The Postal Service Is Not Waste, Fraud and Abuse!

The Postal Service Is Not Waste, Fraud and Abuse!
By Brian J. Wagner
Past NAPS President

You may have heard over the past few months that news outlets, political pundits, career politicians and many in the public are espousing the need to eliminate government waste, fraud and abuse to save taxpayer dollars and reduce the federal budget.

As a taxpayer, I agree that—when there is legitimate, validated, genuine,real and confirmed government waste, fraud and abuse—it must be stopped and stopped appropriately. However, that is much different than someone or a group of someones with sticky fingers hyping unsubstantiated allegations or opinion that there is government taxpayer waste, fraud and abuse in all or some functions or services in the federal government, including the U.S. Postal Service. Here’s the scoop!

This past April, NAPS completed its annual Legislative Training Seminar (LTS) with over 500 NAPS delegates in attendance. The timing of this year’s LTS could not have been better. Congress and the current administration are battling to save taxpayer dollars by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. Understood.

But what I also understand is that our LTS delegates were on Capitol Hill to clarify that the Postal Service is not taxpayer funded. Postal pay, health and retirement benefits are not government waste, fraud and abuse. Such pay and benefits are well-earned and deserved by dedicated, hardworking postal employees.

This includes hardworking EAS employees—supervisors, managers, postmasters and other managerial personnel who ensure that all levels of USPS operations are run as effectively and efficiently as possible to deliver America’s mail timely, even during the most challenging times.

Was it waste, fraud and abuse when thousands on thousands of dedicated postal employees made sure America’s mail was delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic? It was dedicated postal employees who delivered medicine, packages, bills, birthday cards and other important mail to those working from home.

Meanwhile, postal employees did not have that luxury. These dedicated postal employees also delivered approximately 12 million COVID-19 test kits on behalf of our federal government during and after one of the worst pandemics in our lifetime.

Is it waste, fraud and abuse when the USPS delivers mail during natural disasters to those who are hard-hit and feeling devastated by the effects of hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes, wildfires and massive flooding? USPS employees bring a sense of normalcy during abnormal, life-threatening human conditions.

Is it waste, fraud and abuse when the Postal Service delivers letters and packages to our military servicemen and women who are protecting us and our country at home and abroad?

Is it waste, fraud and abuse when the Postal Service is delivering—six-days a week—medicine, checks, important documents, packages and birthday, sympathy, get-well or thinking-of-you cards to our military veterans, seniors, shut-ins, children and adults with disabilities? People who rely on the USPS for these very important deliveries to maintain their health and, just as importantly, their livelihoods?

The mission of the USPS is very simple: To bind our nation together by collecting, processing and delivering America’s mail in a prompt, reliable and efficient manner to all customers and communities.

Can the USPS do better in being more efficient and effective? Yes. Especially when the right USPS leadership is in place, there is sufficient staffing, reliable resources and an incredible infrastructure combined with a common-sense business plan that focuses on the word “service” as in the U.S. Postal Service (emphasis added).

It is not binding our nation together when there is unnecessary interference by some in the federal government who artificially or superficially believe and espouse there is waste, fraud and abuse in the Postal Service. They call for the privatization of the agency or moving its oversight under the direction of another government department to save taxpayer dollars.

These clueless government “officials” have no idea how the Postal Service operates, let alone understand the USPS receives no taxpayer dollars to operate. Their artificial and superficial allegations about the USPS, in and of themselves, are government waste, fraud and abuse of their oath of office.

Instead of sticking their noses into looking for perceived waste, fraud and abuse (WFA), they should provide the USPS with wisdom, feed-back and assistance (WFA) to ensure the agency’s operations continue providing an invaluable service to the American public.

Whenever the federal government seeks quick, short-term results without due diligence, it usually results in long-term consequences for the American public. If the government is serious about USPS efficiency, then ask the postal supervisors, managers, postmasters and all other managerial personnel who, every day, ensure the mail is being delivered and customers are being served.

Who knows best how to be more postal efficient? Those who do the job day-in and day-out and take pride in making the USPS more efficient—EAS postal employees.

Today’s takeaway: If waste, fraud and abuse are going to be stopped in the federal government and the USPS, it should be accomplished through a methodical and comprehensive approach, with actual investigations identifying true waste, fraud and abuse.

Using a sweeping, slash-and-burn approach based on unsubstantiated and superficial claims and allegations is not the correct methodology for reducing true waste, fraud and abuse. Neither does such an approach make the USPS more efficient.

A slash-and-burn mentality only leaves an agency, like the U.S. Postal Service, in ashes with holes in service that the American public once enjoyed as a constitutional right. Unfortunately, such ash-type hole decisions will create long-term consequences for the USPS when it comes to delivering America’s mail.

Privatizing the USPS will not bind our nation together. Unfortunately, USPS privatization is a way to “bind and gag” universal mail service to the American public. Putting corporate profits above the needs of the American people who rely heavily on the Postal Service and its universal mail service is not putting America first.

Any plan to privatize the agency to save nonexistent taxpayer dollars is short-sighted. The real waste, fraud and abuse needs to be stopped.

I won’t waste or abuse your time. Therefore, I will get right to my ice-cream-flavor-of-the-month recommendation: caramel pecan sticky buns. Be safe and eat more ice cream.