GOP senator who wants the Postal Service to go bankrupt about to have oversight over it

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)

Well, this is confidence-inspiring:

In January, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is slated to take over as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees the federal workforce and the entire Postal Service. Johnson has said that the Postal Service should go through a bankruptcy process that would result in a downsized, private corporation that would lose the benefits of governmental oversight and regulation. It could also allow the revised entity to terminate or substantially modify its contracts, including its collective bargaining agreements with various postal unions.

Another solution, of course, would be for Congress to get out of the way of the Postal Service making money providing needed services like banking for tens of millions of people who don't have access to financial institutions. But for Republicans like Ron Johnson, the health of the Postal Service isn't the goal. The destruction of a public service and slashing public jobs is the goal. Happily, Johnson can't unilaterally make his wishes a reality. But he can certainly stand in the way of improvement.