Like internet access, and sales of certain products.

There are ways, and by the way they are not losing money!
The reported losses are part of the Republican trick anyway to force
them to fun 75 years of retirement. They make money!

This was a dirty trick pulled by the repugs in 2006 during the Bush years. A poison pill really that they knew would eventually bankrupt the Post Office so that their corporate masters like UPS and FEDEX would get the business.

If it wasn't for having to cough up 5.5 Billion every year for pre-funding of retirees the Post Office wouldn't be going broke.

Once it's gone everyone will realize, WTF did we just do because UPS and FEDEX don't have the capability to deliver mail to every address in the US everyday. And they won't even try. There will be centralized pick-up facilities for mail (and you think the lines in the Post Office are long). Rural folks will have to drive for miles to get their mail.

And costs, forget about it. Forty-six cents for a letter will probably start at over $5.00 so do the math. Many small businesses that rely on the PO for shipping invoices and packages inexpensively will probably go out of business or try to pass on the expense to customers — us. So we're all going to really miss bashing the Post Office as we get gouged by UPS and FEDEX.

Surely it's not all tied up in gov't bonds nor not sitting in a bank account accruing a 1% APR. Rethugs found a great way to channel huge amounts of money to the banksters while cutting the legs out from under the USPS. If the Dems ever get control of the house again, they should immediately reform that Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.

$1.5B profit per year!

This was implemented by the Republican congress,
after they lost control of the House and Senate in the 2006 elections.
Yes, it was a lame duck session of congress that pushed this through
knowing that this was probably their only chance to get this passed.

The Democrats tried to fix it multiple times. First it passed in the house
when Pelosi was in charge, but the Republicans filibustered it in the
Senate.

Now it gets through the Senate, but Republican Senators don't care
because they know it won't go anywhere near a vote in Boners House.

I know it's an older story, but it is still relevant today. Here is an excerpt, more at the link:

But top Postal Service officials and outside experts say that another, underappreciated factor has been an insistence by Congress that the service not compete directly with private companies, even as companies like FedEx and U.P.S. have encroached on the Postal Service’s turf.

and guarantee next-day delivery. I called BS but, unfortunately, I have no say in my office on this issue. I was told it was for the sake of our time-sensitive materials.

Still lost 2.5 billion when you remove the pension payments. Even the head of the post office has stated that Saturday deliver isn't needed based on low volume.

It's a public service and a source of jobs for many Americans. It shouldn't be looked at as a business like FedEx or UPS. Those businesses exist to turn a profit for shareholders. The post office exists to serve All-Americans.

If they cannot find a way to break even, should it exist at all?

What's keeping USPS from "breaking even" is the burden Congress laid on it in 2006: to prefund its pension plan 75 years into the future. Without that burden USPS would easily "break even." And yes, it should exist regardless.

I sell on line and mail it out. In this small rural area there are NO JOBS. Last I looked we were headed for over 13% unemployment and that's based on rigged numbers. So, you are telling me the service I use every day is dying? Really? How do you think Amazon does it? They sell on line and ship out.

I can NOT get lucrative, padded contracts from UPS or FedEx like Amazon does. They save their best shipping rates for their biggest customers. We small customers have to suck it up. Except that right now the US postal service gives me the same cheap fees it gives everyone. So, now I have a thriving business.

If you do away with the US postal Service, which like guns is mentioned in the Constitution, then we rural folks will get NO Service. Just like when big corporations controlled all access to electricity, the rural areas never got the service because it was too expensive to string wire such vast distances between farmhouses. The federal government had to step in in order to ensure farmers got electricity. The same thing happened with phones. And if you destroy the US postal Service, you destroy many, many rural small businesses. Because FedEx and UPS are not going to deliver to rural areas. In fact they don't deliver to rural areas now. In very rural areas, UPS and FedEx deliver to the US post office, and the US post office delivers to the customer.

Why should the post office break even? Why? Fire Departments don't break even. Police Departments don't break even. The military Never breaks even. Libraries and museums don't break even. The DMV doesn't break even. Breaking even is NOT the goal, and never should be, of public services.

