Can private enterprise not deliver mail (or whatever else)?????
Why do we still have this anachronism?

Hey Mr. Postman, check and see...

We just learned that the U.S. Post Office wants a postage stamp increase to 55 cents. It is a big increase, according to news reports:

The U.S. Postal Service wants to up the price of its first-class stamp in its ongoing battle against declining revenue.

The agency announced Wednesday it's looking to raise the cost of its first-class mail Forever stamp from 50 cents to 55 cents, among other price changes.

If the proposed increase is approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission, it will be the biggest since 1991. The new numbers have already been approved by the Governors of the Postal Service.

Wow – 1991? I remember standing in line in 1993 and paying 29 cents to get the new Elvis first class stamp. In fact, I used the Elvis stamp for overseas letters (2 per envelope) for friends who wanted to see it. It was apparently the talk of the world back then.

So I asked a couple of people about the increase, and the answers were interesting:

"I don't mail letters anymore," said the guy next door when I walked out to get the paper this morning. "I just get bills and political ads in my mailbox."

A few hours later, my favorite doughnut shop-owner said it's cheaper to make a phone call than to mail a postcard.

My mother said on the phone: "¡Diós mío [my God]! I remember when it was like 4 cents when we came here from Cuba."

The Post Office will probably get its increase, but most Americans will probably write fewer letters and complain more about all the unsolicited stuff in their box.

Maybe it will occur to someone to privatize the service and stick to registered letters. Who knows? Paying 55 cents is not going to get a lot of people to buy postage, no matter what rocker or athlete is on the stamp image.

Read more: https://www.americanthinker.co...e.html#ixzz5TjoEhhPI

I'm not sure if it's good or bad buisness, but at least they had the good sense to not carve out an exception for Amazon. That's probably where a huge part of their volume lies.

http://www.marketwatch.com/sto...to-effect-2018-10-12

With Bill Pay, I have not bought stamps in a long time.

I buy about 1 roll of stamps a year, so I don't really worry about the cost.

But the Post Office is a business - heavily regulated but still run as a business outside the government. It should charge whatever it needs to charge to make its business work. The market will then sort it out.

quote:

the Post Office is a business - heavily regulated but still run as a business outside the government.

If it's outside government, why do the employees get expensive government pensions?
If it's a business, it ought to have no problem with competition and it ought to have no legal 'monopoly' on 1st class mail.
If it's a business, there ought to be no taxpayer funds involved.

It really ought to be privatized. It's an anachronism from a bygone era.

I use my bank's bill pay or the internet to pay for almost everything, so a roll of stamps will last me for maybe two years.

It's a government agency, so there's no doubt in my mind that it could be run more efficiently if it was in the hands of private industry, but to put it in perspective: somebody will come to my house here in PA & pick up a birthday card for my sister living in WA, then deliver it to her door in two or three days, all for 50-55 cents.

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but when I look at it that way I consider that a bargain.

Chellim, you might to fact check your facts.

Expensive government pension? Employees pay into that. An employee with 40yrs (FORTY) years of service with survivor benefits will get ~$800 a month. I believe the minimum retirement age for full benefits is 67y/o. Pension, Social Security (if it even exists by then), and the employees TSP (401K) contributions.

The monopoly is mandated by law for safety concerns. They have tried contracting mail delivery, and it was a complete failure. The USPS is in the constitution to provide daily door to door mail service to every citizen in the country. There is a reason FedEx, UPS, Amazon, etc, don't want to touch this. It is not profitable, except in highly populated urban areas.

The USPS is not funded by any tax payer dollars. The main reason the USPS is having financial trouble is a Congress mandated law that they must prefund 75 years worth of employee health benefits over a 10 year span, at the cost of about $5.5-$5.8 billion per year. It is the only government agency that is required to do this.

The USPS needs to focus more on providing a service, rather than being a business.

Hell, I can't even get my mailman to deliver mail when it's raining.

