You ever wonder what Tom would be like if he were black?

[Timothy]

We don't need the postal service anymore and I seriously doubt that national security would be in jeopardy if it went bust! 

I get nothing in the mail but junk mail and AARP (which I refuse to belong to) crap!  I've been berated by my last peon postal clerk!  I'll never use them for other than mailing the occasional bill and I could pay those bills online.

[fightingquaker13]

It is about maintaing the flow of commerce and communications between the states. Now, if someone at the USPS had been thinking, maybe they would be offering internet or cell service. But the fact is, being able to mail a birthday card, a catalog and a check IS a matter of national security. Its what keeps us connected and the economy flowing.
FQ

[Timothy]

FQ, I've been working in business for nearly thirty years.  I don't believe my company relies much on the postal service for anything.  Nearly all of our correspondence comes from UPS, FedEx and similar means.  A company of modest size is using an internet portal that's highly secured to use for interdepartmental communications.  We no longer need the pony express...  

My company is global, we have satellite offices or divisions in Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Shanghai, Mexico as well as main offices in Tulsa, two in MA and the corporation is in Irving, TX.  We come to a complete halt if we waited on the postal service!

[fightingquaker13]

Those guys are great if you're in an urban area. But if you live in east bumfark? And who's going to deliver the junk mail? That's not a joke, companies spend hundreds of millions on that stuff for a reason. Do you really want to spend $10 at ups to mail a birthday card or a check? The security issue is same as in Franklin's time. How do you  knit a disparate people seperated by long distances into a cohesive nation? His answer then and its true now, is to provide a cheap and reliable means of correspondence not given to the vagaries of commerce. The USPS needs to get better, but it should stay.
FQ13

[Timothy]

Then get the government out of the equation and see if it can stand on it's own two feet!  Cut the costs, pensions, whatever to get it profitable and see what happens. 

Any other company run that poorly would be forced to change or die!  Do we need Saturday mail service or are we pandering to the unions and their loss of overtime?  They get every national holiday off, never work Sunday and probably get several weeks vacation to boot!  That's not how private industry works anymore!  Get with the times...

[Sponsor]

[fightingquaker13]

Then get the government out of the equation and see if it can stand on it's own two feet!  Cut the costs, pensions, whatever to get it profitable and see what happens. 

Any other company run that poorly would be forced to change or die!  Do we need Saturday mail service or are we pandering to the unions and their loss of overtime?  They get every national holiday off, never work Sunday and probably get several weeks vacation to boot!  That's not how private industry works anymore!  Get with the times...

Actually, those times seem a lot like the 19th century. Unions are there for a reason Timothy, and labor is a commodity like any other. Collective bargaining is the way too increase its cost, same as oil producers, retailers etc, manipulate supply and pricing to increase profits. Its called capitalism.
FQ13

[Timothy]

Actually, those times seem a lot like the 19th century. Unions are there for a reason Timothy, and labor is a commodity like any other. Collective bargaining is the way too increase its cost, same as oil producers, retailers etc, manipulate supply and pricing to increase profits. Its called capitalism.
FQ13

Then you should vote for your guy again FQ!  Unions today are certainly not promoting profitability, quite the contrary!  I seriously doubt that postal workers give a shit if their department is making money!  Congress will bail them out with our money again and again! 

I've worked my ass off for nearly forty years and I'll get about 500 bucks a month from a pension I have from a previous employer!  Somewhere around 1993, coincidentally when Slick Willy the Violator was elected, companies started ending that practice as well as forcing us to pay more health premiums!  Companies are getting raped by the feds and it's not getting better!  Government needs to get the f..k out of my pocket and the pockets of the producers!

[PegLeg45]

Piss on the USPS.

I ordered replacement parts for my mower and truck from four different suppliers.
They were shipped as follows: 2 UPS, 1 FedEx, and one USPS.
Guess which one still isn't here, but was ordered first.... 8 days ago?
Yep, the one shipped USPS.....and it is a small, envelope-sized package weighing less than 1 lb.

I actually had a postal worker at the shipping desk at our local office tell me that even though I paid $15 for overnight priority letter delivery for some legal documents, they didn't really guarantee next day delivery and that it "might" get there as promised.
UPS guarantees delivery for the same $15 for a document..... so I use UPS.

I buy a book of stamps about once every 6 months or so.
I do everything online except for three or so local medical bills that I mail. A funny note to online billing, my locally owned phone company that also does my internet service doesn't do online billing..... but I drive by their office a dozen times a month so I just drop it off when due and avoid the stamp. I may start paying the medical bills in person also and then the only bill I'll mail is for trash pick-up.

Are folks like me a part of the reason the USPS doesn't make the income it used to? Sure, I'll cop to that.
But it isn't the main reason.

Like someone else mentioned, reorganize and put prices and service where they should be.
No more than I use snail-mail, I'd pay a buck to mail a card.

[fightingquaker13]

Timothy, I agree with your latter point. But, do you think any other supplier is concerned about the profitability of their consumer beyond not killing the golden goose? Hell no! They want as big a share of the profits as they can sustainably get, and good for them. I just think labor should be the same, hence unions. Now granted, I think some unions have taken it way too far and are killing their companies by making absurd demands. But the fact is that I find it hilarious that hard nosed capitalists scream "socialism" when the workers use their own tactics against them. "You want this? Its going to cost you". That's the American way. Frankly, I think a lot of this could be solved if more companies (and many do) give workers the option of buying company stock at highly discounted prices or even free after X years of service, so that they have an incentive to make the enterprise a success.
FQ13

[Solus]

Timothy, I agree with your latter point. But, do you think any other supplier is concerned about the profitability of their consumer beyond not killing the golden goose? Hell no! They want as big a share of the profits as they can sustainably get, and good for them. I just think labor should be the same, hence unions. Now granted, I think some unions have taken it way too far and are killing their companies by making absurd demands. But the fact is that I find it hilarious that hard nosed capitalists scream "socialism" when the workers use their own tactics against them. "You want this? Its going to cost you". That's the American way. Frankly, I think a lot of this could be solved if more companies (and many do) give workers the option of buying company stock at highly discounted prices or even free after X years of service, so that they have an incentive to make the enterprise a success.
FQ13

Problem is that those other suppliers have to compete with those offering the same service.  That is how Capitalism should work.

Unions, however, are protected by laws so that even busting the union is not allowed.  So no, they are not comparable.

Now if there were multiple "unions" in the same area competing to supply the workforce for a company, that would be different.

I'm sure the existing unions would be receptive to that plan.