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2009-01-30 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

Experts See Dim Future for U.S. Postal Service

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Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2009-01-30 04:21|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 Postman Fred Cooper, the fellow in the picture. The one with the sharp uniform and hat, military style haircut and friendly smile who looks like he could have been war veteran. He doesn't look a thing like my mail person. Wonder if that has anything to do with it? Who knows, just say'n.

Posted by Besoeker 2009-01-30 08:16|| 2009-01-30 08:16|| Front Page Top

#2 "This is not the time for the postal service to raise rates and cut service,"

Uhhh, yes, it is.

Posted by Parabellum 2009-01-30 09:05|| 2009-01-30 09:05|| Front Page Top

#3 Back in the old days, before there was the Murtha/Byrd/etc patronage by earmark, the postal service was the patronage job operated by your local congresscritter. Making it 'professional' meant the ~~crooks~~ congresscritters had to find new and even more expensive venues of patronage. Today we don't see a lot of personal return on earmarks where as you at least saw real work being done with the performance of your servicing post office back then. At least in the old days, when someone screwed up the mail you could directly hold your congresscritter personally responsible. Call it quality control.

Posted by Procopius2k 2009-01-30 09:08|| 2009-01-30 09:08|| Front Page Top

#4 Every day in the hood I see 2 Fed Ex trucks and 2 UPS trucks in the hood- and then the USPS delivers the junk mail.

Posted by newc">newc 2009-01-30 10:01|| 2009-01-30 10:01|| Front Page Top

#5 Everyone needs to chip in & help. Send every "Business Reply Mail" envelope you receive, back to the sender. Judging from the number of envelopes I get in my junk mail, that alone would erase the postal service deficit.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2009-01-30 10:22|| 2009-01-30 10:22|| Front Page Top

#6 If they have to cut a day, I vote for Tuesday. Going without mail on Sunday is ok, but two consecutive days without service would put a crimp in my eBay business. My customers expect to get their stuff ASAP! And frankly, I don't see UPS or FedEx as the solution.

Posted by Scooter McGruder 2009-01-30 10:25|| 2009-01-30 10:25|| Front Page Top

#7 Scooter...
I would like to place an order for a Dora pancake maker...
A 30" tall articulated Darth Vader figure...
And a large milkshake.

Send me the Paypal invoice.

Posted by DarthVader 2009-01-30 10:38|| 2009-01-30 10:38|| Front Page Top

#8 I remember when Australia elected a socialist government in 1972, they cut mail deliveries from 11 weekly to 5, and quadrupled the basic stamp price.

Posted by Grunter 2009-01-30 10:38|| 2009-01-30 10:38|| Front Page Top

#9 Good point, Besoeker. My mail guys look like they either just got outta rehab or are getting ready to go in.

Posted by tu3031 2009-01-30 10:40|| 2009-01-30 10:40|| Front Page Top

#10 Darth, I just sent a payment request for the Vader figure. I'm out of pancake makers, and I don't deal in milkshakes. Lemme know if there are any Golden Age comics or pulps you're looking for....

Posted by Scooter McGruder 2009-01-30 11:28|| 2009-01-30 11:28|| Front Page Top

#11 If UPS or FedEx were required to service every address (old or new) every day they too would have serious problems. As it is, there are packages to deliver as long as Scooter is in business. Note: USPS freight seems to be competitive and there are a lot more locations if you are not a business.

There is a large portion of the population that NEED the service, at a minimum for bills (receive and pay) if not correspondence. Not all live their lives tied to a computer. Postal Service, like military, fire or police, is a basic service of government. When the USPS was supposedly made into a business I had serious questions as they were still run by Congress (we all know how well that works). They are legally REQUIRED to provide these services. And there ain't no free lunch.

Posted by tipover 2009-01-30 12:10|| 2009-01-30 12:10|| Front Page Top

#12 The USPS union is like the UAW. It imposes work rules, wages and benefits (relative to UPS and FedEx) that make the USPS non-competitive in packages, service- and price-wise. If UPS and FedEx were allowed to deliver First Class Mail, the USPS would be much deeper in the red.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2009-01-30 15:00|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2009-01-30 15:00|| Front Page Top

#13 Now, now guys, don't start getting disgruntled . . . .

Posted by Mike 2009-01-30 16:16|| 2009-01-30 16:16|| Front Page Top

#14 Now, now guys, don't start getting disgruntled . . . .

This is the weird part - FedEx and UPS people work harder and get paid less than USPS employees, but you've never heard of anyone "going FedEx" or "going UPS", have you? It's always been "going postal".

Posted by Zhang Fei 2009-01-30 17:57|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2009-01-30 17:57|| Front Page Top

#15 ION REDDIT > 46 OF 50 US STATES FACE SERIOUS BUDGET SHORTFALLS IN 2009 AND BEYOND [ US Multi-State(s) Bankruptcies forever and ever]???

Posted by JosephMendiola 2009-01-30 19:40|| 2009-01-30 19:40|| Front Page Top

#16 REDDIT > GLOBALRESEARCH.CA - FOR THE FIRST TIME THE WORLD FACES A TRULY GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2009-01-30 19:41|| 2009-01-30 19:41|| Front Page Top

#17 F'em. Raise the stamp price to $5.00 and let's sink the sunnuvabich right now.

Or we can be realistic and not expect delivery to every single home. A mass mailbox location on intersections would help the USPS and still not reqiure much of the user.

Posted by Mike N. 2009-01-30 22:40|| 2009-01-30 22:40|| Front Page Top

#18 a $6 billion budget deficit
and
Cutting a day of service would have to be approved by Congress and postal officials, but it could save roughly $1.9 billion a year, Blair said.

I could live w/ 3 days mail service. Problem solved.

Posted by ed 2009-01-30 23:01|| 2009-01-30 23:01|| Front Page Top

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