2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumIssues – Senator Sanders wants to save the USPS.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) sent a letter to Postmaster General Megan Brennan urging the Postal Service to reinstate overnight mail delivery standards in light of a recent report finding significant delays in the delivery of mail.
“It is abundantly clear that the Postal Service’s decision to shut down more than 140 mail processing plants a few years ago and to eliminate overnight delivery standards this year has been a disaster that is negatively impacting Americans all over this country,” Sanders wrote in the letter. “I would urge the Postal Service to reinstate overnight delivery standards and speed up the delivery of mail as soon as possible.”
The slowdown in mail delivery has hurt seniors living on fixed incomes, veterans, and people living in rural areas particularly hard. In the letter, Sanders noted that “veterans and seniors have complained that it is now taking 9, and sometimes as much as 11 days, for them to receive life-saving prescriptions through the mail.”
The Conservatives (both Democratic and Republicon) want to privatize the US Postal Service and plunder their resources leaving the taxpayers (99%) to pick up the tab. Senator Sanders is doing all he can to prevent that.
More at: http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-sends-letter-to-postmaster-general
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haikugal
(6,476 posts)
jwirr
(39,215 posts)
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)Paper mail is a thing of the past, however perscriptions etc. and important and should be drivered in a timely manor.
Not sure the solve here... But it does need to change.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)from livescience.com
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)It's wasteful and hurts the environment.
USPS should reorganize and become competitive with FEDEX, UPS.
I often use those services over the post office because they are more reliable and have easier methods to track packages and confirm delivery. Postal service just isn't competitive here.
Also I said nothing about "shutting it down" or closing offices.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)the cream of the crop only. They don't mess with letters and deliveries that are not pure profit.
For example urban package delivery is big profits while delivering to rural homes loses money. The post office used to use the profits from urban delivery to pay for the loses in rural delivery. But now the private carriers get to drive the costs down for the urban customers while the taxpayers pay for the rural deliveries.
Did you know that if it isn't profitable for UPS and FedEx to deliver to rural homes, they ship it via THE POST OFFICE.
If the USPS wants to compete with the private carriers they'd have to cut services to rural homes.
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)And yes I knew that the USPS delivers packages to rural areas for both FedEx and UPS, apparently USPS should charge more for this since they seem to be getting a raw deal.
Everyday I walk to the mailbox, then walk to the trash and throw away the 5 things that are delivered.
If the stamp says pre-sorted standard I don't even look at it.
Junk mail, all junk mail. It's a waste.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Maybe the rates go up as you get farther from a post office? Seriously, do you think the USPS should be privatized? What is Clinton's position on "fixing" the USPS?
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)I think UPS and FEDEX should pay MORE for rural delivers, the USPS is being had.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Agschmid
(28,749 posts)They should reorganize, and not be used by these companies to help support a business model that maybe wouldn't really work.
Reorganize is not the equivalent of "close".
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)only some markets. And of course the USPS should not be required to fund their retirements out, I think it's 75 years.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_5072539_stop-usps-junk-mail.html
Would be nice if the 5 people who lived here ahead of me had taken advantage of that, as I have.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)
frylock
(34,825 posts)I buy a LOT of products online, and it has been my experience that the USPS is every bit as reliable as FEDEX or UPS. I have never had a problem finding the status of a package on the USPS website.
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)They should charge more for this service, they could have a better margin here it seems.
southerncrone
(5,506 posts)off to the USPS for final delivery. This results in my shipments arriving 1-2 days later because of the hand off.
I concur the USPS is being "used" by those big corps who are not saddled w/the legislation requiring them to completely fund their retirement plans now. Heck, many of their employees are PT so they don't have to pay benefits. So they win twice! USPS should definitely charge them more to deliver their packages, it's just good business sense.
