for those against big government, how would you react...usps

pjhawks

so those against big government how would you react if the US Postal Service was severely cut back? say mail only 3 or 4 days a week, maybe even making you pick up your mail at a post office. would you be ok with that? personally i do think it is one area where we should cut it back but i have a feeling that many of those against so-called big government would be pitching a fit if severe cut backs to it were proposed.

totto

I don't get anything but bills in the mail so I don't care if they deliver it at all!

mikepegg44

pjhawks wrote:

so those against big government how would you react if the US Postal Service was severely cut back? say mail only 3 or 4 days a week, maybe even making you pick up your mail at a post office. would you be ok with that? personally i do think it is one area where we should cut it back but i have a feeling that many of those against so-called big government would be pitching a fit if severe cut backs to it were proposed.

I would be fine with a mail opt out to be honest. If a company cannot give me what I need via email/online, I more than likely don't need or want what they have to send me.
It should be privatized. Let fed ex or ups do it. I just don't think the conventional mail system is feasible anymore. With fuel costs the way they are, people should be coming to the post office to pick up their mail.
if 3 days a week kept it alive i would say fine...you can still use other systems if it needs to get there the same day or the next day...

maj4e

I'm not against "Big Government" whatever it even means at this point.
But
They could do 2 non-intrusive things right off the bat.
Have a review of everyone making over 100k and purge the bureaucratic positions.
Don't deliver on Saturday.

Evaluate that for a year then cut more if necessary.

VINNY GOOMBA

I almost never read my mail, so I'm definitely OK with that. I think everyone should since both fax and email have replaced much of the mail system. Whenever I really want to send something out that is really important and needs to be delivered quickly, I also go private: Fed Ex, UPS, (I used to use DHL, but they're done now, right?). I pay more, but I trust them more, and they've never lost anything I've sent through them.

Also, I found this article pretty interesting, as it seems the Post Office pays some people to stand around and do nothing:

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/postal-serv ... 85998.html

The article makes mention of NYC doing something similar with teachers. I have a friend in the NYC school system who gets paid to sit in a "Rubber Room" because he fucked up as a teacher, but CANNOT be fired. Sweet deal for him, raw deal for the rest of us.

BinauralJam

This isn't an area of my life that big government concerns me.

Jason P

They need to run it like a business and be profitable.

My state has over 100 locations on the chopping block. Most of them are in rural towns with populations under 1,000 that are nearby larger towns that can fill in the coverage. They have been losing money for years.

I could easily live with coverage 3-4 times a week. If there is demand outside of that range, private business will be there to fill in and profit.

aerial

I'm cool with it.

catefrances

thats interesting.... people want everything delivered but they want to have to go pick up their mail???? so you want the post offices open longer hours? and you want millions of people going to the post office to pick up their mail??? wonder what bukowski would think of that. :think:

what shits me about post offices here is that when all i want is a friggin' stamp or to actually send a package i have to stand in a line of people who are all there paying bills(amongst other nonpostal shit) cause the companies to whom theyre giving money have shut down that in person option.

Kel Varnsen

Jason P wrote:

They need to run it like a business and be profitable.

My state has over 100 locations on the chopping block. Most of them are in rural towns with populations under 1,000 that are nearby larger towns that can fill in the coverage. They have been losing money for years.

I could easily live with coverage 3-4 times a week. If there is demand outside of that range, private business will be there to fill in and profit.

I there is a bit of a range between running like an actual business and being profitable. I mean if the US got rid of the post office and told people to use UPS or Fed Ex it would cost a ridiculous amount to send a letter to some places in the middle of now where. Plus from what I have read about it a lot of the times those companies just contract a lot of their deliveries in those areas to the postal service. To me though, in a modern society, a government run postal service, that provides people with an equal level of service no matter where you live is just one of the costs of a society. I mean does anyone expect highways to make money? But if the US privatized all the interstates a ton of people would lose money and there would be a cost on society for it.

That said I am still surprised at the level of service there is in the US. In Canada there is no mail (and no mail pick up) on Saturday. And most post offices are just postal outlets inside other businesses such as drug stores and 7-11's (that I believe those businesses basically pay a franchise fee for). And those outlets are staffed by people who work in those stores. There are very few stand alone post offices.

