Battered by the terrorist attacks and slipping business, the post office appears on the verge of getting some help: permission to raise rates. The independent Postal Rate Commission is scheduled to announce a decision Friday on a proposal including an increase in first-class rates by 3 cents to 37 cents. The new rates, which would affect just about every class of mail, could take effect as soon as the end of June. The Postal Service suffered a $1.68 billion loss last year and was anticipating a deficit of $1.35 billion even before the anthrax mailings and terror attacks forced it...