The US Postal Service needs a bailout?
- Thread starter ruxCYtable
- Start date
Depends what conditions you put on them for it. If they were given free reign to set pricing and schedules, possibly.
I really dislike this mentality and it is becoming more and more popular. The federal government has many things it could do better, but it also provides a lot to the people and does quite a few things pretty well. How many people on this board have college degrees from (or are attending) a land grant university. How many people in the last 45 years have been able to legitimately purchase a house because of fannie mae. How much federal research has helped our lives (fax machines, computers, cel phones, the inernet, tang, etc). Establishing and upholding legal standards to ensure fairness in business and equity in voting and employment. Providing medical coverage for the old and poor who otherwise couldn't afford it. Providing a safetynet for the elderly to retire when they are unable to work any longer. Providing a secure place to live free of mass violence. The list of things the federal government provides to the people of this country is tremendous and personally I'm grateful to be a citizen of the USA and fully support our government.
Could the federal government do better, absolutely. Does Social Security need to be fixed, yes! Do we need to fix lobbying and insider deals at the federal level, yes! But that doesn't mean everything is a train wreak. I write a letter to my congressmen nearly every week and I volunteer in campaigns nearly every election cycle. I donate and ask my company to donate to campaigns. I propose changes that I think will help, but I also understand that not everything is going to be perfect and I have to take some bad with a lot of good. If you think the federal government is a train wreck, what are you doing about it? Hopefully you're doing more than posting on a sports message board.
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Cutting Saturday service is obviously a no brainer, but I think they need to dig deeper into the problem and look at closing post offices, and how they negotiate wages and benefits.
What am I doing about it? Voting for the people who are in favor of the smallest government possible.
Yes, the government has done some decent things but very few of those things couldn't have been done as good or better in the private sector. There are exceptions to this rule like military, food safety, etc.
As far as things like medicare and social security, I would like to have the money that they have taken from me and save myself.
I'm also grateful to be a U.S. citizen but I would have been just as proud 100 years ago when most of these programs didn't exist.
How many people have massive amounts of debt because the free availability of credit has allowed tuition prices to skyrocket without natural market factors keeping them in check?
And how many got into loans they shouldntve, thanks to the backing of fannie mae, hurting everyone else when their loans fell apart?
How much of this could have been done privately or on the state level? How much was done in cooperation with private industry? How much of it was done by the dept of defense, one of the few areas our federal govt is actually supposed to be involved in?
One of the few functions of government, that the federal govt is actually supposed to be involved in, but even then it doesnt do a great job at pulling it off. How many dead people are on voter rolls?
where does the constitution guarantee this? why should this not be done at the state level instead, if the people in the state wish? what is your annual contribution to SSI really getting you, compared to an equal contribution to a retirement fund and disability\retirement insurance.
Southern border... secure? About that.
The fact is, a lot of stuff the federal government has gotten involved in it either shouldnt be involved in, or it would be better handled at the state level. The ever increasing grab of power from the states to the federal level is what has caused both the extreme divide in this country (things work a lot better when people can just live how they want to at the state or better yet local level, not having it forced down their throats by people from another part of the country governing in washington). The founders recognized this, and set the government up with little power, but slowly but surely those safeguards have been eroded through the actions of congress and the courts.
Just did some shredding and realize I don't open 25%-35% of my mail. They should definitely charge more for junk mail but I don't know how they do it. Eliminating Saturdays seem like a no brainer.
I couldn't help but think of this when reading through this thread.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hox-ni8geIw&feature=related]YouTube - I'd like to cancel my mail[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nKlzQo3Wqo&feature=related]YouTube - Do you like golf, Mr. Kramer?[/ame]
I couldn't help but think of this when reading through this thread.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hox-ni8geIw&feature=related]YouTube - I'd like to cancel my mail[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nKlzQo3Wqo&feature=related]YouTube - Do you like golf, Mr. Kramer?[/ame]
Why do people believe that eliminating services (Saturday delivery) will cause us to use the USPS more? If Hy-Vee started losing money would they say they should close stores on Saturday? I suspect that wouldn't even hit their top 10 list of solutions.
If McDonalds wasn't selling enough Big Macs do you suppose they'd say they should raise prices $.25? That should encourage people to buy more. Only the USPS thinks raising prices while offering fewer services is a sustainable business model.
