MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: United States Postal Service

Interview

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Joining me tonight, Independent Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders. Senator, good to have you with us tonight.

I just get this feeling that they won`t stop until they can kill the Postal Service and privatize the whole damn thing.

SCHULTZ: You`re leading a charge...

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I) VERMONT: Well Ed...

SCHULTZ: ... go ahead, respond to that sir. Thank you.

SANDERS: Well look, this is the same old story. Deep in their hearts they want to privatize Social Security, privatize Medicare, privatize part of the V.A. and now they are all going after the Postal Service time over time.

As you`ve just indicated, some of us -- John Testa, Tammy Baldwin, and I have language which now has 51 Senators, 45 Democrats and 6 Republicans which we are going to try to get into in omnibus bill which says, do not shot these 82 processing plans.

What we need to do in this country is create millions of decent paying jobs. We damn well do not need to destroy 15,000 good paying union jobs. So, that`s where we are right now.

SCHULTZ: Well, is there no chance of getting this money off the back of the Postal Service, this obligation? Senator, there`s over $50 billion now that`s been accumulated that is now just sitting in the United States treasury and we all know where that`s going to end up. It`s not going to end up for the retirees. I don`t think.

Who can you trust for this deal?

SANDERS: Well Ed, you`re absolutely right. Enough is enough and I have introduced legislation which would end this mandate and you`re right. There is no other government entity. There is no other private sect entity that requires an entity to raise 75 years of future retiree health benefit in a 10-year period.

This $5.8 billion a year is what is killing the Postal Service, without that mandate -- in fact, since -- in the last two years, the Postal Service has earned an operating revenue about a billion dollars.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: All, 100 percent of the losses are attributable to this mandate which we`ve got to rid off.

SCHULTZ: So you get that off their bottom line, that obligation, you`re looking at profit. But note that the Republicans are against this or willing to admit that.

They know everything there is about business but they can`t add up on the Postal Service because they want to kill it.

Who were these closures going to affect Senator?

SANDERS: Well first of all, they`re going to impact businesses and citizens all over this country. It is going to slow mail delivery. And there are many businesses who depend upon getting quick delivery.

Second of all, we`re talking about 15,000 workers who are earning a middle class pay check right now. It`s going to significantly impact those people.

So, I think Ed what we need to do is not only get rid of this mandate, pass a moratorium preventing the closure of these 82 plans. But we have got to give the Postal Service the flexibility that they need to compete in the 21st century.

SCHULTZ: Well, when you look at the -- getting in mail three and four days later than what you`re getting it right now...

SANDERS: I can`t hear very much.

SCHULTZ: Doesn`t mean Senator if you delay the mail, it`s going to be a disincentive for people to use the Postal Service? And that`s the tough thing about all of these. It`s a signal to the public. We`re not as good as we used to be so why use this. And that`s going to be a tough hurdle, isn`t it?

SANDERS: I`m not hearing anything.

SCHULTZ: We have an audio probably with Senator Sanders. Senator, I`ll finish it out from here. I appreciate your time tonight. Thanks for joining us.

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