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Thom's blog
The US Postal Service's unnecessary financial crisis
Congress went on recess this week leaving the United States Postal Service financial crisis, unresolved. At midnight tonight, the Postal Service will default on a $5.5 billion payment it owes to the Treasury Department. This default will not have any immediate effects on day-to-day operations at the Postal Service, but it highlights the financial troubles that the institution, which was created more than 200 years ago by Ben Franklin, is facing today. And those problems are almost entirely thanks to Republicans.
In 2006 – Republicans in Congress passed a poison pill piece of legislation forcing the Post Office to pre-fund retiree health benefits 75 years out into the future – basically funding benefits for future employees who aren’t even born yet. The Postal Service has to do this by giving the Treasury $5.5 billion every single year. That’s a requirement that no business, or any government agency has ever had to comply with. And it’s the reason why the Post Office is going bankrupt today and looking into closing down post offices, laying off workers, and cutting down delivery service.
So why is all this happening? Because the Postal Service employs hundreds of thousands of unionized workers – where as private mail carriers like UPS and Fed Ex do not. Republicans – in their non-stop war on labor – realized that they could hurt unions by bankrupting the Postal Service. That’s what they did in 2006, and their plan is working today.
Don’t buy into the scam that the Postal Service is going broke because of the internet and the rise of e-mail. It’s going broke because it’s the latest casualty in the GOP's war on organized labor.
-Thom
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Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 9pm and 11pm... Exposed: Predatory Privatization undermining Democracy (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT, and catch past shows on Youtube)
Need to Know: Exposed: Predatory Privatization undermining Democracy- Peter Montgomery, People for the American Way (PFAW) 
Screwed: Congress' war on the USPS- Cliff Guffey, American Postal Workers Union (APWU) - Josh Eidelson, Salon.com & In These Times
The Best of the Rest of the News...
Bloomberg to regulate breastfeeding?- Marc Harrold, Libertarian Commentator / Attorney / Author
Daily Take: Scott Walker is the face now - but the first culprit was 100 years ago
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Wednesday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
Syndicated columnist & Democratic strategist Karl Frisch in for Thom today...
Hour One: Marriage Equality in at the DNC...- Marc Solomon, Freedom to Marry
Hour Two: The World According to Chick-Fil-A- Jeremy Hooper, Good as You / Author, "If It's A Choice, My Zygote Chose Balls"
Hour Three: ‘Always the Opposite of Obama’ is a Tricky Platform- Tina Dupuy, soapblox.net
Gore Vidal and the Unfinished American Revolution- John Nichols, The Nation Magazine
And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"...TAG, YOU'RE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (GET OUT THERE, GET ACTIVE AND OCCUPY SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
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Tuesday's Daily Stack 
In for Thom today, Dr. Mike Newcomb, host of The Mike Newcomb Show, weekdays 4-6pm PT on 1480 AM KPHX...the valley's progressive talk radio.
Quote: "As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests." -- Gore Vidal.
Hour One: What a Dem Platform Endorsement of Marriage Equality Would Mean- John Nichols, The Nation Magazine
Hour Two:
Quote: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." by Margaret Mead.
Hour Three:
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Thursday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
We'll have an interesting look at how politics & technology have merged...and the impact of social networking on elections...
Plus, a conversation with actor/activist Kal Penn about Romney's cringe-worthy foreign trip...
And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program...your media support group for "we the people"...TAG, YOU'RE IT!!!!!!!!! (OCCUPY SOMETHING!!!!!)
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Show Info
Call Thom on the show at 1-866-987-THOM (8466) (0870 974 9686 from the UK, +1 503 796 2324 from outside the US or UK).
Sign up for Thom's podcasts.
Come on over to the free chat room, where Thom hangs out during the show.
Join in the discussions on Thom's free message board.
Blog or upload videos or audios at Thom's community.
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Thom's Poll
Are we witnessing the murder of the US Postal Service?
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Watch & Listen to Thom
Watch the Full "Big Picture" Show...
Full Show 7/31/12: The NeverEnding (Fundraising) Story
Guest host Sam Sacks talks with AlterNet's Adele Stan on whether Obama has a chance against the GOP's billions. Also discussed: whether unions are funding their own demise, the latest from the Fukushima disaster and in tonight's "Daily Take" Thom calls for a simple change in the tax code that would outlaw billionaires.
Thom Hartmann on the News - July 31, 2012
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