Last edited Thu Feb 7, 2013, 12:59 PM - Edit history (1)

Generalizing that the institution isn't important doesn't take into account the people who depend on it for their businesses or direct employment of Americans in good union jobs.

Does defense break even? If the P.O. coul set its own rates it might break even. Tell that to Congress and the postal rate commission.

The post office, before being strapped with this totally unfair funding of their pensions for 75 years, and pay it off in 15, was fully solvent and had much lower prices that anyone to deliver mail and packages. They receive NO TAX dollars and their entire income is in stamp sales.

The republicans are trying to destroy (and they are succeeding) the post office so the private carriers (which line their pockets) can take over.

It's the most disgusting thing I've seen in awhile. It is not a dying service. Packages can't be emailed. Neither can important documents that must be signed for. The PO would be doing just fine and can compete with anyone, if the RePUKeS just get out of the way.

1974 first class postage: 10 cents - Coca-Cola - 10 cents

2013 first class postage 46 cents - Coca-Cola - a lot more than 46 cents

Last edited Thu Feb 7, 2013, 04:02 PM - Edit history (1)

It was written into the law that removed it from a cabinet post as the Post Office and it became the U.S. Postal Service.

Between rate cases, USPS would make money some years and lose money other years -- sustained by the cost of postage, not tax payers. They could not raise rates arbitrarily, but were required to have approval of the Postal Regulatory Commission to implement rate changes. (Not simple - when I worked there, it required about a year to build a rate case.) Increases could not exceed the cost of inflation.

All of this while maintaining "universal" service, same price anywhere in the U.S. Even with boat routes in the Okefenokee, burros to the depths of the Grand Canyon, and sled routes in Alaska. All for the same $. Think FedEx or USPS or another corporation would do that for forty five cents? It's like all the "privatize" crap. Profitize what the profiteers want and make the tax payers pay for the difference and/or the poor can do without.

Another big "Thanks For Nothing" for the republicasses.

them by the GOP. They would be able to sustain these rates if they did not have to pay 75 years into the future someone's pension! What the GOP has done to the post office is not just evil I think it has to be illegal.

And I am one of those sellers. I wrote in another thread that I just had to increase all my postage rates from $1.50, (where I would lose .14 cents but I didn't care) to $5.00! for a 0 - 5 ounce package!, (the rate is $5.05) That is a very small and very light package. And forget international. It's almost not even worth it.

I also buy a lot of stuff over the internet and this is going to screw things up big time.

penions payment sin teh future. THAT is not sustainable. It was passed by a republican congress. No other entity has such a requirement.
That law needs to be overturned and the Post OIffice will be fine.

The "unsustainable" is a cue for privatization.

then your matter of fact glibness, which by the way is 100.0% WRONG should vanish. there is nothing 'unsustainable' about the USPS

I am getting letters threatening to sue me if I don't comply with some real estate things (hurricane Sandy stuff) that I already complied with. Duh - I know if my neighbors want a zoning variation, i have to get a registered letter

Yes mail would be way more expensive if it were privatized. And the companies are just frothing at the mouth thinking about it. I hate how this country is getting to be more and more all about the rich and what they want. If corporations are people, they deserve long ail terms!!!!

before we know it we'll be stuck paying those high rates.

The whole thing is crazy, and would be stopped but it's not a "sexy" issue so it seems to be lost in the shuffle. Big Ed is on the case at least. I'm very upset because of the closing of historical Post Offices in my area. It's also an architectural loss.

but with the last big business moving out of town, I don't know how much longer that will be. I am not sure how much of the 8th ave post office in NYC will be left when it is converted to a rail terminal, but it is pretty grand.

The reason is because they offer a lot by mail that they don't have streaming. I'd like to do only streaming if everything was Available. I use Hulu, too... thats free

That's going to suck not geting two a week, though. Darn!

in that regard, all of the utility and credit card companies will be more profitable as well, more late fees to collect! whoohoo!

right now, about 1/3 of the time i get my "weekly" netflix movie on saturday. months ago the USPS announced that they will be closing the distribution center in my large city, about 500,000 in the metro area. we'll soon be piggybacking off Denver's center, that change will add a day or two to lead times. elimination of saturday delivery will mean i will be lucky to EVER get a movie by the weekend. i guess i'll be cancelling soon.

is the one arriving on saturday.

ownership society dominionist shooters for years. It has done absolutely nothing.

