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Deliberately sabotaging the Postal Service

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Re: Deliberately sabotaging the Postal Service
Post by n7axw   » Fri Aug 21, 2020 5:54 pm

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Senior Chief wrote:1st class postage in the USA is 55 cents. First class postage supports all the junk mail spam that everyone received.. Junk mail cost the sender less than a letter. If all junk mail paid the same amount as 1st class postage perhaps the post office would not be running above budget...

How many people actually sit down and write a letter, place in an envelope, place a stamp on it and mail it. With the advent of tech, social media, smart phones, very few people mail letters. Corporations are doing away from sending out invoices/bills and fewer people are mailing in their payments. It is done by directly debiting bank accounts or credit cards. The post office is a bankrupt business model where most of the overhead is in employee expenses, facilities, and equipment that cost more than the revenue of postage.

I have always thought that the post office should be done aways with and given to corporations to run. The USPS should only be used for government mail.

Sell off the building and vehicles to some private business and let them handle the rest of the mail/packages.

I have family members that are current and retired employees of the post office so I hear how badly things are run.

Just MHO for what it is worth so flame on as people usually do...


I wonder... can this be squared with the constitutional requirement that there be a post office? I still receive my bills by mail and mail out checks. My pension and SS are direct deposit.

If one were to privatize the postal system, it would have to be done in a way that built some competition into it.

Don

-
When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.
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Re: Deliberately sabotaging the Postal Service
Post by Joat42   » Fri Aug 21, 2020 6:20 pm

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Senior Chief wrote:1st class postage in the USA is 55 cents. First class postage supports all the junk mail spam that everyone received.. Junk mail cost the sender less than a letter. If all junk mail paid the same amount as 1st class postage perhaps the post office would not be running above budget...

How many people actually sit down and write a letter, place in an envelope, place a stamp on it and mail it. With the advent of tech, social media, smart phones, very few people mail letters. Corporations are doing away from sending out invoices/bills and fewer people are mailing in their payments. It is done by directly debiting bank accounts or credit cards. The post office is a bankrupt business model where most of the overhead is in employee expenses, facilities, and equipment that cost more than the revenue of postage.

I have always thought that the post office should be done aways with and given to corporations to run. The USPS should only be used for government mail.

Sell off the building and vehicles to some private business and let them handle the rest of the mail/packages.

I have family members that are current and retired employees of the post office so I hear how badly things are run.

Just MHO for what it is worth so flame on as people usually do...

Your statement that the "USPS is running above budget" means you don't understand what's going on.

That the USPS seems to be running at a loss is entirely due to PAEA (Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006). It's a law that says that the USPS is required to pre-fund all of the health and retirement benefits of it's retirees up to the year 2056. In essence, the USPS had to pony up ~$55 billion dollars in advance to fund that.

That makes the USPS unique among both private and public entities in it's obligations which is reflected in it's financial woes.

---
Jack of all trades and destructive tinkerer.


Anyone who have simple solutions for complex problems is a fool.
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Re: Deliberately sabotaging the Postal Service
Post by Daryl   » Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:16 pm

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Our postal service has been a hybrid for some years now. A QANGO (quasi autonomous government agency) central distribution agency allied to franchised post offices that act as banks and shops, plus some directly owned ones.
They compete with private courier firms for the online shopping parcel trade and seem to be surviving.
A point I'd like to make is that government services shouldn't be judged like commercial businesses. They may not make a direct profit, but their overall role in the economy is still beneficial.
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Re: Deliberately sabotaging the Postal Service
Post by cthia   » Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:30 pm

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Senior Chief wrote:1st class postage in the USA is 55 cents. First class postage supports all the junk mail spam that everyone received.. Junk mail cost the sender less than a letter. If all junk mail paid the same amount as 1st class postage perhaps the post office would not be running above budget...

How many people actually sit down and write a letter, place in an envelope, place a stamp on it and mail it. With the advent of tech, social media, smart phones, very few people mail letters. Corporations are doing away from sending out invoices/bills and fewer people are mailing in their payments. It is done by directly debiting bank accounts or credit cards. The post office is a bankrupt business model where most of the overhead is in employee expenses, facilities, and equipment that cost more than the revenue of postage.

I have always thought that the post office should be done aways with and given to corporations to run. The USPS should only be used for government mail.

Sell off the building and vehicles to some private business and let them handle the rest of the mail/packages.

I have family members that are current and retired employees of the post office so I hear how badly things are run.

Just MHO for what it is worth so flame on as people usually do...

I remember when it was a nickel. Then one day I went into the Post Office and I thought I was being robbed. Email spoiled me rotten. If you want an entire book of stamps. Sell your car, and throw in the Blaupunkt stereo.

Son, your mother says I have to hang you. Personally I don't think this is a capital offense. But if I don't hang you, she's gonna hang me and frankly, I'm not the one in trouble. —cthia's father. Incident in ? Axiom of Common Sense
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Re: Deliberately sabotaging the Postal Service
Post by n7axw   » Sat Aug 22, 2020 10:01 am

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cthia wrote:
Senior Chief wrote:1st class postage in the USA is 55 cents. First class postage supports all the junk mail spam that everyone received.. Junk mail cost the sender less than a letter. If all junk mail paid the same amount as 1st class postage perhaps the post office would not be running above budget...

