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"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"
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In an effort designed to cut costs at the cash-strapped agency by up to $4.5 billion a year, Congressman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is proposing the U.S Postal Service phase out door-to-door delivery and shift service curbside and to neighborhood cluster boxes.
The proposal — due for vote by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday — would affect about 37 million residences and businesses.
"A balanced approach to saving the Postal Service means allowing USPS to adapt to America's changing use of mail,'' Issa said in a statement. "Done right, these reforms can improve the customer experience through a more efficient Postal Service."
Source
The National Letter Carriers Union, which opposes ending six-day delivery, is also against ending door-to-door delivery, which is says would hurt jobs and harm elderly and shut-ins who would have difficulty receiving mail.
Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
Source
The National Letter Carriers Union, which opposes ending six-day delivery, is also against ending door-to-door delivery, which is says would hurt jobs and harm elderly and shut-ins who would have difficulty receiving mail.
Originally posted by caladonea
I agree with the National Letter Carriers Union; jobs would be taken away and the elderly and the disabled would suffer. I think Issa is a jerk!
delivery and shift service curbside and to neighborhood cluster boxes.
Originally posted by texasgirl
Maybe I am old-fashioned but I am one of those people who enjoy getting my mail. I can understand not getting Saturday delivery and I'm not against it but it seems as if this is just the beginning. Phasing out door-to-door, then phasing out individual delivery, then eventually deciding to receive mail online only, etc...
What happened to the joy of receiving a card in the mail? I enjoy reading hand-written letters, in CURSIVE (does anyone do this anymore? Is it still being taught in schools?) It is more personal and gratifying than a simple email.
I feel for the postal workers. Less jobs, less pay, falling into financial collapse. It's really sad.
According to the laws under which it now operates, the U.S. Postal Service is a semi-independent federal agency, mandated to be revenue-neutral. That is, it is supposed to break even, not make a profit.
Around $96 million is budgeted annually by Congress for the "Postal Service Fund." These funds are used to compensate USPS for postage-free mailing for all legally blind persons and for mail-in election ballots sent from US citizens living overseas. A portion of the funds also pays USPS for providing address information to state and local child support enforcement agencies.
It is true that USPS is facing fiscal challenges — it lost nearly $20 billion over the last four years and is at risk of not being able to meet a $5.5 billion mandated payment to the Treasury at the end of this month (which has been put off six weeks thanks to the last continuing resolution in Congress).
But what has been lost in the political debate over the Post Office is why it is losing this money. Major media coverage points to the rise of email or Internet services and the inefficiency of the post model as the major culprits. While these factors may cause some fiscal pain, almost all of the postal service’s losses over the last four years can be traced back to a single, artificial restriction forced onto the Post Office by the Republican-led Congress in 2006.
At the very end of that year, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA). Under PAEA, USPS was forced to “prefund its future health care benefit payments to retirees for the next 75 years in an astonishing ten-year time span” — meaning that it had to put aside billions of dollars to pay for the health benefits of employees it hasn’t even hired yet, something “that no other government or private corporation is required to do.”
Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
reply to post by Kali74
Interesting and suspicious.
Cant help but take a look around at all the other government and private jobs that dont have this requirement struggling or even defaulting on pensions and I have to ask if the only real affect this has is to demonstrate the inevitable.
It certainly is aiding in this current collapse of the USPS but we cant say with any certainty that the USPS would or could avoid this problem in the not too distant future anyway. What would make the USPS so special that a problem afflicting every other government office and many private firms wouldnt affect them?
Without some huge innovation or change in practice the decline of the USPS is on a track it cant hop whether or not this legislation were enacted.edit on 24-7-2013 by thisguyrighthere because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by Nephalim
reply to post by Wrabbit2000
delivery and shift service curbside and to neighborhood cluster boxes.
I wasnt aware they still did door to door. We've been using the method Issa is talking about for, hell I dunno 20 years or something? Works out fine.edit on 24-7-2013 by Nephalim because: (no reason given)