Perfect! You nailed exactly what they are.

Republicans are trying to get rid of all of our public institutions. They have a hatred of the poor and even of the middle class, and they want to completely do away with anything that is publicly funded.

they'll take over part of it, pay minimum wage and raise prices 5x!

Luckily times are against them and I think it's not too late to prevent them from destroying it

Republicans trying to privatize USPS. It didn't get much press, but it was relentless. Greed is only one motivator. Power is another.

I'm not sure how many employees they have right now but it was about 500,000 last time I saw a number - (second largest employer in the US). About 90% of Postal employees were union when I retired. So they want to bust the unions BAD. That, of course, is for political power.

Sorry if my post sounded "excited" in any kind of negative way against unions, because I fully support them.

- packages delivery will continue on Saturday per my understanding. The current plan will not impact packages.

If this doesn't fix things - and there is some thought that it won't - we may have to lose Saturday package delivery at some point. We'll just have to learn to wait that extra day and plan ahead when shopping online. If the buyer doesn't want to wait, let them absorb the additional in shipping price.

they are trying to bankrupt them so they can do away with the public institution.

And it will give mail carriers and postal workers a normal 5 day work week. Is that really so bad?

the post office will still be open on Saturday and mail will still move on Saturday it just won't be home delivered.

This is just the beginning of the end for the Post Office, as the repugs planned in 2006 when they forced the Post Office to fund their retirement plan for 75 years into the future — for employees not even hired yet, or even born yet for God's sake (5.5 billion a year the PO has to cough up). If not for that they wouldn't be going broke. It's all about privatizing it for UPS and FEDEX to get that business. And of course the repugs will continue to get their campaign contribution checks (and most likely some on the side in untraceable Swiss and Caymen Island accounts). And all those middle class jobs at the PO will dry up, but who cares in the good ol' GOP-Teaparty.

The postal service is written into the constitution.

. . . under Bush voted in the requirement that the Post Office pay into their retirement fund for workers 75 years into the future in 10 years (people who aren't even hired, or better yet, not even born yet). That's 5.5 billion a year. No other agency has to do such an outrageous thing and that's why the Post Office is going broke. Private business would spread such a funding requirement over 40 years. So even if it's written into the Constitution the Post Office can still go bankrupt if that 2006 law is not repealed. And then of course mail service will be privatized, which seems to be the aim of the 2006 law. FEDEX and UPS are salivating at the thought, and of course they will continue to write campaign fund checks to Issa and all the other repug reps and senators that vote to keep the 2006 law in place.

is written into the Constitution (Article I, Section 8). Unfortunately, there is no mention of actually officially establishing a US Post Office, although one was established and existed until July 1, 1971, when it became the United States Postal Service.

It seems to me that the creation of the USPS was a back-door way to undermine the public postal system, as it put the system at the mercy of the market, rather than have it continue to exist as a non-profit public service. I also find it interesting that the postage rate for a 1st class letter only doubled over 35 years from 1933 to 1968 (going from 3 cents to 6 cents, in stages), but then went up to 8 cents on July 1, 1971 (the USPS's first official day of existence) and increased by a factor of 5 in the ensuing 35 years.

They were fine until this pension funding craziness. Other businesses are permitted to gut their pensions at will, but the POST OFFICE?? Well, no. That cannot be allowed. And all this so some of the carriers can have a 5 day work week? They should accept lower and lower pay until eventually all their benefits and their jobs dry up?

This is the commons. We should not be forced to pay premium, private-company prices just to send correspondence and goods to our family, friends, and businesses.

Our Saturday delivery person is not the same who delivers Mon - Fri.

Why don't bulk mail advertisers pay more. They benefit from low rates to come directly into your home and I can't even imagine the number of trees that are harvested to support the bulk mail industry. Make them pay first class rates!