Also in pretty much all new subdivisions, you don't get mail to your door, instead you get it delivered to a common group box on your corner or something.

pjhawks

catefrances wrote:

thats interesting.... people want everything delivered but they want to have to go pick up their mail???? so you want the post offices open longer hours? and you want millions of people going to the post office to pick up their mail??? wonder what bukowski would think of that. :think:

what shits me about post offices here is that when all i want is a friggin' stamp or to actually send a package i have to stand in a line of people who are all there paying bills(amongst other nonpostal shit) cause the companies to whom theyre giving money have shut down that in person option.

stamps here are available at ATMs and my local post office has a 24-hour automated teller machine for stamps and even to put labels/stamps on packages that are over regular letter weights. a good portion could be automated. and saturday mail delivery is a complete waste as it is usually just ads and brochures - almost nothing of substance.

catefrances

pjhawks wrote:

catefrances wrote:

thats interesting.... people want everything delivered but they want to have to go pick up their mail???? so you want the post offices open longer hours? and you want millions of people going to the post office to pick up their mail??? wonder what bukowski would think of that. :think:

what shits me about post offices here is that when all i want is a friggin' stamp or to actually send a package i have to stand in a line of people who are all there paying bills(amongst other nonpostal shit) cause the companies to whom theyre giving money have shut down that in person option.

stamps here are available at ATMs and my local post office has a 24-hour automated teller machine for stamps and even to put labels/stamps on packages that are over regular letter weights. a good portion could be automated. and saturday mail delivery is a complete waste as it is usually just ads and brochures - almost nothing of substance.

do those machines just provide standard stamps?
the bulk of my mailing goes overseas and with new regulations in regards to sending even padded envelopes to the US, its become a bit more complicated. though i think vending machines are a good idea... so long as the vandals can control themselves. we dont have saturday deliveries here in oz.

blackredyellow

Mail should be cut down on Saturdays... no one would really miss it.

I wouldn't really miss mail at all, but it's somewhat of a generational thing. Just thinking of someone like my grandma... no computer, no e-mail, etc... She relies on the USPS to pay her bills, deliver her magazines, and besides the phone, her way of dealing with the outside world.

mikepegg44

pjhawks wrote:

catefrances wrote:

thats interesting.... people want everything delivered but they want to have to go pick up their mail???? so you want the post offices open longer hours? and you want millions of people going to the post office to pick up their mail??? wonder what bukowski would think of that. :think:

what shits me about post offices here is that when all i want is a friggin' stamp or to actually send a package i have to stand in a line of people who are all there paying bills(amongst other nonpostal shit) cause the companies to whom theyre giving money have shut down that in person option.

stamps here are available at ATMs and my local post office has a 24-hour automated teller machine for stamps and even to put labels/stamps on packages that are over regular letter weights. a good portion could be automated. and saturday mail delivery is a complete waste as it is usually just ads and brochures - almost nothing of substance.

if they are going to continue with the same delivery model, there should be a higher charge for companies to send out mailers. Not bills, but all the other crap that comes in the mail. charge those companies a dollar or something so I don't have to continually be bombarded with useless things telling me about all the great savings I can get by spending more money with my god damn internet service provider. That shit is useless and probably more than 75% of what gets delivered, at least to the Pegg household.

Here is some homework. Go home tonight and put all the important things you got in the mail in one pile and all the shit you got in another. Do it for a month. My guess is one side will pile higher and higher...and the other...well at least you will know what kind of special Papa Johns is running

brianlux

I agree with those who say that mail on Saturday should be cut out. I'm guessing it is already cut down then to some degree because I don't get much on Saturdays.

Two things irk me a bit about the post office:

1) Junk mail. It's what keeps the post office running (and believe me, for anything bad I have to say about the P.O. I have a half dozen good things to say!) but it's also part of what keeps our land fills growing and forests shrinking. Yes- I recycle all my junk mail but that doesn't accout for the energy and pollution it causes.

2) Not a big deal, but my neighbors get there mail delivered to their house for free. I get mine from my P.O. box (which is on my way home) but I have to pay to do that. Hmmm.

