Postmaster general: Get used to 'uncomfortable' rate hikes

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Postmaster general: Get used to ‘uncomfortable’ rate hikes

May 5, 2022

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans should get used to “uncomfortable” postage rate increases in coming years as the U.S. Postal Service seeks to become self-sufficient, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Thursday.

The Postal Service Board of Governors sets postage rates, but DeJoy said he’ll advocate for raising prices until “we have accomplished our objective of projecting a trajectory that shows us being self-sustaining.”

“I believe we have been severely damaged by at least 10 years of a defective pricing model which cannot be satisfied by one or two annual price increases, especially in this inflationary environment,” he added.

DeJoy made the remarks at a Board of Governors meeting in which the Postal Service reported a loss of about $1.7 billion for the latest quarter.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-postal-service-louis-dejoy-e25eb77fe45a68797e264e92992d317e

[jimfields33]

1. I have 600 forever stamps that will literally take forever to use

I think most stocked up and have no worries.

[Igel]

6. That'll just cause the rate increases for others to be higher.

Went to a doctor's office, had no insurance, paid dearly.

"We lose money on Medicaid patients. Insured patients make up a bit of that. That would pay salaries and expenses, but not replace or upgrade equipment. We make up the rest by charging the uninsured more."

Think Venezuela. Companies were told they could charge prices that accounted for wages and expenses as of a certain date. A year later, broken equipment, increased raw materials expenses exceeded gross revenues. They tried to shut down, they were told to remain open--even after bankruptcy. Nobody won that, except the oligarchs (many military) that got possession of the physical plants, territories, etc. (No, we don't call them oligarchs. But, you know, a Rattus rattus by any other name is still, well, a rat, krys', raton, ratte ....)


I have a short-stack of "forever stamps." So I know that, ultimately, others are subsidizing me.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. They've raised prices for 10 years already

How can they keep losing money with all the rate increases and all the supposed efficiencies along the way? It makes no sense at all.

[royable]

3. I know what _I_ can get used to: DeJoy DeParted, or perhaps even DeFenestrated, DeFunct. n/t

[Enter stage left]

7. DeBalled?

[patphil]

4. One or two annual price increases isn't enough?!!

He'll keep raising prices until the Postal Service is dead. That's his real objective.

[AllaN01Bear]

5. i thought we were supposed to get rid of him

[Igel]

8. Very late '70s.

And early '80s.


Been there, done that.

[Frustratedlady]

9. Might have helped if he hadn't destroyed so many sorting machines.

Don't they have some kind of special deal with Amazon on shipping?

A loss of $1.7B with a B for the last quarter sounds fishy. I wouldn't trust anything he said, anyway.

[keithbvadu2]

10. Self-serving sycophant of Trump with a goal of sabotaging the PO for two reasons: his own gain and l

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142694437

DeJoy's new plan for USPS: Slower mail and higher prices, sources say

Self-serving sycophant of Trump with a goal of sabotaging the PO for two reasons: his own gain and loyalty to Trump.

Destroying mail sorting machines and going back to manual labor.

Surely there must be a cost-benefit analysis to make such a business decision. Let's see it. DeJoy

[Hekate]

11. The USPO was never supposed to be a profit-making entity. It was a public service that always paid...

… its own way. It was part of the infrastructure of which the US used to be so proud.

[Tarc]

12. Why does a gov't agency have to turn a profit?

It's not a 1.7 billion "loss", it is just the cost of operations.

Let's try this with defense; last year, they lost $715 billion.