Bipartisan Senate Quartet Offers New Plan To Save USPS

A bipartisan Senate quartet introduced a plan Wednesday that would refund nearly  $7 billion to the United States Postal Service in order to keep the institution solvent as it struggles to stay afloat. Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Scott Brown (R-Mass.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Dela.) were harmonious in saying that the refund is in no way a bailout for the service.  “This refund from the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) retirement fund is not a bailout,” Lieberman said. “This was, in fact, an overpayment by the postal service and it is entitled to receive that money back.” According to a statement released by the quartet,  Post Master General Patrick Donahoe would be given access to money the postal service has overpaid to the FERS. Donahoe would then use the funding to offer buyouts or retirement incentives in order to reduce the postal service’s workforce by 100,000.  Complimenting the refund is a measure that would prohibit the postal service from eliminating Saturday delivery for at least two years. Following that period, the service would be required to meet a series of conditions in order to scrap weekend deliveries. “What we want to do is to ensure that eliminating Saturday service is truly the last resort, not the first option,” Collins said. The provision to save weekend service contradicts a similar bill passed in the House that would effectively allow the postal service to drop a delivery day. The bill, sponsored by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), has been widely criticized by Democrats as partisan legislation.

Issa Conintues Fight To Save USPS

By Adrianna McGinley

The U.S. Postal Service can and should be saved, said House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) Monday.

“If the fix required that we completely eliminate the post office, I’d be standing here telling you why we have to do it, but it’s not necessary,” Issa said.

Issa has introduced legislation he says will save the postal service without cutting workers’ wages or benefits, and would eliminate the potential for privatizing the service.

“The post office should be run like a business and if they’re run like a business they can pay salaries that they determine and benefits they determine,” Issa said. “But, they’ve got to be able to not need a government subsidy.”

The bill proposes forcing retirement on those who are eligible and it would provide incentives for those who are able to find work elsewhere. Issa said he disagrees with proposals mandating the elimination of six-day service, saying that maintaining the service while proving it cost effective would be most beneficial to consumers. He also criticized plans suggesting money be borrowed from the retirement fund.

Issa proposed several solutions to save money for the service, including investing in cluster mailboxes to replace door chutes, saying it would save $5.5 billion in labor costs, and expressed the need for the Post Master General to be given more decision-making power.

“The one thing we can’t give [the Post Master General] is the ability to do nothing,” he said.

Pair Of GOP'ers Repeat Calls To End Fannie And Freddie Bailouts

Two prominent House Republicans called on the Obama administration Tuesday to swiftly address the future of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“With the national debt at nearly $14 trillion and unemployment still near 10 percent, the administration has yet to stop the bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said in a statement. “It is past time to rid the American taxpayer of the liabilities of these financial institutions once and for all.”

Treasury Secretary Tim Geither and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan held a listening session with top private lending officials on Tuesday that was expected to address the long-term plan for the two government sponsored enterprises.

Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, said the two GSE’s should stop benefitting from taxpayer dollars, and called on the administration to investigate Fannie Mae’s dealings earlier this decade with other lenders.

“As our nation marched down the path leading to a crippling financial crisis, Fannie Mae should have been trying to cool off risky sub-prime lending and protect the economy from a volatile housing bubble,” said Issa. “The reality is that as Fannie-Freddie executives were accepting Countrywide VIP loans, they were also developing a strategy to form a partnership with Countrywide with the goal of using that relationship to influence the mortgage industry and policymakers.”

Taxpayers Want Transparency With TARP, Says Treasury Official

Annie Berman - Talk Radio News Service

Taxpayers are not being told what is happening with the money they have involuntarily invested in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Treasury Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky testified to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the most important recommendation that he could give to the committee would be a push for more transparency.

Tuesday’s hearing was a part of a series of hearings in which the TARP program is assessed and new developments of the program are reported to the committee.

Barofsky made sure that he was able to answer all questions honestly and thoroughly, as he recognized the concern that the committee has over transparency.

“The full transparency that we [the committee] asked for, which this President and this administration has promised is being blocked by the bureaucracy that often seems to say ‘just trust us and we will deliver,’” said Ranking Member Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).

Issa also brought up the staggering $23.7 trillion figure that has everyone on the Hill buzzing, and possibly a little scared. Issa asked Barofsky if he ever said in his reports that the U.S. would lose such an enormous amount of money in assurances and insurances.

“Of course not, and we explicitly point out in the report the existence of collateral…If every program is maximized to the greatest extent possible, that’s what that number is.”

In the last 3 months of the TARP, there have been an expansion of programs including expansion of the mortgage modification program to which approximately $18 billion has been allocated. There have also been more than $70 billion in TARP paybacks, and the Public Private Investment Program (PPIP) was launched with an allocation of approximately $30 billion in taxpayer money.

“Unfortunately, in rejecting SIGTARP’s basic transparency recommendations, TARP has become a program in which taxpayers are not being told what most of the TARP recipients are doing with their money, have still not been told how much their substantial investments are worth, and will not be told the full details of how their money is being invested,” said Barofsky in his opening statements.

Barofsky’s position was created to specifically oversee what happens to TARP funds. He and his office carry out audits on institutions that have received TARP funds, and carry out investigations of issues concerning securities fraud, suspected accounting fraud, insider trading, mortgage service misconduct, mortgage fraud, public corruption, false statements and tax investigations. These investigations were developed through tips or leads provided anonymously to the SIGTARP Hotline (877-SIG-2009) and online at www.SIGTARP.gov.

The Question On Everyone's Mind: Is the Stimulus Working Yet?

By Annie Berman – Talk Radio News Service

It is still unclear if the American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as the stimulus bill, is helping states create and retain jobs, despite the current 9.5 percent unemployment rate.

This is the third in a series of hearings the Oversight and Government Reform Committee has held to discuss the ARRA, specifically to review the state and local uses of Recovery Act funds and the Government Accountability Office’s second bi-monthly report of those allocations.

According to Robert Nabors, Deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, the stimulus bill is having a positive impact.

“The Recovery Act is making significant resources available to states that are struggling…funding has relieved pressure on state budgets, allowing them to provide better service and avoid job cuts,” Nabors said.

Nabors also stressed that states should not rely on stimulus money in
the long term.

“We always view the Recovery Act as a short term effort. The President has been very clear that we need to get the economy jump started. We need to expend resources now to actually get them started. But over the long term, the funding levels that are contained within the Recovery Act should not be thought of as permanent,” said Nabors.

The three governors that testified at today’s hearing maintained that direct aid to states provided by the stimulus plan has greatly helped their states’ economies through job creation and projects such as highway restorations and solar energy panels for buildings.

“Things are happening,” said Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell (D). “Construction and manufacturing. It’s working. And the good news is it’s going to get better…you are going to see a huge impact. I think the stimulus is going to work. Any judgment on it is premature. Let’s see how it works. I’d like to see a second stimulus dedicated solely to infrastructure.”

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif) voiced strong opposition to the possibility of a second stimulus bill, even though he voted in favor of the first.

“The U.S. economy lost 433 net jobs in June bringing the unemployment rate to 9.5%,” said Issa. “These job losses pump on the heels of other declining economic indicators that bring total American job losses since President Obama took office to 2.6 million…fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”