One way to bail out the Post Office: allow it to build a ton of new housing on all of its underutilized real estate! My latest with the great @NickZaiac in Tribune papers nationwide: https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/associated_press/business/commentary-the-postal-service-s-untapped-real-estate-fortune/article_3c8a169e-fba8-5701-a257-ffed2f0ff84a.html

Why is this an excellent idea?

1. A big chunk of the USPS bailout ask is money to replenish capital funds. Basically, they have a lot of very poorly maintained facilities that need to be rebuilt.

2. But one source of funds could be the USPS' real estate empire. The post office is the one of the largest property owners in the country and much of this property is both extremely valuable and highly underuitilized! Right is 42nd Street NYC; Left is a block from Twitter HQ SF.

3. The USPS can and should put out RFPs for depreciated properties in high value markets asking for ideas to (a) build them brand new ground floor facilities and (b) add a housing overbuild, with the applicant managing and USPS collecting substantial land lease revenue.

4. As a federal agency, the USPS has a massive advantage other property owners don't have: they are exempt from zoning. They could conceivably build as much as the market will bear!

5. Besides potentially being a large, sustainable source of revenue and brand new facilities for the USPS, this would also create a lot of housing in otherwise restrained places. Where it pencils, USPS could even prefer proposals that include housing set aside for postal workers.