USPS Faces Extinction

The U.S. Postal Service is facing a financial crisis and blame is being placed in large part on the Internet. The Postal Service has reportedly lost an astonishing $7.9 billion in the past two years.

The service has been forced to borrow cash to pay bills. The revenue shortage is due, partially, to a more than 4-percent decline mail volume last year.

Increasingly Americans are avoiding placing an expensive stamp on an envelope and mailing checks and paying bills via the Internet.  "USA Today" says while the Postal Service has managed to stand up to technology challenges in the past, the Internet is a whole new modern issue.

Postmaster General John Potter says the service could run out of cash this year.

"The last thing we want to do is not be able to make payroll," Potter said.

The Postal service has 650,000 employees, making it the third-largest employer in the U.S behind Wal-Mart and the Defense Department.

The Internet isn't the only challenge facing the Postal Service.

The business now has a $53 billion obligation to provide health care to retired workers.

Last week, Potter asked Congress to let him push back $2 billion in health care payments until after 2016.

If Congress says no, the USPS will be forced to make a lump sum $5.4 million payment to the retiree health fund on September 30th which would clean out the coffers.

The Service, which by law is supposed to at least break even financially, would like to end Saturday mail deliveries and perhaps change some rules so it doesn't have to deliver mail across the entire continent at the same price as across the street.