Manufactured budget shortfall puts post offices in danger

>>> towns and cities in all 50 states are in danger of losing their local post offices. this week across the country, folks are getting surveys like this one from the postal service . this was obviously from a new york resident here in new york that was given to me. and they're asking questions like -- trying to find out how often people use their post offices . well, hold it right there. in new york , maybe not as much, maybe so. but in a rural area , i tell you what, they live by them. the survey is all part of a plan to close as many as 3,700 postal facilities to help solve budget shortfalls. but remember, these budget problems have been manufactured by the congress, created by a law republicans passed during the lame duck session of the congress in 2006 forcing the postal service to fund 75 years worth of pensions within a ten-year window. what business has to do that? and to make it worse, congresswoman darrell issa has a plan to hand postal service business to the private sector. meanwhile, no final decisions have been made about closures. but communities are getting nervous. thousands of jobs are on the line. and the effect, well, it will be felt far beyond the postal workers. rural communities , local newspapers, small businesses , folks, i'm telling you, they're going to be hurt. this is the infrastructure of america under attack by the conservative agenda. so the conservatives love to talk about how they are fans and proponents of small business . well, let's leave politics out of it tonight and let's just talk about business . let's me bring in regina calderwood in cosby, missouri , one of the cities in danger of losing its post office . regina , you own a restaurant, gina's cafe and catering and a wedding rental business . what will happen to your businesses if the post office closes?

>> well, our business on the wedding side relies heavily on our post office . we have to ship things back and forth between our branches. we also have a branch in oklahoma and a branch in st. louis. and we need to be able to ship things quickly back and forth between our branches in order to get things in a timely manner for brides. you definitely don't want to not get something on time for a wedding. and so that right there will affect that business greatly, not to mention the foot traffic that the post office brings into our community every day, will directly affect the amount of people coming into my cafe on a daily basis.

>> what are you going to have to do businesswise for your wedding company, the best seat in the house, very clever name, i might add -- what are you going to do? are you going to have to go u.p.s., fedex and what's it going to mean to your bottom line ?

>> of course to the bottom line it's going to be more expensive. therefore we will have to put those expenses on to our customer, unfortunately. and in a recession, things have been tight enough right now for us to continue our business as it is without having to worry about extra expenses and things like that. but the nearest u.p.s. store is a good 20-minute drive for us. we don't have one near our community .

>> and what if they were to close your post office in your town there in missouri ? how far would you have to go to the next post office ? do you know?

>> well, the problem with that is our community is not the only one that's being affected. our neighboring community , helena, is up for being closed as well. and several other local post offices near us are also being up for closure. so we would have to drive into st. joseph. and i believe that's probably 15 to 20 miles for us to drive in.

>> regina , i don't want to put words in your mouth. but do you think your community would be taking a big step backwards if you lost the post office ?

>> well, i feel like we started these two businesses about 18 months ago in our town to help reverse the economic situation of our town. basically we have four businesses in town now. and closing that post office will kind of take us a step backwards when we're trying to propel forward. not only that, those postal workers will lose their positions. and that's just more losses for the community . and i think it just shows the community a negative spot that, hey, they don't even feel like you're important enough to even have a post office here now.

>> i hope you folks down there in missouri know that it was a law that was passed by the congress that is doing this. it has nothing to do with the operations of the post office . regina , thank you for joining us tonight.

>>> rick perry 's how-to manual on weekend fund, all you need is a sniper rifle . mike papantonio up next with me. you're watching "the ed show."