[Vision]

The USPS should be destroyed and the industry privatized.

[American Quilter]

The USPS should be destroyed and the industry privatized.

I agree.

[raccoonradio]

Send a first class letter 3,000 miles for 9 cents less than price of a typical daily newspaper. A two ounce letter
costs 8 cents more than that paper.

I work for the USPS and trust me, as much as it sounds
great, privatization would result in poor service. Given
the costs of gas (all our Jeeps, planes, etc.) and energy,
it’s amazing it only went up 2 cents. If this were some
socialistic country it’s cost you $2 to send that letter.

[RasterMaster]

Ditto...and the lazy-a$$ working in my post office should be the first to go!

[CSM]

Why does the USPS deliver mail 6 days a week? Would anyone mind if they lowered it to 5 days? That would be a 17% reduction in their labor cost right there.

[hawkeye101]

A few facts to defend the USPS:

1) The USPS does NOT receive tax revenue to operate; it operates only on postage revenue. When the USPS has an operating loss, it must be paid back with future profits it receives (and the USPS has had many years in the black in the last 20 years.

2) Fed-Ex delivers to 3 millions delivery points a day worldwide, UPS delivers to 7 millions delivery points a day world wide. The USPS delivers to 144 million delivery points every day in just the United States alone.

3) The USPS handles 17 million change of address requests every year. It is a service the USPS is not mandated to perform, but it does every year, and is an unbelievably complex and time consuming area to maintain. Some people move over 6 times in one year, and the Postal Service tries its best to accommodate every move.

4) The USPS has the largest percentage of military veterans of any employer in the country. Thousands of postal employees are currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. There have even been veterans returning to work at the USPS even after losing limbs in Iraq, and I myself am damn proud of these brave soldiers who have returned to what they love to do!

5) With 800,000 employees, it is naive to lump all postal employees as being lazy freeloaders, union thugs, bureaucratic pencil-pushers, violent lunatics, and uncaring government employees. There are some incredible people moving, processing, and delivering the mail 24/7; they far outweigh the few who unfortunately tarnish the USPS, but this also occurs in other government agencies, private businesses, and charitable and religious organizations as well.