USPS major cuts

[Hoss]

My last line there was meant to be sardonic.

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I know it was.  I know several friends that would have been affected by the P & D Ctr closing.  I guess really all they are doing is delaying the inevitable.

And there is not a one of my payees that charges me a 'convenience fee' for going paperless.  At least, it's not itemized as a convenience fee.  Doesn't mean they don't recoup it some way.

[TheMindWillNotLetGo]

I know it was.  I know several friends that would have been affected by the P & D Ctr closing.  I guess really all they are doing is delaying the inevitable.

And there is not a one of my payees that charges me a 'convenience fee' for going paperless.  At least, it's not itemized as a convenience fee.  Doesn't mean they don't recoup it some way.

yeh..as said...you're paying for it one way or another. Sand Springs charges 3$ iirc for utility customers to pay online. Claremore utilities gets billed 5$ a pop, not sure if they've implimented the convenience fee yet. Every utility I've spoken to in the last year either currently is or in the process of implimentation.

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[Teatownclown]

This is for those that sympathize with Republicans and whine about the USPS.

Ed's right, the dims are pu$$ies....

[Townsend]

60 House Bills to Name Post Offices, Zero To Fix Mail Service


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/08/60-house-bills-to-name-post-offices-zero-to-fix-mail-service/

In the 18 months the 112th Congress has been sworn in, the House has introduced 60 bills to rename post offices.  Thirty-eight have passed the House and 26 have become law. During those 18 months, the House has produced 151 laws, 17 percent of which have been to rename post offices, according to Congressional Democrats.

Not a single bill has come to the House floor aimed at reforming a Postal Service, which is bleeding billions of dollars because of Congressional mandates.

Today the United States Postal Service will default on a Congressional mandate to pay $5.5 billion to "prefund" health benefits for future retirees. On Friday, the House of Representatives will leave town for a five-week summer vacation. There is no plan to take up postal reform before that summer recess.

The Postal Service has attempted to enact an array of cost-cutting measures to pull itself out of a $22.5 billion budget shortfall. Over the past five years USPS has cut more than 110,000 employees. The mail service, which takes no taxpayer money but is regulated by Congress, has announced plans to close or consolidate 230 mail processing centers, cutting 13,000 jobs and saving an estimated $1.2 billion annually.
The service attempted to close 3,700 post offices under a plan announced last year, but after public outcry decided to cut operating hours to between two and six hours per day at 13,000 locations. USPS claims that move will save $500 million per year.

One of the largest cost-saving measures would be ending Saturday mail delivery, a move the Postal Service says will save $3.1 billion a year. But USPS can't cut delivery without Congressional approval, and partisan disagreements over whether Congress should take control of USPS's operations until it is solvent again or if it should leave the decision making to the postmaster general have halted any action on Capitol Hill.
USPS claims that if Congress does not act, the mail service will default not only on the $5.5 billion payment due today, but also on another $5.6 billion payment for future retiree's benefit due September 30.

The Postal Service has pleaded with Congress for years to end the requirement that it pre-fund its retiree's health benefits. But many lawmakers claim that because USPS has such a massive workforce – there are 614,000 Postal Service employees—if it does not pre-fund retirement benefits, it will not be able to pay them in the future.

And as long as these disagreements persist, it looks like naming post offices is the closest Congress will get to passing postal reform.

[Conan71]

Glad to see those Republicans so focused on job-creation and fiscal responsibility!

[Hoss]

Glad to see those Republicans so focused on job-creation and fiscal responsibility!

You beat me to the punch!

[AquaMan]

The last line is hilarious. Apparently the choice is either, "we won't be able to pay for your retirement sometime in the future or you're out of a job...now." These guys aren't thinking clearly.

[Conan71]

The last line is hilarious. Apparently the choice is either, "we won't be able to pay for your retirement sometime in the future or you're out of a job...now." These guys aren't thinking clearly.

"You're out of a job AND pension, but the good news is we will gladly name the post office you worked in for 30 years after you."

[zstyles]

I don't get why its so hard to grasp.

The US does NOT NEED a federal run postal system, private business would and could do this just as well. Its the unions, former employees and others who are so dead set on keeping this out of date, poorly run institution going. What company do you know would STILL BE in business after not paying a five billion dollar bill? NONE! Its insane to the normal thinking human being!

[Red Arrow]

I don't get why its so hard to grasp.

The US does NOT NEED a federal run postal system, private business would and could do this just as well. Its the unions, former employees and others who are so dead set on keeping this out of date, poorly run institution going. What company do you know would STILL BE in business after not paying a five billion dollar bill? NONE! Its insane to the normal thinking human being!

It's a public service.  Do you think Fed-X or UPS would deliver a letter anywhere in the USA for less than $1.00?  I had some gaskets shipped from Newton, KS by UPS Ground in something the size of a CD mailer.  Shipping and "handling" was about $14. for two gaskets worth about $7. each.  The next year I had them sent USPS Priority mail for about $7. which still included the "handling".

Get rid of the USPS and only the rich will be able to send anything anywhere.

[nathanm]

What company do you know would STILL BE in business after not paying a five billion dollar bill?

It ain't a "5 billion dollar bill," for one thing. It's a prepayment of retirement benefits far in excess of what is required of any private company (75 years worth of benefits to be prepaid in 10 years). Not retirement benefits that are going to be paid out any time soon, mind you, just indefinite future retirement benefits. You can thank the outgoing Congressional Republicans for that one.

They've got their problems, but operational losses are not one of them, yet. If you think the private companies would do any better, you're sorely mistaken. It's easy to make money on the highest value mail pieces, especially when you don't even bother to serve half the country or more.

[DolfanBob]

I pay 0 bills online. I only have one bill drafted out of my checking account. I buy a nine dollar book of stamps and still make all my utilities take the time to send a paid person to go pick up my check from a P.O. Box office and another paid person to apply my payment to my account.
Oh and it also requires another paid person to pick up my mail and take it to another paid person to sort it out and get it sent to another paid person to deliver it.

Aside from being kind of old fashion about it. My Dad also worked for the USPS and I have not had to much bad to say about how their system runs and works. Just doing my good old American part.

[Gaspar]

I pay 0 bills online. I only have one bill drafted out of my checking account. I buy a nine dollar book of stamps and still make all my utilities take the time to send a paid person to go pick up my check from a P.O. Box office and another paid person to apply my payment to my account.
Oh and it also requires another paid person to pick up my mail and take it to another paid person to sort it out and get it sent to another paid person to deliver it.

Aside from being kind of old fashion about it. My Dad also worked for the USPS and I have not had to much bad to say about how their system runs and works. Just doing my good old American part.

Wow!

What's a stamp?

Every day my mailbox fills up paper that I bring into the laundry room and run through the shredder. Sometimes my wife grabs a coupon or two, but that's about it.  I've written one check in the last two months because one of my BBQ partners lives in the 19th century.  I have had the same checkbook for at least two years now.

Eventually I may just forget how to use a pen!

[Conan71]

Wow!

What's a stamp?

Every day my mailbox fills up paper that I bring into the laundry room and run through the shredder. Sometimes my wife grabs a coupon or two, but that's about it.  I've written one check in the last two months because one of my BBQ partners lives in the 19th century.  I have had the same checkbook for at least two years now.

Eventually I may just forget how to use a pen!

What is this "pen" thing that you speak of?

[DolfanBob]

Some things are just hard to let go of.
I was upset when they let Sarah go at the phone company, and upgraded my candlestick phone to this new fangled rotary jobbie.