I said back in the '90s that the USPS should become an ISP. How much mail has been lost by online bill pay & ordering. They could have kept that revenue & more. It would also have given citizens a more uniform access to the internet. Instead, they cut rates even more for bulk mail (junk mail). They became an organization operating out of fear, instead of strength. The constant mini-increases in stamps made them look even more desperate. It irritated people. This was all long before the sad legislation requiring the full funding of their retirement plans.
They definitely need to stop the bulk rate & force those to pay full price for their harassment of us. Not to mention the excess garbage it generates isn't ecologically sound.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)lost packages, late packages, damaged packages through the private corporations.
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)It is what it is.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)USPS has a business portal. You can track and confirm delivery with a click of a button. And it is cheaper.
We just sent two books to Australia; one using USPS and the other using FedEx at the customer's request. The tab for USPS was $75.00 (tracking, delivery confirmation, and everything - and their customs documents are easy to fill out). The tab for FedEx was $389.00. Same city, same delivery time frame and the customs portal was ridiculously difficult.
UPS is a fucking joke.
floriduck
(2,262 posts)on dealing with the USPS? Same as yours?
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)I am willing to bet you'd be wrong.
I posted that I think the post office should be better, that's it.
Historic NY
(37,450 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)I do know the postal workers have endorsed Sen Sanders.
Historic NY
(37,450 posts)sounds like more BS from BS that can't back it up. So please enlighten us.
The Conservatives (both Democratic and Republicon) want to privatize the US Postal Service and plunder their resources leaving the taxpayers (99%) to pick up the tab. Senator Sanders is doing all he can to prevent that.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Historic NY
(37,450 posts)either its a false claim or you have the facts. By all means please proceed. Perhaps you rather take it down then.
But I do know this.... http://www.postal-reporter.com/blog/postal-retiree-hillary-ships-only-usps-and-bernie-offers-ups-option-for-online-campaign-merchandise/
if thats what you wanted to know.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)won't tell us such.
Historic NY
(37,450 posts)so I'm going to have to say your full of --it... Have a nice day. When you find out let us know.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Here is your chance to promote your candidate. Or are you simply implementing a tactic to continuously ask questions in lieu of stating you positions?
ps: Feel free to call me whatever you like. I understand your frustration. You should switch to supporting The People and their candidate, Senator Sanders.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)
beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)But why would you want to discuss important issues in here? They're busy bashing Bernie supporters, don't interrupt.
a kennedy
(29,672 posts)been for the little guy and girl....... 
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)a lot.
hill2016
(1,772 posts)from whom?
this wouldn't be a strawman would it?
Hekate
(90,714 posts)Congress has actively worked to bankrupt the USPS. It's a serious issue. What I want to know, in context of his current statement, is what BS has been doing about this in the Senate all these years?
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)When I was stupid enough to post on forums with white wingers, they were always saying the post office was broke. Once I calculated that a 2 cent increase in postage rates would cover any "loses," including the crazy pre-funded benefit requirement. In any event, UPS and FedEx can't touch the USPS for mailing letters and small items. While I like Saturday delivery, not sure it is absolutely necessary.
Used to ride with my granddad back in the 50s when he supplemented his small farm income by delivering rural mail. It was a lot of fun for a little kid.
Hekate
(90,714 posts)I've known about this for years and it's really bad. I'm glad BS is interested now, but what has he done in the past?
beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)Wednesday, February 13, 2013
WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) today introduced legislation to modernize the U.S. Postal Service, save Saturday mail and repeal a crippling law responsible for 80 percent of the mail system’s funding woes.
“While we all understand that the Postal Service is experiencing financial problems today and that changes need to be made as the Postal Service adjusts to a digital world, these issues can be dealt with in a way which strengthens the Postal Service rather than initiating a series of cuts that could eventually lead to a death spiral,” Sanders said.
The Senate bill is cosponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).
“Congress must work together and pass legislation that will sustain the Postal Service, avert unnecessary closures that hurt communities and save American jobs. Most of the financial issues facing the United States Postal Service are due to short-sighted actions by Congress. Congress must unshackle USPS so we can deal with these problems and allow the Postal Service to better compete,” DeFazio said.
