Rep. Darrell Issa |
Issa's "tactic appears to be to drive a wedge between House Democrats and the administration," Rein writes. "Many Democratic lawmakers are staunch union supporters who fear that ending Saturday delivery and phasing out curbside delivery — another point of agreement between the White House and many Republicans — would threaten postal jobs." Issa appears eager to pass a bill after several years of roadblocks because he must give up the chair at year's end.
"Even if a White House-friendly bill were to pass the committee, any postal legislation face hurdles in both chambers. For example, some rank-and-file Republicans, particularly those representing rural districts, are leery of service cuts and job losses in an election year," Rein writes. Art Sackler of the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, which represents large mailers, told Rein, “Prospects are not encouraging at the moment.”
Issa introduced a bill in January to end Saturday mail and restore benefit cuts for young military retirees, with the change projected to help the cash-strapped Postal Service save an estimated $6 billion over 10 years. He also introduced a bill in July 2013 to save $2 billion by limiting Saturday mail to packages, having newspapers use mailboxes for Saturday delivery, and limit closures of rural post offices to 5 percent of annual total closures. (Read more)
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