I have a couple of friends who are something 5 to 7 years from the earliest point at which they can retire from the USPS and they are both crossing their finger that those (long term with good seniority) jobs will last that long. The whole discussion might be a moot point in a few years. At the very least, it will be a differnet organization by then- and probably much more privitized which will remove much of the big (or small) government aspect.

catefrances

brianlux wrote:

...
2) Not a big deal, but my neighbors get there mail delivered to their house for free. I get mine from my P.O. box (which is on my way home) but I have to pay to do that. Hmmm.
...

thats cause youve opted for a nonstandard/extra service... a luxury one might even say.

pjhawks

catefrances wrote:

pjhawks wrote:

catefrances wrote:

thats interesting.... people want everything delivered but they want to have to go pick up their mail???? so you want the post offices open longer hours? and you want millions of people going to the post office to pick up their mail??? wonder what bukowski would think of that. :think:

what shits me about post offices here is that when all i want is a friggin' stamp or to actually send a package i have to stand in a line of people who are all there paying bills(amongst other nonpostal shit) cause the companies to whom theyre giving money have shut down that in person option.

stamps here are available at ATMs and my local post office has a 24-hour automated teller machine for stamps and even to put labels/stamps on packages that are over regular letter weights. a good portion could be automated. and saturday mail delivery is a complete waste as it is usually just ads and brochures - almost nothing of substance.

do those machines just provide standard stamps?
the bulk of my mailing goes overseas and with new regulations in regards to sending even padded envelopes to the US, its become a bit more complicated. though i think vending machines are a good idea... so long as the vandals can control themselves. we dont have saturday deliveries here in oz.

no they will also weigh your packages and print out the stamp/labels needed to ship it and have a place for you to leave it. basically everything you have an attendant at the counter do for you. might be a bit more complicated for international shipments but i've seen people use it at like christmas time for packages. seems to work fine.

as for vandals the place where they have these ATM like machines have cameras and doing any vandalism is a Federal crime here in the US.

and agree with the guy who mentioned about the junk mail and mailers. i get something from verizon almost every day. it's ridiculous the amount of junk that comes. there should be some kind of limits.

Cosmo

I live in the suburbs... with a post office about a mile from my house.
But, I worry about the 70 something year old in East Bumfucking, North Dakota who relies on his Social Security check. What about him? Fuck 'em?

mikepegg44

Cosmo wrote:

I live in the suburbs... with a post office about a mile from my house.
But, I worry about the 70 something year old in East Bumfucking, North Dakota who relies on his Social Security check. What about him? Fuck 'em?

direct deposit

pandora

The "Post Office," or the United States Postal Service, is owned by the United States Federal Government. It is classified as an "independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States" and operates independently of government control, run by its own non-political directors.

Structure
Although it is owned entirely by the United States Government, the USPS functions as if it were a private corporation. It is run by an 11-member Board of Governors appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, with one member -- the Postmaster General -- acting as the Chief Executive Officer. The Postal Service is the third-largest employer in the United States, behind the Department of Defense and Wal-Mart.

Operation
The USPS is not paid for or supported by tax money. It is an independent operation that generates its own income from stamps and delivery services. Since its reorganization in 1971, the cost of a stamp has increased considerably from 8 cents, to 44 cents in 2009. Postal revenue of $75 billion in 2008 would have made it the 26th largest corporation on the Forbes 500 list if it were privately owned and operated.



Read more: Who Owns the Post Office? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5079063_owns- ... z1XI94tAn2


The Walmart thing made me laugh

Cosmo

mikepegg44 wrote:

Cosmo wrote:

I live in the suburbs... with a post office about a mile from my house.
But, I worry about the 70 something year old in East Bumfucking, North Dakota who relies on his Social Security check. What about him? Fuck 'em?

direct deposit

...
Yeah... a 70 year old doing online banking living in East Bumfucking, North Dakota. I can sort of see that.

Kel Varnsen

Cosmo wrote:

mikepegg44 wrote:

Cosmo wrote:

I live in the suburbs... with a post office about a mile from my house.
But, I worry about the 70 something year old in East Bumfucking, North Dakota who relies on his Social Security check. What about him? Fuck 'em?

direct deposit

...
Yeah... a 70 year old doing online banking living in East Bumfucking, North Dakota. I can sort of see that.

Especially when around 9% of the US population doens't even have a bank account to begin with.

mikepegg44

Cosmo wrote:

mikepegg44 wrote:

Cosmo wrote:

I live in the suburbs... with a post office about a mile from my house.
But, I worry about the 70 something year old in East Bumfucking, North Dakota who relies on his Social Security check. What about him? Fuck 'em?

direct deposit

...
Yeah... a 70 year old doing online banking living in East Bumfucking, North Dakota. I can sort of see that.

yeah all old people are retarded. they couldn't possibly understand those computing boxes...screw them

Kel Varnsen wrote:

Especially when around 9% of the US population doens't even have a bank account to begin with.

If an employer can require you to have it, why can't the social security department?

