WASHINGTON - March 25, 2009 - The Post Office will run out of money this year unless it gets help, Postmaster General John Potter told Congress on Wednesday, as he sought permission to cut delivery to five days a week.

"We are facing losses of historic proportion. Our situation is critical," Potter told a House panel.

The agency lost $2.8 billion last year and is looking at much larger losses this year. Reducing mail delivery from six days to five days a week could save $3.5 billion annually, said Potter.

Potter also urged changes in how the post office pre-pays for retiree health care to cut its annual costs by $2 billion.

If the U.S. Postal Service does run out of money, the lingering question, Potter told the House Oversight Post Office Subcommittee, is which bills will be paid and which will not. Ensuring the payment of workers' salaries comes first, he said, but other bills may have to wait.

Potter first raised the possibility of delivery cutbacks in January, but the idea has not been warmly received in Congress.

Last week, the Post Office said it planned to offer early retirement to 150,000 workers and is eliminating 1,400 management positions and closing six of its 80 district offices in cost-cutting efforts. Potter said he expects 10,000 to 15,000 workers to accept the early retirement offer.

Ed. Note: I’ll bet they would save a lot of money by making advertisers pay full postage rates on junk mail.