Are you in favor of ending U.S. Postal Service delivery on Saturdays?

1. 83

   Rock_njposted 11 years ago

   Are you in favor of ending U.S. Postal Service delivery on Saturdays?
   
   The U.S. Postal Service is ending delivery on Saturdays starting in August 2013.  Are you in favor of this policy change?  This is obviously a prudent money saving move by the Postal Service (which is losing money), which they say will save $2 Billion per year.  What are the downsides to losing Saturday mail delivery?

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2. 79

   Wayne Brownposted 11 years ago

   I doubt that it will matter that deliveries are not made for four to five days per calendar month in the whole scheme of things.  For one, I doubt that it reduces the payroll thus just giving workers more paid time off.  The Post Office's inability to manage costs has far more to do with how they do business in general which ultimately is wasteful and inefficient. Turn the same budget over to UPS or FedEx and see who makes money with it. The time has long since past for the government to get out of the postal business...as well as a lot of other areas of our lives.  ~WB

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      Rock_njposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      While I agree with the spirit of your response that we should privatize government services when possible, the U.S. postal service was set up at the founding and is part of the original social contract that mail services will be universally provided.

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      ViolinByCourtneyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      There was a postal service established in 1775 by Ben Franklin, and it was gradually changed over the 200 years that followed, but "universally provided" mail service still does not exist, and USPS as we know it was founded in 1971.

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3. 71

   lburmasterposted 11 years ago

   I'm not sure how this will effect the system. If they save that much money, it's a great idea. But getting mail will take longer, which will irritate a couple of people.

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      Rock_njposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Even though I am occasionally waiting for an important piece of mail  and waiting until Monday is not ideal, I am OK with not getting mail on Saturdays.  Perhaps it is invetiable with the rise of computer communications and bill payment, etc.

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4. 74

   stclairjackposted 11 years ago

   the US postal service was the ONE government institution that oporated in the black until congress got its hands on it. a few years ago congress realized it had an entiity that ACTUALY ran in the black,.... so they raided it.
   
   they did this be federaly mandating that the US postal service provide a retirement plan for its employees,..... ok,.... but they already provided a first class retiement plan for its postal service employees,.... what changed was that congress required the postal service to fully fund this plan out 20 years+ in advance,.... that means that you no longer work on a rotating financial arangement, but instead you have to suddenly have all the funds needed to pay out benifits for the next 20 years,.. NOW,... AND... the postal service was required by congress to fund the retirement bennifits of the next 20 years of future employees in this system,.... meaning,... they had to project how many people they would hire in the next 20 years and figure them into the equation as well...
   
   what all this means is that the US postal service was sudeenly required to pony up many billions of dollars to fund a crystal ball retirement program, and had just 4-5 years to do it,......THATS why they are running in the red, making huge cuts, raising postage prices and discussing the removal of saturday delivery....
   
   why did congress do this??????
   
   because the MOMENT the new postal service retirement fund, full of billions, was set up, the congress autorized raiding it,... just like theyve gutted social security.
   
   google it

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   1. 74

      stclairjackposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/2 … 33211.html

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      Justsilvieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Another thing we can thank the Bush administration for!

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      LandmarkWealthposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      The 2007 pension protection act was passed because literally hundreds of pensions were not properly funded and lying to their employees nationwide.  The acturial assumptions your talking about are a MUST for an actuary to calculate benefits properly.

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      stclairjackposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      those 100's of pension funds were not the postal service, who's systems were secure. the congress cant raid the OTHER pension funds, like they have this one. they will destroy our postal system, the model on which other nations have based thiers.

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      LandmarkWealthposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with the raiding, but the ultimate liability still falls on the taxpayer anyway for a lack of proper funding of a commutted value in their DB plan.  Their problems are much deeper than that.  There is no accountability there at all.

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      stclairjackposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      agree with you LMW,.. the postal service had other deeper institutional problems before the con. mandate,.. but nothing that couldnt be fixed with good oversight,. this was putting out the housefire with a bulldozer... lol!

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   7. 67

      LandmarkWealthposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      What they need to do is operate as a private entity like Fed Ex and be accountable to their customers.  I alway pay the higher freight with Fed Ex.  Well worth it.  Fankly I have no need for the PO anymore with online bill pay.

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   LandmarkWealthposted 11 years ago

   The problems in their finances run much deeper than just cancelling saturday deliveries.  But that could be said about every agency of Gov't.

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   Ronna Penningtonposted 11 years ago

   I don't mind not getting mail on Saturdays. I hope the postal employees won't be adversely affected. Seems to me like there would be cutbacks/layoffs with less work.

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      Rock_njposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      For them to save money, they'd have to cut some people's hours.  So it goes.  Computer workers get more hours to set up and keep computer communications going, and postal workers lose hours because Saturday delivery is eliminated.

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   fpherj48posted 11 years ago

   No mail on Saturdays does not upset me at all, but I've heard many people complaining already.  My only concern would be to know that this change will not mean more "unemployed."   If it will save that much money, it should probably be done.....yet, how will it effect productivity?  Will employees be scrambling like madmen, trying to make up the difference that Saturday leaves behind?
   When do they expect to actually make this decision a done deal?  Anyone know?

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8. 70

   LoisRyan13903posted 11 years ago

   I would be fine, all we get are bills.  Most of the mail I do are mostly done by email.  I think I heard something on the news last night that important letters may still be delivered.

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9. 0

   Casimiroposted 11 years ago

   Well, it's not a done deal yet, but as I understand it, they are proposing only stopping 1st Class mail from being delivered. Packages, and I presume junk mail, will still get delivered on Saturday. Seems strange that this would save any money at all, but they claim it will to the tune of $2B.
   
   Personally, I have always felt that if they would just raise the rates on junk mail, magazines, etc., they could make up any shortfall. The bulk mailers get away with very low rates in order to send us all their advertising.

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