September 29, 2010
The Inspector General of the government found that the US Post Office had been offering perks to the management in excess of $800 million. After reviewing numerous contracts awarded by the post office to numerous organizations, it was found that many of the contract had been awarded to former employees at excessively high compensation. In fact, in addition to what may be their retirement benefits, these former employees ofter were hired at nearly two times their former compensation by the same organizations they left. The Inspector General felt this represented an ethical violation which subjected the taxpayer to higher costs than should otherwise be appropriate when seving the best interests of the citizens themselves.
Additionally, many of the contracts should have been opened up to the broader community instead of simply handed to former employees. In fact, when decision-makers have existing relationships based upon years of work with former employees, an ethical violation could exist simply in their not recusing themselves from making what may be perceived as a self-dealing decisions based upon preferences for someone they know. This is an amazingly irresponsible action to take, when citizens look closely at the reality that the Post Office continues to lose billions of dollars year after year, while demand rate hikes and improved benefits for its own employees and management. Similarly, the Inspector General determined that there were many offices that the post office was lazily not centralizing but should do so, if it had a sincere interest in managing the excessive amounts of waste and overhead that continue to flow from their balance sheets in the red.
To see more, read: http://federaldaily.com/articles/2010/09/29/ig-uncovers-800-million-in-u...