HONOLULU (Reuters) – Farmers overwhelmingly support a Republican to be the next president, despite a strong farm economy during President Barack Obama’s Administration, according to a Reuters survey released on Wednesday.

The farmers give a slight edge to Mitt Romney over Rick Santorum, as the best person to take on Obama and the Democrats in the November elections.

HONOLULU (Reuters) – Farmers think Congress should seek cuts in agricultural spending but protect growers from volatile prices and low yields by retaining a safety net when it writes a new farm law this year, a Reuters survey released on Wednesday found.

The random survey of 462 farmers and ranchers at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting in Honolulu found 39.4 percent want the current program to continue, with some cuts.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Postal Service has agreed to a five-month moratorium on closures of post offices and processing facilities while lawmakers hammer out legislation to overhaul the cash-strapped mail carrier, a group of U.S. senators said on Tuesday.

The Postal Service was studying about 3,700 money-losing post offices for possible closure starting in February 2012, and considering closing hundreds of processing centers in April.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service on Monday moved forward with plans to end next-day delivery of letters, postcards and other First Class mail.

Also, in a notice filed with its regulator, it sought approval to close more than half of its 461 processing facilities that have been critical for next-day delivery service.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Lawmakers’ proposals to overhaul the U.S. Postal Service would not give the near-bankrupt agency flexibility to find billions of dollars in savings needed to return to profitability, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said on Monday.

Leading bills in the House of Representatives and the Senate would not allow the agency to immediately end Saturday mail delivery and would impose some limitations on facility closings, Donahoe said during a National Press Club luncheon.

WASHINGTON, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Lawmakers’ proposals to
overhaul the U.S. Postal Service would not give the
near-bankrupt agency flexibility to find billions of dollars in
savings needed to return to profitability, Postmaster General
Patrick Donahoe said on Monday.

Leading bills in the U.S. House of Representatives and the
Senate would not allow the agency to immediately end Saturday
mail delivery and would impose some limitations on facility
closings, Donahoe said during a National Press Club luncheon.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Postal Service reported a net loss of $5.1 billion for its 2011 fiscal year and on Tuesday warned that could run out of cash by September of next year if Congress did not offer relief.

The rise of e-mail and online bill payments combined with the recession has eroded mail volume, which fell by 3 billion pieces, or 1.7 percent, during 2011.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Senate panel approved on Wednesday legislation to free up about $7 billion to help sustain the nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service while the mail carrier fixes its finances.

The bill, offered by a bipartisan group of four senators, would allow the agency, the world’s largest mail carrier, to dip into surplus funds in a retirement account to use toward retirement incentives for workers and to make other payments.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Postal Service is on the brink of bankruptcy, and its top official’s worst fear is that a limping economy will derail the agency’s recovery.

The agency is bumping up against its $15 billion government borrowing limit, expects to report as much as $10 billion in losses for the last fiscal year, and is pinning its hopes on a congressional overhaul to get back on its feet.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Postal Service would be allowed to tap into an estimated multibillion-dollar retirement fund surplus to ease its financial troubles under a bipartisan bill unveiled in the Senate on Wednesday.

The measure also would make the independent agency wait at least two years before attempting to end Saturday delivery.