Like many others, I had previously thought the USPO was on the verge of default as a result of its overpayment into its pension and health funds, legislated by George W. Bush* in 2006. The PO has one of the largest, if not the largest, unionized work forces. Since the passage of that legislation, some have said it was a method by which to break the union, and I thought that was true as well.
However, I started thinking where is that lump sum which they have accumulated? Could it possibly have been required to do so because the funds would be stored in a place where it too, like the Social Security Trust Fund and the Federal Government Employees' Pension Funds, could be accessed by Uncle Sam. So I took a look this evening, and I believe those funds might be in what I describe in the original thread as the Number 6th largest debt holder,
"6. "Pension Funds
U.S. debt holdings: $903.4 billion
Pension funds control large amounts of money, reserved for personal retirements, and thus are obligated to make investments that are considered to be safe. This group includes both private and local government pension funds, totaling $903.4 billion. The private pension fund category also includes US Treasury securities held by the Federal Employees Retirement System Thrift Savings Plan "G Fund." (emphasis added)."
Of course, part of the prepayment was for health insurance costs, but I did not see any slide which described in its definition as holding the Post Office's contribution for that particular reason. But the interesting thing is that Bush* passed this legislation in 2006, requiring the PO to pre-fund 80 percent of its retiree benefits. In 2006, Bush* had the unfunded Bush* tax cuts and two wars ongoing so perhaps a significant reason that politicians are willing to let the USPO default has something to do with borrowing from those funds and being unable to pay them back as well.... What do you think?
Sam
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