Jason P

Cosmo wrote:

I live in the suburbs... with a post office about a mile from my house.
But, I worry about the 70 something year old in East Bumfucking, North Dakota who relies on his Social Security check. What about him? Fuck 'em?

Technically, he is already (bum)fucked.

This did remind me of a story when the state closed my local D.M.V. and I had to drive 1/2 hour to the county seat where they consolidated all the smaller D.M.V.s. I was on a flight complaining to a stranger from North Dakota about this and he informed me that he had to drive over 4 hours to get to his local D.M.V. So I shut my mouth. :oops:

Anyway, that was over ten years ago. It was an outrage when it happened. Now everyone has adapted and it's an afterthought that no one thinks twice about.

The USPS needs to adapt and evolve. They are working off a business strategy that made sense 30 years ago.

Cosmo

mikepegg44 wrote:

yeah all old people are retarded. they couldn't possibly understand those computing boxes...screw them

...
Wow. There's a great example of over reaction.
I'm just saying that the post office does make it possible for little Sally to send a birthday card to grandpa's local post office in East Bumfucking, N.D... by airplane... from Honolulu, HI... for 48 cents.
...
Oh, and tell your Grandpa that it's okay to friend me on Facebook if he wants. I got some great pictures from PJ20 this past weekend.

unsung

I'd prefer a M-W-F delivery schedule myself.

catefrances

pjhawks wrote:

catefrances wrote:

pjhawks wrote:

stamps here are available at ATMs and my local post office has a 24-hour automated teller machine for stamps and even to put labels/stamps on packages that are over regular letter weights. a good portion could be automated. and saturday mail delivery is a complete waste as it is usually just ads and brochures - almost nothing of substance.

do those machines just provide standard stamps?
the bulk of my mailing goes overseas and with new regulations in regards to sending even padded envelopes to the US, its become a bit more complicated. though i think vending machines are a good idea... so long as the vandals can control themselves. we dont have saturday deliveries here in oz.

no they will also weigh your packages and print out the stamp/labels needed to ship it and have a place for you to leave it. basically everything you have an attendant at the counter do for you. might be a bit more complicated for international shipments but i've seen people use it at like christmas time for packages. seems to work fine...

well thats terribly civilised. i like it.

we have to show photo ID to post packages to the US. and it has to be recorded.. you know just in case were terrorists. also if its over a certain weight limit theres a surcharge on top of the postage, even though youre already paying for the weight. havent worked out why yet.

mikepegg44

Cosmo wrote:

mikepegg44 wrote:

yeah all old people are retarded. they couldn't possibly understand those computing boxes...screw them

...
Wow. There's a great example of over reaction.
I'm just saying that the post office does make it possible for little Sally to send a birthday card to grandpa's local post office in East Bumfucking, N.D... by airplane... from Honolulu, HI... for 48 cents.
...
Oh, and tell your Grandpa that it's okay to friend me on Facebook if he wants. I got some great pictures from PJ20 this past weekend.

lol I bet you do, and yes my 83 year old grandmother does have a facebook...yet another reason I am glad I am not on it.

It does make it possible, but it isn't feasible anymore. They should raise the price of stamps if they are going to compete in the market. they have to, and people shouldn't complain about it. If you think about it, it is pretty amazing how the mail system works, but people need to realize they either need to pay more for stamps and services, or services will be cut...I don't use the mail,

I don't think mine was any more of an over reaction than yours, that a 70 year old couldn't possibly handle online banking also, where is east bumfucking ND, I have never been there but it sounds nice.

Godfather.

there is no way the usps is going away...I'd bet a dollar on that.

Godfather.

Cosmo

Godfather. wrote:

there is no way the usps is going away...I'd bet a dollar on that.

Godfather.

...
The post office is not in the business to compete with FedEx or UPS. It is a service that is supposed to at best, break even. We do not want the Government to go into the business world. All we want the governement to do is provide those services equally... to you, in Sandy Eggo and to the old retired guy in some little town in North Dakota.

Kel Varnsen

Cosmo wrote:

Godfather. wrote:

there is no way the usps is going away...I'd bet a dollar on that.

Godfather.

...
The post office is not in the business to compete with FedEx or UPS. It is a service that is supposed to at best, break even. We do not want the Government to go into the business world. All we want the governement to do is provide those services equally... to you, in Sandy Eggo and to the old retired guy in some little town in North Dakota.

Exactly I mean the postal system is no different than the highway system. I mean sure it is not possible to have a bunch of publicly maintained highways in say montana or alaska and make them profitable but having the to meet the needs of the people who live there is part of being a society.