Under the legislation, proposed cuts to Saturday delivery would be prevented. “Providing fewer services and less quality will cause more customers to seek other options,” Sanders said. “Rural Americans, businesses, senior citizens and veterans will be hurt the most by ending Saturday mail.”
The measure would let the Postal Service look for innovative new ways to make money by lifting legal bans on services such as notarizing documents, issuing hunting and fishing licenses and allowing shipments of wine and beer. It also would clear the way for the Postal Service to help customers take advantage of email and Internet services. Moreover, a commission would be created composed of successful business innovators and representatives from small business and labor to make recommendations on other ways the Postal Service could generate new revenue and thrive in the 21st century.
Arguably the most critical financial reform proposed by Sanders and DeFazio would be to rescind an onerous 2006 law pushed through a Republican-controlled House at the behest of President George W. Bush. Unlike any private business or other government agency, the law makes the post office pre-fund 75 years of future health care benefits for retirees over the course of 10 years. The $5 billion annual payments have been piling up in a fund that experts say already has more than enough in reserve. Since 2007, the pre-funding mandate is responsible for $4 out of every $5 in Postal Service debts.
The bill also would reinstate overnight delivery standards to speed mail delivery and prevent shutdowns of mail sorting centers. Safeguards also would be put in place to protect rural post offices.
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/postal-service-modernization-bills-introduced-saturday-mail-preserved
Everyone out of the way, I expect the goalposts will be moved shortly!
Why hasn't he been more effective/done more/saved the USPS singlehandedly, etc.
Hekate
(90,714 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)but provide no information about how their candidate stands. I am guessing this is tactic number 12.
beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)Saturday, January 17, 2015
BURLINGTON, Vt., Jan. 17 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) yesterday proposed legislation to impose a two-year moratorium on U.S. Postal Service plans to eliminate up to 15,000 decent-paying jobs, close more mail-sorting plants and end overnight delivery of first-class mail and periodicals.
“At a time when Postal Service revenue is increasing, it makes no sense to eliminate thousands of jobs and slow down the mail service that millions of Americans rely on,” Sanders said. “We should be working to strengthen the Postal Service,” he added, “not send it into a death spiral.”
The Postal Service already has closed 141 mail-processing plants since 2012. Now it wants to shutter as many as 82 more facilities. Unless Congress acts, the new round of cuts could affect thousands of workers in 37 states.
Sanders’ proposal was filed as an amendment to a bill pending in the full Senate. It was cosponsored by Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).
As the Postal Service adjusts to the Internet-era, fewer letters are being sent but decreases in mail volume because of e-mail have been offset by a major increase in package deliveries for customers who shop online.
In fact, from 2003 through 2006 the Postal Service made a combined profit of more than $9 billion. Increasing revenue would have resulted in nearly $1 billion in profits over the past two years except for an unprecedented requirement that the Postal Service sink billions of dollars into an already-flush fund for future retiree health benefits. The requirement was slipped into law at the request of President George W. Bush during a lame-duck session of Congress. “This onerous and unprecedented burden that costs $5.5 billion a year is responsible for all of the financial losses posted by the Postal Service since October 2012,” Sanders said.
Even within the Postal Service there have been reservations about the postmaster general’s proposed cuts. Postal Regulatory Commissioner Ruth Y. Goldway wrote that the latest round of consolidations “threatens the very integrity and concept of universal service – the Postal Service’s primary obligation under the law.”
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senators-stop-postal-service-cuts
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)And I'm glad to see a lot of Dems getting behind Bernie's proposal
moobu2
(4,822 posts)otherwise he won't get a chance.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)moobu2
(4,822 posts)of Hillary Clinton's positions on anything.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)Well, pin down is probably impossible, but at least get a moment-in-time answer.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Pin down? LOL It's interesting when you see some people choose rhetoric over honest answers.
Todays_Illusion
(1,209 posts)that is something we well never get from the current providers. I don't even bother to look at mine and when asked for email address I decline to provide.
