From 2007 to 2018 the US Postal Service lost $69 billion - including $3.9 billion in fiscal year 2018 alone.
The fact that the postal service is failing has nothing to do with the coronavirus.
So why would a Congressional coronavirus aid package include money for the postal service?
The word "cronyism" was invented for times like this - tax payers shouldn't be required to bail out the post office.
A new coronavirus aid package released Tuesday by House Democrats includes $25 billion for the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service, which could run out of money by the end of September without a taxpayer bailout. Mail volume is down by more than 30% from last year because of the pandemic, and the Postal Service says losses will increase by more than $22 billion over the next 18 months.
The bill also would repeal several restrictions on a $10 billion line of credit for the Postal Service authorized in a previous economic rescue law.
The House is expected to vote on the package as soon as Friday, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said there is no “urgency” for the Republican-controlled Senate to act.
President Donald Trump has publicly threatened to block the $10 billion loan unless the Postal Service significantly raises rates for packages delivered for Amazon and other big shippers. Trump has complained for years that the Postal Service was being exploited by Amazon and other shippers.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, speaks in the Speaker's Balcony Hallway at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, May 12, 2020. House Democrats proposed a $3 trillion virus relief bill today combining aid to state and local governments with direct cash payments, expanded unemployment insurance and food stamp spending. Photographer: Graeme Jennings/Washington Examiner/Bloomberg via Getty Images