That's Bernanke-dot-gov to YOU, Mr. Postman

I first heard about the United States Post Office being in trouble several weeks back from my office mailman of all people. I suppose this is as credible a source as any since he's the guy working for the crumbling mail service. Stamps are going up, mail volume is going down, and the USPS, entirely funded by its own revenues, is going down.

Yahoo reports:

Battered by the economy, the post office is offering early retirement to 150,000 workers, cutting management and closing offices, the agency said Friday.

The Postal Service lost $2.8 billion last year and is facing even larger losses this year, despite a rate increase — to 44 cents for first-class mail — scheduled to take effect May 11.

The agency said it will reduce management staff nationwide by 15 percent, with more than 1,400 processing, supervisor and management posts at 400 facilities being eliminated.

And another 150,000 postal workers will be offered early retirement.

The agency also made early retirement offers last year but unions discouraged their members from accepting the offers and they were not widely used. The post office did not say if the new proposal would include financial incentives.

The American Postal Workers Union issued a statement Friday saying: "Retirement is a personal matter, and the union defers to the decisions of employees who meet the qualifications."

Well I knew that.

And yet the Fed still has a .gov web address. How ironic.