The 75 year pension scam is just that-a way to privatize the USPS. I wonder if FED EX and UPS have to provide the same guarantee?

until the economy collapsed. Advertisers are just not sending out as much as they used to. I used to have to empty my mailbox everyday before that...now I have days where there is no junk mail at all. If you raised the bulk mail rates, they would send out even less. The pension scam is at the heart of the problem now. I think we have to let our congress critters know that we re not happy.

Business open on Saturday, still depend on the mail delivery - pick-up. Mail carriers hours/overtime will be cut. Jobs could be cut.

we just have a different day off every week.

And encourage congress to change the requirement of funding 75 years out?

Going to write my reps too. Can't hurt.

Shudder. We'll have to pray that 3-D printing develops *real fast* because delivering things will be like the Pony Express and expensive.

We should be moving into more things in the commons being government-run, not breaking up one of our oldest and best public resources.

One might not care about the Post Office, but once it is gone, corporations will be emboldened to go after other public resources that we should care about.

edit: Petition! http://bit.ly/savesaturdaymail

thanks Starry Messenger

we already know vets have a tougher time getting work.

i also wonder how much the private companies will raise their prices once they don't have USPS to compete with anymore.

that government agencies start hiring more Vets as the PO does. And, I know it does from inside experience.

articles of its problems with sorrow.

Long Live The USPS!

Thanks flamingdem

every time they ask who needs the USPS and some fool says 'they're out 15 million in one year, get rid of them', I'm there telling them why they're out all that money and more.

Anyway, I love that the Postmaster is doing something (even though I'm against it, I'm afraid it will lead to carriers being fired). It shows that he knows that they want the USPS to have no recourse and it to spiral down until it they declare it has to be closed and privatized. I have a feeling he's trying to fight them the only way he knows how.

that says congress may not allow them to cut Saturday delivery - maybe a wakeup call?

I'll check out the story.

to get the post office money back where it belongs.

with Reagan. Maybe he really is just a teapartier in the end!

That would hardly be pragmatic- which is what those centrists were being when they voted for it in the 1st place.

Nothin' wrong with being pragmatic.

To the GOP that's what it's ALL about. Every move, every proposal for skiting sequestration... economic, social, political... it's all about ending public and government institutions that support Americans and hand it over to corporations and private ownership. This is more dangerous to democracy and freedom than even the GOP knows.

It's a war against all "under-moneyed" American citizens.

1. The post office is a constitutionally mandated service and
2. It can't be replaced by courier services or email. Email won't deliver the parcels you order and couriers cannot provide the breadth of service that the USPS does. In fact, couriers use the postal service to deliver in out of the way places.

It's nonsense.

and pulled apart into pieces that can be privatized - if this continues

In our suburb, where UPS and Fed-ex trucks pass by regularly, we've received numerous packages via the regular letter carrier that started out from the warehouse with one of the couriers. They both have programs for this kind of delivery, which apparently is cheaper for the sender.

Even they know that USPS is cheaper and more efficient than they are.

In exchange USPS contracts with them for air cargo.

http://namebrandketchup.wordpress.com/2012/11/28/let-us-now-praise-the-united-states-postal-service/

it stated clearly that packages and medications WILL be delivered six days a week !

Which means the trucks will still be out,

Which means mail processing in the plants will still happen (it would anyway),

Which means this decision means nothing.

REMEMBER, presort standard and FCM are still processed and delvered together. They have to be. The process itself leaves no possible option, because it can't.

So someone explain to me what this will solve, because as a plant employee, I. Dont. Get. It.

I guess I could pass the increased cost along to my customers but the post office just works as a key point in my workflow. It's a service I and my customers trust. There are post offices everywhere so even If I'm in the tiny one horse town I can get my product out. I would rather pay increased postage prices than lose the post office.

