Posted on 08/05/2010 9:41:55 AM PDT by Zakeet
The U.S. Postal Service reported a $3.5 billion loss in its most recent quarter Thursday, as mail volume plummets and retiree health care costs mount.
The USPS, a self-supporting government agency that receives no tax dollars, said operating revenue declined 1.8% to $16 billion during the fiscal 2010 third quarter compared to a year earlier, while operating expenses spiked 4.2% to $19.5 billion.
The quarterly loss was the fourteenth in the last sixteen quarters, the postal service said.
"A significant portion of USPS losses in the past few years has been due to an unprecedented decline in mail volume -- down more than 20% since 2007," the USPS said in a statement. "The replacement of letter mail and business-transaction mail by electronic alternatives continues to cause downward pressure on mail volume."
"Securing the fiscal stability of the Postal Service will require continued efforts in all of these areas, as well as further review of retiree health benefit prefunding," said postmaster general John Potter.
"It also will require that the Postal Service gain flexibility within the law to move toward five-day delivery, to adjust our network as needed, to develop new products the market demands, and to work with our unions to meet the challenges ahead," he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
No, sorry. There is still a government monopoly on mail delivery.
Remember, FedEx and UPS *CANNOT* open your mailbox to stick a package or overnight-delivery envelope inside. It is ILLEGAL. They cannot even stick it in a mail slot in your front door.
That looks an awful lot like a monopoly to me.
If it's not a letter the government does not assert sole authority.
The privacy of a mail receptacle is yet another issue ~ has nothing to do with what is usually termed "the monopoly on letters".
Let's say you have curbside delivery. You want to receive other stuff from other sources so all you have to do is put out another box.
The Postal Service has been required to be self supporting since Nixon reorganized the Post Office during his administration.
I love going to the local post offices now. The hostile do-nothing jerkoffs have finally retired (probably took jobs in the Obama administration) and long lines are practically a thing of the past. The postal employee unions need to take Al Gore at his word as inventor of the internet and blame him for this downward spiral.
And is that what the US DOD is doing? Raiding neighbors to bring home the bacon? If we did, would you "approve" of the expenditure?
I've heard that before, and I've always wondered then how come UPS and Fedex (and DHL, if it's international) can send business correspondence. I use them all the time for a few sheets of paper, usually contracts or business forms.
Does the Government not care as long as I'm paying more for the same service?
Is there something wrong with looting and raiding, particularly if we can have some of the finer things in life AND have someone else pay for our military needs?
San Bernardino County is helping by trying to get everyone to get their property tax bills by e-mail.
I signed up last week.
I pay everyone of my bills by e-check except one, screw the mail!
I bought 100 forever stamps a year ago and I still have over three quarters of them left.
There are several ways this can happen ~ (1) Under an exception authorized by the Postmaster General, and that’s been done, or (2) A company sends its own stuff to itself ~ e.g. airliner carries a bill of lading on the cargo, trucker carries documents of all sorts from origin to destination, including some required by USPS, or (3) it’s a check ~ passed from company to company, person to company, company to person. Or, it gets passed on to a bank. Those checks are letters (within the meaning of the law) but there’s a statutory exception granted to them for passage outside the mail.
If I have a nice big rotary receptacle on the outside of my building (like a bank does), why should the Post Office be granted exclusive use of it?
It is a monopoly on delivery to your mailbox. Period.
It has nothing to do with letter or package. No other carrier besides the post office is allowed to use your mailbox, period.
That’s why FedEx/UPS/DHL can’t just slide that little overnight envelope into the mail slot in your door, but instead must leave you a note and force you to come get it. Or have to leave it in an unsecured location. It’s because the Post Office has a federally mandated monopoly on:
1. Your mailbox.
2. First-class mail. No mention of package vs. envelope - it’s all first-class mail.
Again, regarding the mailboxes, the only junk I want in my mailbox has to be delivered by USPS. I don't want you messing with it ya' heayah?
Really? So, what you’re saying is that that giant rotary drum is going to be clogged with ‘stuff’ all the time and therefore letter carriers can’t be bothered to check it?
Oh, wait, that’s what happens to those drums at the post office, because half the people who are supposed to be working are on break, and the other half can’t be arsed to deal with it.
Banks, however, don’t seem to have a problem with it. Neither do most other places that use them.
Are you talking about the night deposit?
Keep in mind the USPS has a LEGAL monopoly on all first class mail letters.
It is also required for certain legal notices.
One item that ended everything was when the federal courts went all email for notices.
Actually, the US defense budget has a very high return on investment. Take the difference between the GDP of the US and the former Soviet Union (the real Soviet Union GDP, not the fraudulent numbers bandied about) and divide by the US defense budget. This yields a very high rate of return. The Soviet Union would have conquered us if they had the chance, prevented only by armed strength, and we would have had the same dismal economic system they did.
As an example of the device, yes.
I have never seen a rotary drum type intake system get jammed with ‘stuff’ anywhere but charitable donation sites and the post office.
“The USPS did not start in 1973,”
Your facts are off. The Postal Service began in 1970. It was organized out of the old Post Office, which had been tax subsidized. In contrast to the Post Office the USPS is required to be self supporting from postage sales. The goal of the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act was to remove the mail service from the budget and make it self supporting.
“How do they plan on paying for the $3.5 billion shortfall this year?”
The USPS covers short term deficits by borrowing money through another government agency.
Many of those people are downright dangerous.
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