msnbc   |  February 02, 2013

Craig Melvin toasts longevity

Craig Melvin toasts longevity – and shares a story from his own family history that speaks to the middle class – and the federal government’s role in keeping it alive.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>> longevity. my dad decided to stop going to work. thursday was his last day at the post office outside columbia, south carolina where i'm from. after 44 years, pops retired. for nearly all the time he was a mail clerk. his government job with solid benefits helped our family climb into the middle class . his three boys and wife are proud and grateful. my father leaves the post office starkly different than the he walked into in the middle 70s. for many it's a symbol of a broken government. it posted a $16 billion loss for the year and defaulted on a number of loan payments as well. if the post office were private, it would have done out of business long ago. unprecedented mandates like requiring the agency to prefund benefits is part of the problem. the rise of i mail has helped cripple an institution that is vital to the national economy since men delivered letters on horseback to the far flung parts of america. despite rain, snow, and bloom of night. here's a thought. let's transform the post office . how about congress give it more flexibility to run itself like a 21st century business entity . congrats, dad. come on, congress. coming up,