It’s become a perennial story: The U.S. Postal Service is in trouble. But this year’s report by Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe is dire. Donahoe says the Postal Service is close to financial collapse and will be unable to pay its bills in a few months without dramatic changes that must be approved by Congress.

If the Postal Service were a private business with declining revenues and high costs, it would be making painful workforce reductions, possibly trimming services, closing inefficient facilities and maybe changing its prices. It might even consider filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy to be given freedom to impose even more dramatic restructuring moves.

But the Postal Service can’t do that. It has to get the approval of Congress to do anything. And, Congress has shown an inability to do anything — raise the debt ceiling, pass deficit-reduction legislation or pass budget measures on time.

Even with a more-functional, less-partisan Congress, it’s easy to see members of the House and Senate blocking closure of small post offices in their districts or states. Some members might be swayed by union-funded political pressure to prevent layoffs by the Postal Service.

Granted, the advancement of the Internet and e-mail, along with electronic bill-paying, have caused a major drop in profitable first-class mail.

Congress has required that the Postal Service be financially self-sustaining and not depend on government handouts. But at the same time, Congress handcuffs the Postal Service and prevents it from operating like a business.

Donahue told a Senate hearing Tuesday that he wants to cut back to five-days-a-week service by eliminating Saturday delivery, close thousands of small, mostly rural post offices and eliminate about 120,000 jobs by consolidating operations.

These are all things a private business would do when faced with similar realities. General Motors and Chrysler did something like this two years ago during the peak of the financial crisis, and today are operating profitably as “right-sized” companies. The Postal Service needs to do something similar to survive in today’s business environment.

Donahoe’s warning that the Postal Service could be out of business in a year should be enough to get the attention of Congress so that it gives him the freedom to do whatever is necessary to survive. A total shutdown of the Postal Service is almost unthinkable.

Besides the impact of the Internet, the Postal Service is a victim of federal regulations, some unique to its operation. With close to 600,000 workers, the Postal Service is the second- largest U.S. employer after Wal-Mart. It’s also been noted that labor costs represent 80 percent of the Postal Service’s total operating expenses. That figure is contrasted in a published report noting labor costs are 53 percent of total expenses at UPS and 35 percent at FedEx, two major competitors. If the Postal Service is expected to be competitive, it has to be able to make changes and reduce its costs. And facing an expected loss of $10 billion this year, it must make major changes — and quickly.

On his recommendations, Donahue told the Senate committee, “Short-term, stopgap measures will not help. These are aggressive steps, and they are necessary.”

The Postal Service crisis will be yet another test for Congress, which has done little to inspire confidence in its ability to handle any problems, big or small.