Instead, they should embrace the internet rather than let it ruin them. Why does it cost the same to send a letter three blocks or 3000 miles? (I know the answer, I'm being rhetorical). They could embrace a dynamic pricing model. Sending a letter across town, $0.20. Sending a letter across country; $1.50. Simply type the ZIP code into the USPS's webpage and it will tell you the pricing. They could even set it up so you could enter your credit card number and print stamps at home. If you aren't internet savvy, it could remain business as usual.
They tried the zip+four model a few years ago to gain some efficiency, but it never went anywhere because there was no incentive to use it. They should say, if you use the zip+four on your letter, you can knock $0.10 (or some such number) off your stamp price. That would get some people to use it.
I'm sure the guys at FedEx who deal with package delivery every day have lots of ideas on how to make this turn a profit. Instead, the USPS will stick to the business-unfriendly "solutions" that haven't gone anywhere since 1970.
Besides, thinking of my bailout going to support the lazy, smarmy cretin who sits in the Post Office window gleefully sipping his coffee while we wait 8-deep in line may cause ME to go postal.
If McDonalds wasn't selling enough Big Macs do you suppose they'd say they should raise prices $.25? That should encourage people to buy more. Only the USPS thinks raising prices while offering fewer services is a sustainable business model.
Instead, they should embrace the internet rather than let it ruin them. Why does it cost the same to send a letter three blocks or 3000 miles? (I know the answer, I'm being rhetorical). They could embrace a dynamic pricing model. Sending a letter across town, $0.20. Sending a letter across country; $1.50. Simply type the ZIP code into the USPS's webpage and it will tell you the pricing. They could even set it up so you could enter your credit card number and print stamps at home. If you aren't internet savvy, it could remain business as usual.
They tried the zip+four model a few years ago to gain some efficiency, but it never went anywhere because there was no incentive to use it. They should say, if you use the zip+four on your letter, you can knock $0.10 (or some such number) off your stamp price. That would get some people to use it.
I'm sure the guys at FedEx who deal with package delivery every day have lots of ideas on how to make this turn a profit. Instead, the USPS will stick to the business-unfriendly "solutions" that haven't gone anywhere since 1970.
Besides, thinking of my bailout going to support the lazy, smarmy cretin who sits in the Post Office window gleefully sipping his coffee while we wait 8-deep in line may cause ME to go postal.
There is definitely a part of USPSs problems that stems from a poor level of service. Its tracking, in particular, is absolutely horrid. Oftentimes packages dont even show up in the system until after theyve delivered, vs UPS\Fedex they pop up fairly quickly.
The USPS is one of the few activities that the federal government engages in that is actually within it's mandate. I'd have to guess, from your post, that you are referring to many which are not. Personally, I'm campaigning for Ron Paul this year, as well as saturating the internets with my vociferous yet respectful support for small government.
Ummm...What are you talking about? It would not require any regulation whatsoever. It would mean the pharmacy choosing UPS or Fedex as the shipper, rather than USPS. Like millions of people do each day.
I despise the postal service because of some of the crap they have pulled with me. Here's a few highlights.
During my last two years in Ames, the USPS lost or destroyed at least a half dozen packages I ordered, most of them being textbooks ordered through Half.com. By far the best incident was when I had a package stolen from in front of my apartment door. I had ordered an expensive Kelty pack through ****'s Sporting Goods. I kept checking the tracking number online to get a sense of when it would be delivered. Back then their godawful tracking updates were so poor and infrequent that they were nearly useless. After two days of seeing the same vague message that seemed to suggest my package might have been delivered, I decided to go to the main branch of the Post Office to get some answers.
I walk up to the window, with a printout of my tracking number from the USPS website, and I kid you not - the person behind the window asked "Whose tracking number is this?" It was a train-wreck in slow motion from there on out.
To make a long story short, they told me that the mail carrier had left the package in front of my door while I was in class, and that one of my neighbors had probably stolen it. They then proceeded to tell me that it was my fault the package had been stolen, and they weren't going to do anything about it. Really, what kind of asshat thinks it's a good idea to leave a package in the hallway of an apartment building full of drunk college students?