How many people actually sit down and write a letter, place in an envelope, place a stamp on it and mail it. With the advent of tech, social media, smart phones, very few people mail letters. Corporations are doing away from sending out invoices/bills and fewer people are mailing in their payments. It is done by directly debiting bank accounts or credit cards. The post office is a bankrupt business model where most of the overhead is in employee expenses, facilities, and equipment that cost more than the revenue of postage.

I have always thought that the post office should be done aways with and given to corporations to run. The USPS should only be used for government mail.

Sell off the building and vehicles to some private business and let them handle the rest of the mail/packages.

I have family members that are current and retired employees of the post office so I hear how badly things are run.

Just MHO for what it is worth so flame on as people usually do...

I remember when it was a nickel. Then one day I went into the Post Office and I thought I was being robbed. Email spoiled me rotten. If you want an entire book of stamps. Sell your car, and throw in the Blaupunkt stereo.


A roll of stamps is at least worth a nice steak dinner for two these days..,

Don

-
When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.
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Re: Deliberately sabotaging the Postal Service
Post by Senior Chief   » Sat Aug 22, 2020 12:31 pm

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Joat42 wrote:
Senior Chief wrote:1st class postage in the USA is 55 cents. First class postage supports all the junk mail spam that everyone received.. Junk mail cost the sender less than a letter. If all junk mail paid the same amount as 1st class postage perhaps the post office would not be running above budget...

How many people actually sit down and write a letter, place in an envelope, place a stamp on it and mail it. With the advent of tech, social media, smart phones, very few people mail letters. Corporations are doing away from sending out invoices/bills and fewer people are mailing in their payments. It is done by directly debiting bank accounts or credit cards. The post office is a bankrupt business model where most of the overhead is in employee expenses, facilities, and equipment that cost more than the revenue of postage.

I have always thought that the post office should be done aways with and given to corporations to run. The USPS should only be used for government mail.

Sell off the building and vehicles to some private business and let them handle the rest of the mail/packages.

I have family members that are current and retired employees of the post office so I hear how badly things are run.

Just MHO for what it is worth so flame on as people usually do...

Your statement that the "USPS is running above budget" means you don't understand what's going on.

That the USPS seems to be running at a loss is entirely due to PAEA (Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006). It's a law that says that the USPS is required to pre-fund all of the health and retirement benefits of it's retirees up to the year 2056. In essence, the USPS had to pony up ~$55 billion dollars in advance to fund that.

That makes the USPS unique among both private and public entities in it's obligations which is reflected in it's financial woes.


Meant to say running at a loss.... mismanaged for years like the cities of Detroit, Baltimore, etc, etc.
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Re: Deliberately sabotaging the Postal Service
Post by noblehunter   » Sat Aug 22, 2020 1:36 pm

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Senior Chief wrote:Meant to say running at a loss.... mismanaged for years like the cities of Detroit, Baltimore, etc, etc.


Hard to run an organization properly when every bit of capital is sucked away by a ridiculous pre-funding requirement.
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Re: Deliberately sabotaging the Postal Service
Post by gcomeau   » Sat Aug 22, 2020 4:28 pm

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Senior Chief wrote:
Joat42 wrote:Your statement that the "USPS is running above budget" means you don't understand what's going on.

That the USPS seems to be running at a loss is entirely due to PAEA (Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006). It's a law that says that the USPS is required to pre-fund all of the health and retirement benefits of it's retirees up to the year 2056. In essence, the USPS had to pony up ~$55 billion dollars in advance to fund that.

That makes the USPS unique among both private and public entities in it's obligations which is reflected in it's financial woes.




Meant to say running at a loss.... mismanaged for years like the cities of Detroit, Baltimore, etc, etc.


And as was just explained to you in the very post you are responding to, it's actually just being financially sabotaged by ridiculous pension pre-funding requirements that are applied to no other government or private business entity. The GOP has been trying to kill the post office for decades.

Without that requirement they would be operating close to break even levels, which is what they're supposed to do as a service not a business.
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Re: Deliberately sabotaging the Postal Service
Post by Joat42   » Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:17 pm

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gcomeau wrote:The GOP has been trying to kill the post office for decades.

The interesting thing about PAEA is that it was a bi-partisan effort so it can't really be blamed on the GOP. But neglecting to talk about how the PAEA have negatively affected the USPS all the while attacking it can be blamed on the GOP.

---
Jack of all trades and destructive tinkerer.


Anyone who have simple solutions for complex problems is a fool.
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Re: Deliberately sabotaging the Postal Service
Post by gcomeau   » Sun Aug 23, 2020 12:55 am

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Joat42 wrote:
gcomeau wrote:The GOP has been trying to kill the post office for decades.

The interesting thing about PAEA is that it was a bi-partisan effort so it can't really be blamed on the GOP. But neglecting to talk about how the PAEA have negatively affected the USPS all the while attacking it can be blamed on the GOP.


The original PAWA was a bipartisan effort but did not include the pension pre-funding requirement.

Bush threatened to veto it if that requirement wasn't included so it got tacked on at the end.

https://roanoke.com/news/local/casey-th ... f48f4.html
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