Or other items? I was wondering how the mail is for packages like that for price and damage.

but sometimes I'll ship larger. Personally I ship two package sizes typically. An envelope sized for 5x7 (my 4x6 prints go in these as well) and the larger I guess 9x12 envelopes. I stamp them "Do Not Bend" so they end up shipping at package price. Typically the 5x7 envelopes ship for under 2 bucks and the 8x10 size might weigh a couple ounces more so they're closer to $3.00. I have never in my 9 years doing business had one bent or lost. Might just be good luck, but I'm thinking it's a good product the usps has.

to ask what the pictures are (or a general idea)? It sounds like you found a good niche. Totally understand if it's not to be shared here but I've always wondered what is popular enough to be sold and shipped as often as you do. I know people who sell a couple of craft items in a month and more at the holidays but that's not very much. It's great to make that into a business but hard to know what people will purchase that way.

photos of very specific types of horses in action. The in action part is the key. It probably took me a few years to develop the consistency to get a good handle on my technique. 5 years before I "mastered" it. My sales are considerably less in the winter though I do have some. Summertime is where I make the most use of the USPS. My costs are relatively high, the risks are high and the rewards seem to be ever shrinking, but I guess as far as making it, I've been able to maintain a modest income for a time. If I didn't have an employed wife subsidizing it with her job and her time working as my "sales" person It just wouldn't work.

Not just equine, but specific and in action. It sounds like a very interesting art form. Thanks so much for sharing that because it gives me an idea of what might work. And realistic idea of how long it would take to develop the niche and the skill that others don't have.

I wish more stories like yours were featured in Post Office ads! They need some good promotion that includes small business people who rely on their service

I know it takes real skill to get good pictures of horses in action.

My daughter lives across the country, and every couple of months she mails me a handwritten letter. I treasure receiving each and every one. I would hate to lose that.

That's lovely. Email is not the same at all!

They'll soon learn that the private companies won't find it profitable to serve them, at least not on a high-scale level.

And those are the same people that keep sending anti-Post Office politicians to Washington.

they are the only shipping company that has gotten my money for the last 10 years

He's so far right he'll blow me off though.

who'll lose access because it's not profitable to put a ups or fedex there!

an e-mail Why a e-mail and not a first class letter?

And counting pennies.

Got a problem?

would bring to those of us who vote by mail. The state would decide that UPS/FedX prices of $5 or more per envelope would be prohibitive and we would lose the right to vote by mail. Talk about long lines at the polling station! But that feeds into the GOP main objective of getting FEWER people voting. It just disgusts me that when the GOP can't win an election on its merits, it has to cheat and finagle to win. Aiming for the closure of the post office is just more of their efforts to stop people from exercising their right to vote.

They are so motivated to win but Ed did have a GOP rep on who is against the closure due to her rural constituents. We'll see if she survives voicing that opinion.

I believe I have a little insight here.In our local zip code area the Postal Service has 63 offices, UPS and Fed Ex one apiece. Saturday delivery needed to go. Every postal employee knows it, even if they won't admit it. But small town rural post offices are the real sink holes. The indirect subsidization of rural America through rural Post Offices will bring down the entire Postal system. The math is cold, but clear.

You can take the assine rules Congress makes the Post Office play by away, but if these tiny, unprofitable black holes remain they will suck the Postal Service dry.

Small towns squeal like stuck pigs when their Post Offices are threatened and claim the offices are the last bit of glue holding them together. Offer each of them the option of keeping the offices open through subsidization of the Postal facility with local property taxes. See how many towns take you up on this offer.

By all means get Congress and it's meddling out of the Postal Service's attempts to remain competitive, but do not think that these changes are not needed. Not if you really love and hope the Postal Service will continue to be a part of the fabric of America.

means that any creative changes - for instance internet in the Post Office and other items sold - cannot be put in place because the infrastructure is being pulled apart.

Saturday delivery to me is not the number one issue at all. I agree and notice it rarely happens much these days anyway. My complaint is that they are stripping the Post Office down when they are profitable but for the prefunding requirement.

In California there is basically a land grab on historic post offices and it's all a calculation and we the people are not consulted. Later the Post offices are pushed to the edge of town in unattractive buildings and seniors can't access them, etc. They are no longer the anchor of a town.

That is a problem worth solving as well as the problem of encroaching privatization and loss of good jobs.

structural change is needed. Badly.

There is a famous saying from a former Senator, "It is easier to close a large military base than it is a small town Post Office."

True. But if these economically unfeasable facilities are not shuttered they will bring down one of America's greatest institutions.

I live and work in rural America. I'm not blind to the stark reality that the Post Office faces. And everyone of my former fellow Postal Workers has expressed these feelngs. We were well aware of it. 10 Years ago.

