Posted on 02/09/2013 1:09:57 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Its the fault of the bitter clingers....again.
Haha, no, that’s not the answer. Why nothing mentioned about the bloated pension funds? (Someone had to bring it up in the comments section of that article; another commenter posted about heavily-discounted junk mail rates.)
The Constitution only “empowers Congress “To establish Post Offices and post Roads”. It does not say it must run the Post Office!
I am not sure how this would work. If you live in the country and want to mail a letter somewhere, how could you possibly know how much it would cost? Every letter would have to be taken to the post office to determine the cost.
The postal service would be making a profit if it hadn’t made big promises to the union. Had they paid normal private sector wages there would be no problem. Idiots like this writer should do something productive for a living.
If everyone used the post office to send each other first class letters instead of sending emails or text messages, the post office might even break even. My neighborhood letter carrier told me that about 85% of his mail volume is bulk rate junk mail. As he put it, “Without the junk mail I wouldn’t have a job”. And bulk mail rates are way lower than first class.
Time to just disband the post office. Person to person communications have moved on to other technologies. Want to send something physical? Then pay FedEx, UPS, or someone else to deliver it. Delivering “thoughts” via email is cheap. Delivering real tangible stuff isn’t.
I would support cutting delivery back to, at most, twice per week. Even one delivery per week wouldn’t really impact me, other than perhaps to make the occasional birthday card late depending on timing.
I worked for the Post Office for a few years. Every year management was given a bonus at Christmas. It didn’t matter if they were losing money or not.
Why would a business that’s losing money pay a bonus?
Sorry for shouting but it's clear that, without exception, private enterprise always beats a government-run entity. Look no further than public schools compared to private schools. Likewise, the artifice of the taxpayer-funded Postal Service stifles what would otherwise be a very efficient, cost-effective delivery system with the likes of FedEx and UPS going head-to-head in a free market to offer consumers real value.
No the biggest problem with the post office is that the older workers all OWN jobs and negotiate their work. Make everyone a regular employee, get rid of the union, and treat the temps right and there would be a big profit.
I wonder whether the current rate of 46¢ for the first ounce is too low. To deliver a one page letter to the next town, UPS quotes $11. To send it to NC costs $16.
“The trouble is called JUNK MAIL , raise it to first class postage and watch the profits go up. How many pounds of paper thrown away each year ,that is never read ?”
Profits go up? More likely the post office loses what little it currently makes from junk mail. Does anyone actually think that the junk mailers will pay first class postage rates? Most of these advertisers are probably already wondering if their current junk mail advertising campaign is actually generating enough business to justify the cost. Why would anyone think that the junk mail business is not sensitive to the cost of postage?
From my point of view, the post office should charge $10 postage for every advertising piece - especially the credit card applications! I’m opposed to chopping down trees to make paper to make junk mail to fill landfills. And I’m a conservative! We are currently using tax money to subsidize the junk mail industry.
The airlines did that a while back too. “Paying to fail” (i.e. management) is certainly not uncommon.
Thomas Jefferson feared that the postal service would become a source of patronage and a waste of money. Jefferson also expressed doubt at granting Congress the power to designate post roads, as he considered road building to be a state responsibility.
The real problem: the USPS board of directors (whatever called) refuses to set prices at viable rates.
I don’t understand why the post office needs to deliver to each residence address. Delivery to a neighborhood dropoff should suffice, with residents going there to pick up their mail. This can save a lot of money. If a dropoff point is within six to ten blocks, that is walkable. For those who argue on behalf of handicapped or others stuck in a residence, same rules apply as to how they obtain food and other goods via secondary help.
I also agree that the business model should change, charge more for expensive delivery destinations. And charge more for junk mail; I hate the stuff.
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