Mail delivery woes start with USPS retirement burden

I’m responding to the recent Baltimore Sun editorial, “Let’s help our faltering postal system and stop the mail delays” (Feb. 16). The first step in helping the U.S. Postal Service to recover is to scrap that ridiculous and onerous 2006 mandate that it must prepay retiree benefits decades in advance.

A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the House that would repeal that 2006 mandate. I hope that The Sun will support the USPS Fairness Act!

Jim Dempsey, Edgewood

Cádiz snatched a late penalty to draw 1-1 at Camp Nou and deal Barcelona an unexpected setback in its bid for the Spanish league title Sunday. Five days after being beaten 4-1 by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, Ronald Koeman’s side saw two points slip away when substitute Álex Fernández converted an 88th-minute penalty conceded by Clement Lenglet. Lionel Messi appeared to put Barca on its way to an easy win in his club record 506th league appearance in Spain. But after Messi scored from the penalty spot in the 32nd minute, Barca was unable to finish off many scoring chances. The draw leaves Barca in third place and eight points behind leader Atlético Madrid, which lost 2-0 to Levante on Saturday. Real Madrid was the biggest beneficiary of the round, moving three points behind Atlético after winning 1-0 at Valladolid on Saturday. Madrid has played one more match than Atlético and Barca. “These are two hard blows this week,” Barca defender Gerard Pique said after the surprising slip to Cádiz. “There is a way to go in the league, but we didn’t count on this. If we can get on a good run of play and get good results, we can still have a shot. It is going to be difficult.”