Senator Feienstien husband's Real Estate company. Sell the historic "paid for brick and granite offices"
and lease an unattractive metal building down the street. Stab you in the back profiteering dems are all
for the demolishing the post office.

Blum was behind it. Arg. I'm furious about this because of the loss of these community anchors, WPA beautiful buildings ... sold to become Starbucks or worse...

Where is this massive zip code with 63 offices? And how does it compare to other comparable zip codes, either by population or geography?

It consists roughly of all of LaSalle, Bureau, and Putnam counties and parts of Lee County, Henry County, Marshall County, and Livingston County. Rough population is 150,000 people. Bureau County is 867 square miles, LaSalle County 1148 square miles, Putnam is 172 square miles.

It is rural. I worked as a supervisor at United Parcel Service and our operating center in Peru, Illinois had the highest miles ran per route of any operating center in the North Illinois District, which was esentially the entire northern 1/3 of the state of Illinois.

I ran rural routes out of the Princeton and Spring Valley Post Offices in my 10 years with with the USPS.

link: http://www.payphone-project.com/mailboxes/zip_codes/first_three/613.html

I'm not trying to be a pain, and you certainly have the experience.

But as a straight average, that comes to about 2500 people served per post office. That's the size of my town, and we have one post office. So I don't see that as a problem. If you took the same population in my area and reduced post offices, you'd end up with people having to drive dozens of miles to their post office. In the end, no one benefits. Look, I realize that this is a tremendous problem, but the whole thing is kind of third world-ish and really quite soul-eroding.

Sure, there can be some consolidation. The USPS floated that last year, and it didn't go over well, for the reasons I mentioned and tons of others.

Your area is probably like mine in that in that UPS and Fed Ex likely cover the same area with just one operating center.

Most of the small offices I'm talking about in my area serve villages with 50 to 500 people. Those villages are far better and more efficiently served by mobile post offices, namely Rural Letter Carriers. As towns get into the 1200 and up range it is far more likely that those offices are viable or needed to stay open regardless of whether they are profitable or not.

There are some bills that are mailed and can't be paid online because that service is not offered. Our big sticking point is my husband's bi-weekly worker's comp check that's mailed. Some of the mail distribution service has already been shifted and his checks don't arrive on every other Thursday like they used to be. Sometimes the check doesn't get here until Saturday or the following Monday. Depending on when the bills are due that has added some stress when the check is late. The comp insurance company doesn't offer direct deposit or we would take that option.

Our niece works as a mail handler in an area distribution center that's slated to eventually close. She's in her late 40s and there are no jobs that pay as well or offer the benefits she has with the USPS around here.

Nobody will buy DVDs in 5 years - they will all be downloaded.

Same with CDs.

Once the rates increase for shipping books, even older readers will discover e-readers and tablets.

I agree that they are very efficient. Three days cross-country for < $0.50 is a helluva bargain. That said, the charge for this should have probably gone to $1 two or more years ago. Other than advertisers, who sends mail? Few actually write correspondence (birthday and holiday cards being exceptions). Bills generally come by e-mail. Magazines are going the way of the Do-Do.

Both the price of computers and internet service continues to drop.

I also agree that the attacks on the postal service are little more than a scheme to beak a strong, pro-Dem union. That said, the USPS is in the buggy whip business.

In 5-10 years, FedEx and UPS may very well move freight between cities by pilotless planes and driverless trucks. It's progress.

I'll miss the postal service when its gone, but its going.

Our Postal Service is a marvelous example of how a service works, and why a service is often better than a business. The service has a remarkably extraordinary efficiency rate. Like all government services, the failures make headlines while smooth operations merit little notice. As for those "costly" small communities in rural America, those same post offices employ locals who add their pay checks into the local economy. Our postal service employs a high number of veterans, women and minorities. They earn a decent wage, provide a valuable service, and can retire with dignity. If Congress had to fund their own retirements for the next 75 years, maybe things would be different? I for one would be glad to raise the price of stamps in increments of 5 cents, and allow for a profit cushion, rather than tying the entire enterprise to a no-profit ceiling. Why the Democrats in Congress haven't made a bigger stink about this is hard to fathom? When Fox Noise rails against the postal service, the retort should be that conservatives don't want veterans to have jobs! To be anti-post office, is to be anti-American. We should be hiring more public servants and be proud of the work that they do.