Everything gets marked "Delivery location not accessible" in USPS tracking, and then withheld until the next nice day.

Why would I be willing to pay even more for shitty service?

I still pay my bills the old fashion way(I am old). In fact, I paid two bills this morning, and placed stamps on the envelopes. I usually can get by with a roll of 100 stamps/year. sometimes I need a few more stamps if I send out a lot of Birthday and Christmas cards. I don't like it when anything costs more than it used to, but I have no control over it, and it is the only game in town.

Rogue,

That's exactly my point. They try to meet arbitrary, and impossible numbers. Don't properly staff offices, cover routes, or start carriers at 9am, forcing them to work well into the dark.

There are a lot of ways the USPS could cut costs, and still provide a productive and viable SERVICE.

Not all USPS employees are bad employees. Just like in the military, there is the nasty 10%. Every business will have this.

It needs to be a service industry. You go to a restaurant with great food, but poor service, will you go back?

I try to give my customers great service. Check on my vets, elderly and/or disabled daily. I even learned some very brief sign language to communicate with one of my customers. And then there was the baseball bat incident...

For the once or twice a year I actually have to mail my income and property taxes in, I couldn't care less.

What they ought to do balance the budget on the backs of the junk mail advertisers.

Per the NY Times, in 2012 junk mail made up 48% of the mail.

The rate they pay does not, in my opinion, account for all the time and effort the USPS puts into collating and delivering all that crap.

quote:

Originally posted by ASKSmith:
Chellim, you might to fact check your facts.

The USPS is in the constitution to provide daily door to door mail service to every citizen in the country.

Not exactly.
The Post office is mentioned in the Constitution. It is an Article I or legislative power.

Article. I.
Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power To....
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

So, yes, it is the prerogative of Congress to establish Post Offices ~ but it is certainly NOT a requirement. The Congress also has the power to dis-establish Post Offices.

You may disagree, but I don't see it as a necessary function of government, in the modern era. Once upon a time, letters were the way people communicated. But it's just not necessary anymore. Sure, I realize that sending a birthday card or a 1st class letter would probably cost more if there wasn't a USPS... but I could handle that. We have simply found other ways to communicate with people.

quote:

Originally posted by Ironbutt:

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but when I look at it that way I consider that a bargain.

You're not alone.

quote:

Originally posted by Jager:

quote:

Originally posted by Ironbutt:

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but when I look at it that way I consider that a bargain.

You're not alone.

Yes. Despite the fact that price has gone up ten-fold since my childhood, and the fact that the delivery service has become noticeably poorer, I would grudgingly admit it's still a pretty good deal.

Cost of a 1/2 oz. letter in 1861...

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

the Post Office is a business - heavily regulated but still run as a business outside the government.

If it's outside government, why do the employees get expensive government pensions?
If it's a business, it ought to have no problem with competition and it ought to have no legal 'monopoly' on 1st class mail.
If it's a business, there ought to be no taxpayer funds involved.

It really ought to be privatized. It's an anachronism from a bygone era.

I agree with many points EXCEPT. It has to have a monopoly just like the electric company does. If it was up to private countries, people out in the sticks would get mail weekly instead of daily, if not at all. No private company would take the areas that have 1 mailbox every mile.

I still mail things, yes the stamp price keeps going up, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper to send a letter first class mail than it is with the cheapest way to send a letter via UPS and Fedex.

I think the last time we bought stamps was for our wedding invitations 10 years ago.

The rate increases that piss me off are the ever-rising price of the flat rate boxes. doesn't get the attention of the little ol' stamp, but it's always climbing.

I think it's still a bargain and Fed-ex, UPS and DHL think so too. They drop off pallets of boxes they don't want to deliver at our post office- when getting paid more than stamp rates to deliver.
I've always thought what would happen if USPS said no to this practice.

They lose millions every year. The money has to come from somewhere to make up the loss. All of these small post offices around the country should be self supporting. If not close the doors. That's the way a business operates.

I only pay 3 bills by check so I don't use many stamps.