Postal Letter

Has the time come for the privatization of the US Postal Service?

The US Postal Service is down 8.5 billion dollars this year. Due to our governments use of price controls The US Postal Service is no longer a viable economic entity. This is our money that they are losing and there is no end in sight. In these tough economic times should the federal government be subsidizing a losing cause? To respond to a recent inquirey; "A private business will either charge enough to make a profit on it, or scrap it. Is this what you all want?" Sir, if you read all below, it appears the answer to your question is... YES!!!

Public Comments

1. yes.
2. Postal service, Social Security, Medicare, keep going...
3. No, there are ways to make up that money. We could make defense cuts (and believe me, there's tons to cut), we could issue bonds, we could even advertise on postage stamps!
4. Most mail could be handled online. The post office is becoming obsolete.
5. The Postmaster General has tried several times over both Administrations to run the US Postal Service more like a business (shut down poor performing offices, lay off excess, etc...). The Congress during both Administrations has blocked all of the efforts.
6. NO
7. If you want to pay 3 dollars to mail a letter , go ahead
8. I'm pretty sure allowing tax cuts to the wealthy to expire would make that up in a year. :/ But I know it's more important for the wealthy to have more money hoarded in the banks and the market (not being used to "create jobs") than it is for all of us to have a reliable postal system.
9. By doing so would open the doors for more outsourcing of jobs to overseas and thus creating more high unemployment.
10. Postal Service All Garbage collection all landscaping services all cleaning services and services of any kind. Have the government do what the private sector has done for years.
11. Cut it in half and just deliver every other day. Saves energy (delivery) Reduces Capital (Delivery) Shrinks government jobs
12. Honestly, I don't think that would work. The first thing that would have to happen is the government taking away the USPS's "protected monopoly" status for letter mail. And FedEx and UPS would jump on that, and the USPS is too far in the hole to catch up early enough.
13. Some of the answers above are amazing. "If you want to pay $3 for a stamp go ahead"... What do you think you are paying now? Who do you think is footing the bill for an organization that is broken and continues to need more and more money from taxpayers! If not privatization then employee salaries need to be brought in line with private sector clerks, shut down failing post offices or combine to cover a larger area, get benefit plans under control and more in line with private sector employees, cut out all waste and remain open longer working hours... really, they are only open during banking lobby hours and most people have learned to do without the post office because they can not make it to the post office during open hours... They even go to lunch in most places at the same time that everybody else goes to lunch!!! its almost like they don't WANT to make money.
14. Where are they going to get the money for subsidizing the Postal Service? It seems the responsibility would again fall on to the overtaxed taxpayer, and then they would play the rob Peter to pay Paul scam.
15. No, run it responsibly. For starters, deliver mail no more than 5 days each week. Saturday delivers are not necessary. That should allow for a significant reduction in the number of employees. I'm certain there are savings to be achieved with a renegotiated labor agreement. It the Union does not go along, then start reducing more employees, say delivery of mail to businesses 5 days a week and home delivery once a week. Businesses with required mailing to homes will factor that into their schedules and do what is necessary. Close the little used post offices. Large housing developments can set up mail centers and people can go there to pick up their mail, or through a homeowner association whose costs are paid by dues deliver from the mail center to the homes, etc. etc.
16. Ragman, your ignorance, and that of those answering, is startling. Taxpayer money does not 'subsidize' postal operations, and has not since the 1971 reorganization. Operations are funded out of revenue. The 'losses' being reported in the media is a colossal lie. Yes, revenue is down, but that's because of declining mail volume, and to answer that, carrier routes have been lengthened. There are 100,000 fewer postal jobs than there were 15 years ago, most of that on the processing side due to automation, but the number of carrier routes have decreased, in spite of more and more delivery addresses being added every day as population increases. Volume comes back when the economy improves, and signs of just that are happening today. Pre-holiday advertising bulk mail is heavier than it was a year ago, and package volume is up. More and more people that I talk to are afraid of conducting financial business online because of identity theft and are going back to using the mail. The biggest factor in the 'loss' is the requirement that USPS pre-fund the cost of FUTURE retiree health care to the tune of $5 to $6 billion per year. No private company pays for next year's health care, or the year after that or the year after that. They pay current costs as they arise. This is the government playing a gigantic shell game. Eliminate this stupid requirement and the loss will be a fraction of what it currently is, and the profits made in past years would have been huge. People need to be careful about what they ask for. As much as USPS is trying to operate like a business and streamline operations, it is still a service. Do you REALLY want a privately-run postal service? If you get one, I can GUARANTEE that you will NOT be happy with it. Say goodbye to universal 1st class service at universal cost. A private company will be happy to charge you 25 cents to mail a bill to a large population center, where it can make money. But if you're sending it somewhere it'll cost them to deliver to, be prepared to pay a dollar or two per item. Say goodbye to free holding of your mail when on vacation. Say goodbye to free forwarding of your mail when you move. These are services that cost, they generate no revenue whatsoever. A private business will either charge enough to make a profit on it, or scrap it. Is this what you all want?