Good point that people judge from one or two bad experiences, probably from 20 years ago.

Lately it's very well run.

but not junk mail/envelopes.

Is that not the case?

The USPS' dire financial situation is only partly due to its inability to raise rates commiserate to the price of fuel.

Their current situation has more to due with the fact they were ORDERED to fund benefits for all present and FUTURE employees ten years in advance. This cost them billions.

it's first class mail delivery that's been cut back (which means no regular mail route delivery on Saturdays; parcel deliveries are separate from regular postal routes anyway).

The Post Office is in the Constitution.

And what you are presenting as a virtue, some people see as legacy government entitlement.

First class delivery has always been, and will always be remembered as one helluva deal.

after Wal-Mart.

They run the biggest vehicle fleet in the world.

Are there people in this country who are so stupid that they don't think the loss of that will affect us all?

quoting:

To sum up: a unionized Federal workforce, whose productivity is at an all-time high, is among the world’s best examples of a real, modern, and affordable business. Imagine that. It must annoy the daylights out of Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and Michigan governor Rick Snyder.

So when you go to the post office this holiday season, and when you encounter your letter carrier, give them a big hello and thanks for their amazing service. You can even use my postage joke if you want. But don’t sing.

USPS requires Congressional approval.

Convince me that won't be an issue down the road.

My dad just retired after 35 years as an Industrial Engineer for the post office. His job was to design new mail sorting facilities and maintain the one he was based at that covered the DC area. He also designed an anthrax sniffer for the DC area's sorting facilities. Believe it or not FedEX and UPS took tours of the US Postal Service sorting facilities years ago before they became household names. I've been to the sorting facilities many times and was hired by an automation magazine to take photos of the facility my dad worked at for an article on high tech automation systems. People take for granted what's involved in sending a letter across the country in 3 days.

...so in a way, we/& the USPS are subsidizing the airlines. Even at "$1.35 ish" vs "4-10 x or more", it's got to be difficult for the post office's "air delivery" to compete with UPS or FedEx, who own their own fleets.

Although the link below is old, I'm guessing this contract has been renegotiated.

http://www.dmnews.com/usps-signs-new-contracts-with-airlines/article/92787/#

from the article: "The value of the contract for the seven airlines is approximately $225 million for USPS's 2007 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, according to the US. Postal Service. The carriers will move First-Class Mail, Express Mail, some Priority Mail The previous contract with the USPS, executed in 2003, narrowed the number of carriers from 50 to 13 and instituted stringent requirements for the on-time delivery of mail by contracted carriers. The requirements were designed to increase efficiency and improve service."

...to crush the Postal Workers union. You can bank on that. It's driven entirely by union-busting rethugs in Congress who want to destroy a union, and thereby cow all unions into submission. Supporting the Post Office is supporting unions! We need to let Congress know that we support the Post Office and will oppose their efforts to destroy a constitutionally-created government service!

to my list of people to write. she had to move, tho she is near her oldest son. but she lost her husband. my mom does snail mail. nothing like a personal snail mail.

If the USPS ends up going away, who will deliver all the crap we get at election time, who will ride a donkey into the Grand Canyon to deliver mail, who will use a snowmobile to deliver mail into the wilds of Alaska. Who will deliver all those great catalogs we get during the holidays, who will deliver all the tax information in January, who will deliver my meds!! Many people have no contact without the USPS. Write to congress and tell them hands off, give the USPS their money back you stole.

If the GOP gets away with this odious national privatization scheme, it's going to destroy more than people can imagine.

I usually ship directly through Etsy or Paypal but I wanted to check the rates so I went to USPS and made like I was going to ship a package. From 0-5 ounces for a package it was $5.05. Usually when I am shipping something it says for a package or thick envelope but this just said package and did not say anything about envelope. I use the large bubble mailers that you could mail a DVD in.

I might go check around and see what they are shipping for.

This really blows.