[quinnchr]

The USPS hasn't taken tax payer money since 1982 and has posted profits almost every year up until 2006 when the new retirement pre-funding requirements were introduced. The USPS is the only agency required to pre-fund their retirement plans for 75 years.

You could certainly cut the facilities producing the least revenue, but then you'd be closing mostly rural post offices. Incidentally Fedex and UPS use USPS infrastructure for rural delivery. Since we're all guaranteed postal service in the constitution, perhaps it would be better to question the idea that the USPS has to be profitable and run like a business.

[yummyfajitas]

Since we're all guaranteed postal service in the constitution...

Could you cite the relevant part of the constitution?

As far as I know Congress has the power to "establish Post Offices and Post Roads", but there is no requirement that they do so.

[niggler]

All the constitution says is:

"The congress shall have power ... To establish Post Offices and post Roads;"

I haven't chased down future acts, but the post office act of 1792 definitely does mandate certain postal routes to be maintained by the postal service.

[rdl]

I'd subsidize the rural operations directly from the government, similar to the "universal service fee" for telephony, and rural electrification.