A separate incident - when I was living in Fort Collins, CO, I had to go to the Old Town post office to pick up a package that they told me had been damaged in the mail. After waiting the standard hour and a half, the person behind the counter handed me the package (why they couldn't just put it in one of the package lockers at my apartment complex instead of making me come pick it up is something I will probably never understand) and proceeded to tell me, the recipient, that I should "package it better next time."
During my last two years in Ames, the USPS lost or destroyed at least a half dozen packages I ordered, most of them being textbooks ordered through Half.com. By far the best incident was when I had a package stolen from in front of my apartment door. I had ordered an expensive Kelty pack through ****'s Sporting Goods. I kept checking the tracking number online to get a sense of when it would be delivered. Back then their godawful tracking updates were so poor and infrequent that they were nearly useless. After two days of seeing the same vague message that seemed to suggest my package might have been delivered, I decided to go to the main branch of the Post Office to get some answers.
I walk up to the window, with a printout of my tracking number from the USPS website, and I kid you not - the person behind the window asked "Whose tracking number is this?" It was a train-wreck in slow motion from there on out.
To make a long story short, they told me that the mail carrier had left the package in front of my door while I was in class, and that one of my neighbors had probably stolen it. They then proceeded to tell me that it was my fault the package had been stolen, and they weren't going to do anything about it. Really, what kind of asshat thinks it's a good idea to leave a package in the hallway of an apartment building full of drunk college students?
A separate incident - when I was living in Fort Collins, CO, I had to go to the Old Town post office to pick up a package that they told me had been damaged in the mail. After waiting the standard hour and a half, the person behind the counter handed me the package (why they couldn't just put it in one of the package lockers at my apartment complex instead of making me come pick it up is something I will probably never understand) and proceeded to tell me, the recipient, that I should "package it better next time."
I had one do worse, in ames as well... we had a community bank of mailboxes with a few package boxes. The carrier apparently just left my books on top of the mailboxes, not even within sight of my door, and someone walked off with them.
Thankfully the place i ordered from sent a replacement.
Another time i ordered a set of dvds of a tv show, that they said they delivered, but i never received. Another copy was sent by the shipper. A few weeks later, after ive already opened and watched those dvds.. the original set shows up on my doorstep, already opened. Someone had taken them, watched them, and decided to return them to me.
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It's not just the mail either. UPS and FedEx sometimes will leave things in a public area and well, if they get stolen, that's just par for the course. This happened to me recently, but thankfully FedEx worked it out with the shipper and I got another shipment, this time left in a more secure location (which it should have been to in the first place).
Yeah, UPS does that to me all the time, but most packages I receive are small and the driver is smart enough to stick them inside my screen door.
With this particular incident, I was more angered by the fact that they told me it was my fault the package was stolen.
How about they just give up and leave it to UPS and Federal Express? The failure of the US Postal Service is only an example of our Government's incompetency. I won't be happy until the Federal Reserve is burnt to the ground.
I think some form of government postal service is vital to the Republic - whether it makes money or not. Our military costs billions but is vital to our way of life. So is the USPS.
It's not political (small gov't vs. big). It is a responsible service of the Federal Government that should not perish due to political crap.
That said, we cannot support a system that loses that much money.
That said;
- Eliminate Saturday delivery.
- Raise First class rates by a nickel or dime at a time when needed, no 2 cent or 3 cent raises any more.
- Make Wednesday "Package Day" where all packages that normally would be delivered on Mon-Weds are delivered. Move Wednesday mail to Thursday. Thursday and Friday are both mail and package days.
- Charge anyone bulk mailing a credit card offer $1 per piece of mail. This could also eliminate the national debt.:smile:
It's not political (small gov't vs. big). It is a responsible service of the Federal Government that should not perish due to political crap.
That said, we cannot support a system that loses that much money.
That said;
- Eliminate Saturday delivery.
- Raise First class rates by a nickel or dime at a time when needed, no 2 cent or 3 cent raises any more.
- Make Wednesday "Package Day" where all packages that normally would be delivered on Mon-Weds are delivered. Move Wednesday mail to Thursday. Thursday and Friday are both mail and package days.
- Charge anyone bulk mailing a credit card offer $1 per piece of mail. This could also eliminate the national debt.:smile:
who has mail boxes big enough for that? I mean, if I forget the mail for a day, the box is a little full. Cutting it from 6 deliveries a week to two?
