Massive Post Office Clossures to come for the US

The U.S. Postal Service is targeting 3,700 post offices across the country that could be closed, the largest downsizing in the history of the money-losing agency.

Postal Service names 3,700 post offices that could be closed - The Washington Post

How will this effect your everyday lives I wonder? We have undergone a similar thing over here and when you consider our country is no were near the size of yours the effect on rural communities was extreemly bad

 

The gov't can't make a venture like the Postal System work yet some believe it can take on health care?

 

Closing post offices makes sense in this day and age. I hardly ever have a need to go to the post office. Email, ebilling, epayments, stamps at the grocery store, fed ex and ups. It makes sense to have a lot less post offices. I am all for eliminating Saturday delivery too. He'll, make it Monday Wednesday and Friday only.

 

In today's society, why do you need the buildings? You print you own stamps and save yourself money. If somehow, that is a problem, they will deliver stamps, boxes and envelopes to you house. Once you have all you supplies, you simply put the mail out for the postman to pick up. The only reason you need to go to a building is to pick up mail that you were not home to sign for. (My guess is that they will take care of that one soon.)

 

Well, once the post office goes away, it'll make available a whole new pool of part time, minimum wage workers available to private "business". That makes for more profit, so, I guess that's a good thing.

 

.....and it's happening on BO's watch....

 

Just to give a perspective, here in rural Southern IL, about 20 Post offices are on the chopping block. The populations of the towns seem to range in the 50 to 200 range. Maybe one or two of the 'towns' had almost 500 people but they are probably actually an unincorporated area and spread out anyway.

 

Tough to get anything done with the no,no,no gang led by Tanman.

 

What is BO trying to get done? Please be specific.

 

The postal system is evolving to the new reality of the digital age. It has been a completely self-funded government agency costing the tax payer nothing. If they choose to downsize their opperations to stay efficient, it is a good business decision. Calling this a failed government agency is just stupid.

 

I take it you never botherd to view the chart of the Presidents proposed budget and how the expenditure would be divided (Percentage wise) that I posted ? someone else said that they had no idea as to what he was proposing so I took the time to find it (Couple of mins only needed) and posted it for you to view

 

Post office budget?

 

I live in northern Illinois. I've covered a lot of area in IL and been through more rural towns than most. I would guess that most people don't realize how many post offices are really out there. If people really knew, they'd be shocked. There's a small village nearby with 500 people that has their own post office. Some would think that seems extreme. But that's nothing. It's well within reason compared to a lot of other places I've been. It should probably stay.

Every little place on the map that has a few old buildings, has a post office. Many are unincorporated. One place used to be a stop for steam engines to fill up with water. There's some houses, a run down bar, and about a 40'x30' post office, dedicated to that location. Another place has a few houses, an old abandoned junk yard, an abandoned bank with wood siding that looks like it's from the 1800s, and a post office across the street from it. The most updated building there. I can't think of a place around here that doesn't have a post office. I'm not complaining. It is convenient.

If they would ever raise rates on junk mail, they'd have revenue pouring in. It's suspected that lobbyists make sure that rates never go up on all the crap we get. They'll raise the price of a stamp 2 cents every couple years for the average person using it for what it's intended. But they will not raise junk mail bulk rates. 3 cents gets large, heavy,junk mail items delivered. Which most of the time take up the bulk of the mail from what I hear. What's using/costing the system the most is not paying the system. As a result, they decide to close post offices. That's the US government at work.

 

Some interesting information can be found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_Regulatory_Commission

A quote: "The (Postal Accountablility and Enhancement) Act*...required the Postal Service to fund within 10 years the pensions for all employees for 75 years."

*The Act is from 2006... H.R. 6407

http://www.prc.gov/PRC-DOCS/UploadedDocuments/PL109-435PAEA.pdf

There's one major reason the Postal Service is having money issues... they were forced by a Republican-controlled Congress to fund the pensions for all employees for 75 years! That's insane! You would never consider doing that to a private business, yet the Postal Service is now required to? One more thing: The Postal Service is also not allowed to fail... by the Constitution.

 

The postal service needs a major overhaul. Office closures, eliminate Saturday delivery altogether, maybe go to only MWF delivery. And it will eventually fail anyway after it has completely outlived its usefulness (it is well on its way). The Constitution didn't properly take into account email and junk mail let alone electronic transfers, deductions and bill pay.

 

BTW...to me it looks like the bill passed the house by 410-20 and was passed by the Senate with Unanimous Consent...

http://books.google.com/books?id=qE...untability and Enhancement Act 410-20&f=false

If that is correct, not sure I would call that forced.

 

If my info is correct, without the Act the Postal Service would have a surplus of money right now. I can't find the source again though lol ...but it makes sense. I'll put it this way, since you are/were in the military: What if the military was required to do the same thing in 2006? What do you think the budget would look like this year if they were required to fully fund the pensions (and benefits) expected by all military personnel for the next 75 years?

 

True... how about stupid then? ...or insane?

Or more simply: Do you think it was a good idea or bad?

 

My main point is this seems like a move to Privitization though... something Republicans in general believe is better... but by Constitutional Law the Postal Service is not allowed to fail... unless of course they decide to remove that restriction in the future... time will tell.

 

Thinking of my own budget, the first thing that comes to mind is that I'd have a lot more faith that my military pension, survivor and medical benefits would still be there in the next 30 or 40 years than I do now.