Obama to provide $20 billion in financial aid for USPS

President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, has introduced a new Budget that acquires more than $20 billion in regards to financial and operational help for the US Postal Service.

The new Budget will offer to return $5 billion in pension surpluses to the US Postal Service over a period of 2 years. This will see the company's health benefits pre-funding system to likely contribute up to $9 billion in relief by 2016.

Obama's Budget proposes also operational changes with regards to the US Mail. Initial changes will start with a removal of Saturday mail delivery, moving to a five day schedule during the week instead.

The White House, Washington, USA

The Budget may see USPS move forward with curbside delivery, moving away from the delivery of mail to the doorstep. It has been said this will be applied "where appropriate" in the bid to save costs. Additionally to this, the Budget will also see the company able to associate more with both local and state governments to produce more revenue.

The White House is also preparing to permanently extend demanding and above-inflation postal rate increase which was introduced in December of last year by the Postal Regulatory Commission. It has been said by the White House that the postal company has "enormous value" in relation to the society's business communications and commerce, therefore there is a need for improvement to secure its future.

"The Budget proposals specific authorities to improve USPS efficiency and net revenue, along with financial relief measures, grounded in principles of fiscal responsibility as well as sound financial management," the White House has said.

Postal reform advocate, Senator Tom Carper, has commented on the proposed Budget saying: "I appreciate the president's continued support for postal reform, and welcome his budget's inclusion of a number of key principles." Carper appeared positive regarding the accurate calculation of postal retirement costs, the restructuring of the postal service's health benefits, as well as the decision to permanently expand the exigent rate increase.

Customers of USPS have conveyed unsure feelings towards the idea of the Budget forcing the company to make extreme cut backs to their "essential services." This thought has been agreed with by Vice President of Postal Affairs, Rafe Morrissey, who has described the move as potentially leading to a "weaker Postal Service." However, Morrissey has also said while this causes disappointment, "such a move offers much greater savings potential while maintaining a competitive level of service."