Should we permit our post offices to go under?

[kentuck]

The US Post Office is an institution in America. But it is in serious danger of going under.

I think we should always save the base of our US Postal system. All post offices should stay open and be supported by our taxes that we pay. That should be our priority. Even if more and more carriers are laid off and retired, we shoudl try to keep the foundation of the US Postal Service intact, in my opinion.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/12/post-office-lost-billions-deep-cuts-congress_n_783070.html

[Mimosa]

1. Many no longer understand that the USPS is a 'service' not a profit making business.

The USPS was established as a government founded message and communication service. It was not meant to 'make money.'

[pnorman]

10. I had a "problem" with the USPS several months ago.

It was a bureaucratic fuck-up, that frankly should NOT have happened. I called the 800 number, and got through in a reasonable time and explained the situation. Shortly after, I got a phone call from the Seattle PO who apologized and told me it would be put to right. On inquiry, he identified himself as the head of the downtown Seattle Post Office. Otherwise my experiences with the PO for the past 30 years in Seattle have been universally POSITIVE.

As mentioned elsewhere on this thread, the postal system is in the US Constitution and is our right. DON'T let the wingnuts get away with bogus "privatization" schemes!

[GoCubsGo]

21. All large organizations have bureaucratic "fuck-ups"

Whether the wingnuts want to admit it or not, even their precious private corporations fuck up.
Take FedEx, for instance. My sister sent me a package last month. The on-line tracking site said it was delivered to my door. Except that it never showed up. And, my sister paid extra to have a signed confirmation, which they completely ignored. When I called the help line looking for my package, they were extra snotty about the situation, as if I was lying to them or something. Turns out they delivered it to the correct number, but the wrong street. I only know this, because the woman who received it was honest enough to drop the box off at my house hours after. Another example of how the private sector does things so much better than the government. :sarcasm:

I never had problems like this with USPS. I would never use FedEx unless I had no other alternatives.

[Blue_Tires]

17. +1

[Ozymanithrax]

2. The Postal Servcie is explicitly authorized by the U.S. Constitution.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 7
Section 8 - Powers of Congress

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
***Snip***
To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;

So we can assume that something will have to be done.

[sketchy]

23. It's the public option versus private options

The most economically tenuous Americans depend most heavily on the postal service. I believe there should be no voluntary relinquishment of days of service.

[jillan]

3. I think the post office should be closed on Wednesdays. Just that one day could make alot of

difference in their budget - all those employees that wouldn't have to work would save alot on payroll. Would it suck for the postal workers? Hard to say, alot of them are probably faced with the possibility of layoffs.

And having them closed on a Wed wouldn't be so bad as mail is usually lighter in the middle of the week. And they wouldn't have as much to catch up with as they would never be closed for more than one day at a time.

just my idea...

[PBS Poll-435]

5. J, that is not a bad idea. I hate that everything needs to be run as a business

General Welfare means a trusty postal system, transit system (especially in the NorthEast), and regular reporting by BLS, DoC, etc.


When will we demand a regularly reported profit/loss statement from the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Defense?




:grr:

[gateley]

11. That's a great idea! Do they have an e-mail equivalent of a suggestion box? nt

[Tunkamerica]

14. My postal worker skips a day or two a week already.

[ShadowLiberal]

15. The post office says Tuesday makes more sense, it's their least busy day

[Skink]

4. Is this going to effect netflix?

[PBS Poll-435]

6. Affect, not Effect

:shrug:

[glinda]

9. It might affect when your bill payments get to their destinations.

[Pisces]

19. Why, just send a day or two earlier. Most people now pay on through on line service.

The reason the post office is losing so much money is that people no longer send mail. Postal workers are delivering magazines, junk mail and catalogues.

Cutting 2 days like Tues. and Sat. should be considered. Making money is so out of the realm, we are now just talking about how to lose less.

[marlakay]

7. here is my thought

we need it for packages and snail mail cards since most bills are paid online now. we should get rid of all junk mail that costs trees, charge $1 per stamp since how many do we buy anyway and give some sort of discount to businesses...

I don't wait my rural part time mail lady to lose her job and i like mailing stuff to my kids and my mom likes real cards...

[patricia92243]

8. Not to go under, but to make pretty drastic changes to reflect today's needs. It doesn't need to

be a profit making machine, but should at least break even.

[Jakes Progress]

16. You mean break even like the police dept.

Or the fire dept. Maybe it could break even the way the military does. I know. Let's have it break even the way congress does.

It's a service. It can be improved, but starving it won't do that.

[sketchy]

24. +1

[Sirveri]

12. YES! it's an evil socialist plot designed to destroy our Randian America!

Do I need the :sarcasm: tag?

[jeanpalmer]

13. Ban junk mail

That's about 90% of my mail. Recycling it is costly too. Or make them pay the true cost. Postal service should mostly pay for itself.

[lynne]

18. Let Ford manage it a while -

- they survived without taking bail out money. Maybe they should give some hard lessons to the USPS.

[xxqqqzme]

20. Isn't the USPS required, by some

legislation, to keep an absurd amount of money in reserve? Which is the primary reason behind the nearly annual stamp price increases.

[GoCubsGo]

22. United States Constitution

Article I, Section 8, Clause 7, to be specific. A.K.A. "The Postal Clause".

[Milo_Bloom]

25. I support the postal service... BUT

I keep seeing the same mistake over and over and over and over again in this thread.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 does not establish the RIGHT to the postal service or an OBLIGATION of congress to support it.

It establishes the POWER of congress to collect tax dollars and use them to establish a postal service. They don't HAVE TO use the power, they simply have the RIGHT TO.

Saying Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 establishes an obligation is like saying the second amendment REQUIRES you to carry a gun.

So, the question is, should our tax dollars support this organization (which they currently DON'T) or should we let it fail and remove their codified monopoly on non-urgent mail? (ie, let UPS and Fedex and other companies put items in your mailbox).

For my .02, I think the postal service is well worth the tax dollars, although the business should be seriously modified to accommodate the changing times (ie, why aren't they running an e-mail and bill pay service that can also generate revenue with fairly small start up and maintenance costs???)