Our friends at The Trends Journal, in their latest issue, write that the term "bailout is a euphemism for state-sponsored loan-sharking"...and, I'm afraid that we have to agree.

We paid for Fannie Mae and her relatives, Government...oops, we mean General Motors, AIG, etc.

Well, the sharks are circling the waters again.

We think it likely that the next one we're going to end up paying for will be the bailout of the U.S. Postal Service.

The USPS reported last week a $2.2 billion loss for the first quarter.

Yes, that's for three months, NOT a calendar year!

The economy, according to Washington DC, is in recovery and yet the USPS managed to lose 25% more this year versus last.

Good going!

So how does USPS management propose to fix the problem?

The way that any good business in the private sector would go about stopping the flow of blood would be through cost-cutting, right?

So, that's exactly what the USPS is suggesting, right?

WRONG!

80% of the Postal Services costs are for wages and benefits and yet it just finished negotiating with the American Postal Workers Union for a new four-year contract that offers employees a 3.5% pay raise over the next three years, automatic cost-of-living wage increases after 2012 and expanded protection against layoffs!

The last $15 billion line of credit the Treasury gave them is about to be depleted and the USPS wants to get a pass from Congress for the $5.4 billion legally-mandated annual contributions to the retirement health benefits for employees.

So...get out your checkbooks, America.

Senators Tom Carper of Delaware and Susan Collins of Maine would like us to subsidize the pension obligations for currently retired USPS employees to the tune of $50 billion to $75 billion.

Tell ya what, Senators--first subsidize OUR benefits and then we'll talk.

In the meantime we're buying carrier pigeons.

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