Congress Should Allow the Post Office to Fire Federal Employees & Readjust the Retirement/Pension Ripoff.

THE DOCTOR IS IN _______________

LAS VEGAS- Hello America, and how is the world treating you?

The U.S. P.S. ( post office) is considering laying off at least 120,000 employees and restructuring the Post Office Retirement plan. Boy! It's about time. They should have did this years ago. The sad part of this situation is that Congress has to approve the move by the Post Office and I suspect that Congress will drag their feet and pander to the unions rather that do the countries business and do the right thing by revamping the bloated postal retirement and pension system.

Folks, for decades now the Post Office has been raising postal rates by leaps and bounds and the only reason for the continued increases was because of the very lucrative and elaborate pension and retirement plan given to these Federal postal employees. The Post Office and the federal employees have their own retirement program called the Federal Benefits Retirement Plan and believe me when I say that their benefits, retirement and pension packages are to die for.

In addition to the obscene retirement and benefit packages that these Federal employees enjoy they have entered into unionized type contracts which allow them to receive benefits even when they have committed a crime. It's literally impossible to fire one of these postal workers.

Compared to the average Joe or Jane Doe who works the 9-to 5 in the private sector these Federal employees are treated like entitled VIP's.

PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYEE:

Those working in the in the private sector go to a job for a specified, quoted salary per year. There is no guaranteed cost of living each year of 4, 5, 6, 7 and sometime 8% a year, there is no guaranteed bonuses or merit pay, there is no guaranteed automatic step increases, there is no free health care plan. If the private sector employee is lucky enough to receive health coverage they have to pay a large portion of the cost of any health plan. Private sector workers have no guaranteed pension plan. The private sector person has to depend on a 401(k) if they are lucky enough to have some sort of retirement plan. Also, the private sector person has to contribute and pay into the Social Security retirement system. That is the law.

FEDERAL EMPLOYEES (Post Office Employees & Others):

These federal employees that do not produce a product, build anything, manufacture anything only receives monies from the 9-5 hard working private sector employee just because they are a federal and/or public sector union employee. It is the tax money of the middle class worker in this country that pays their obscene salaries and pensions.

The Federal employees receive guaranteed COLA's (Cost of Living) increases each and every year. They receive annual step increases in their wages each year. They have a guaranteed amount contributed to their retirement and pension plan, they receive merit and bonus pay, they have free or near free health care for life and when they retire they retire on a very, very large percentage of their salary based on the last three to five years of their earnings. They have not been paying into the Security Security system (until recently) that the middle class worker has had to pay into since their first employment. Further if any of these Federal employees committed a crime they can continue to be employed and collect salary and pensions. That cannot be done by a private sector worker. In fact, that private sector worker would be in prison.

People, I would say that Congress should allow the Post Office to fire and/or layoff 120,000 postal workers and readjust the Federal employees union type contracts which have been breaking this countries back. Currently we middle class taxpayers on on the hook for tens of millions, if not billions of dollars that we have to pay these postal workers for their retirement pensions and health care for the rest of their life.

The continued obscene demands by these Federal employees over the decades (like postal workers) for more money, more cost of living, more bonuses and merit pay, more benefits and large pension/retirement increases has really brought the country to it's knees.

I say it's about time that fired postal employees get to see the reality of the private sector work force in this country by joining the ranks of the unemployed. I would think that once they see how they have to actually go out, seek a job and work for a living they will have an appreciation for those that paid their salaries for years.

I believe that Federal, State, County and City public employees should never have been allowed to unionize. The benefits that we private sector people have to pay to these non-contributing people are breaking the back of every state in the union.

I would propose that all Federal, State, County and Cities across the country immediately readjust and rewrite all unionized contracts with these public employees which could include but not limited to such things as:

They will not guarantee that public employees cannot be laid off .
Do away with any and all guaranteed cost of living increase every year.
Do away with any and all merit and bonus pay.
No guaranteed free health care (make the public employee pay for a portion of their health care equal to private sector workers.
There will be no guaranteed pensions or retirement contributions ( have all of these public sector employees put into a 401(k) plan) like all private sector employees.
Have all public sector employees pay into the Social Security system (like all private sector employees).

I predict that if the federal and public sector employees had to adhere to the same salary, health care, retirement and pension benefits that we in the private sector have to depend on, this country would save billions of dollars a year and equality and equity between the private and public sector would make this nation much stronger. And, - that's my opinion. Make your own decisions. You decide.

Bradley W. Kuhns, Ph.D., O.M.D.
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Dr. Kuhns can be reached by e-mail at:
bradleykuhns@gmail.com