines.

The agency lost nearly $16 billion in its last fiscal year.

How did the Post Office get into these dire straits when the price of stamps keeps going up?

The Postal Service has expensive benefit obligations for retirees, which costs the Post Office about $5 billion a year to fund postal workers not even born yet.

If your company, or any other for that matter, was required to pay for health and retirement benefits 60 years in advance, would you be able to survive? I think not. This is an obscene requirement and should be rescinded for the sake of our postal service and our sanity.

Just heard a headline today: Our almost bankrupt post office. What? Our post office is only having these problems because Congress has required they pay into the future for health and retirement benefits.

John Anderson

Spokane

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