Postal Service Crisis Spurs Bipartisanship on One Issue at Least

If the post office collapses, and Americans can’t get their mail, members of both parties will have heck to pay. So it’s no wonder that Democrats and Republicans have promised to cooperate to resuscitate the struggling U.S. Postal Service, as Politico reports.

The Postal Service wants to end Saturday delivery and close up to 3,300 postal stations to save itself from insolvency. It has lost about $7.5 billion annually on average over the past two years and is in danger of defaulting on a $5.5 billion payment it must make to a retiree health benefits fund by month’s end.

Republicans and Democrats “need something they can do together politically, because the public can’t stand them,” said Frederic Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. And constituents expect to send and get their mail as usual. So there’s plenty of incentive to get a deal done.