USPS may be going bankrupt; time to buy stamps?

The United States Postal Service may be going bankrupt by the fall.

The USPS has been on shaky ground due to a host of reasons, many of which are very political. But without getting into all of the politics, the fact is that the USPS believes that they will run out of funds possibly by September or even earlier due to the decreased revenue from the COVID-19 crisis. 

Some members of Congress have discussed including the USPS in the fourth round of stimulus funding that is likely to be worked out soon.

But the President has made clear that he would not sign off on any bill that included the USPS. There’s a lot at play in that decision like a preference for privatization in the sector and also the apparent disdain that the President has for Amazon which is partnered with the USPS — but again, trying to avoid politics here.

The USPS is beloved by many Americans and it also employs a lot of people, especially veterans.

But it also serves major importance to certain people when it comes to things like medications, mail-in voting, and also services to rural communities.

In order to try to keep the United States Postal Service alive, many people are resorting to taking different actions. If you are interested in helping them out you might consider the following:

• Sending your next packages with USPS (and not FedEx or UPS)
• Buying stamps online
• Contacting a local Congress member (text “USPS” to 50409 and fill out the responses)

It may take an extraordinary effort to keep the USPS alive if things continue to go as they are. And many believe that the USPS will ultimately have to add additional verticals in other services in order to stay afloat, such as banking. There will also likely have to be a lot of re-working of certain policies that have been in place for years. 

But by taking one or more actions like the ones above, you might be able to make a small difference and help them stay alive a little bit longer.