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The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service [pdf]

inthepublicinterest.org

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Re: The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service [pdf]

#21

Post by thiagocesar »

InTheArena wrote: post #13

The USPS's primary revenue source is as a Spam delivery service. That basic problem is why it has refused to modernize. Anything with any significant value is already sent via Amazon, FedEx, DHL or UPS, or hand-delivered (in the case of really valuable stuff). See: https://www.insidesources.com/outbox-vs-usps-how-the-post-of... The USPS has to be reformed and it needs a new purpose in life, other then stable governme…

For a moment there you had me wondering why the post office was delivering canned meat.

Re: The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service [pdf]

#22

Post by ed25519FUUU »

InTheArena wrote: post #13

The USPS's primary revenue source is as a Spam delivery service. That basic problem is why it has refused to modernize. Anything with any significant value is already sent via Amazon, FedEx, DHL or UPS, or hand-delivered (in the case of really valuable stuff). See: https://www.insidesources.com/outbox-vs-usps-how-the-post-of... The USPS has to be reformed and it needs a new purpose in life, other then stable governme…

Having a last-mile delivery method available for every corner of the continental USA is enough of a raison d'être. That's value for the country.

Advertising is a money maker and it subsidizes the other business. I don't really see a problem with this.

Re: The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service [pdf]

#23

Post by alextheparrot »

This is interesting timing, given the recent UPU changes that should help shore up USPS by reducing the losses they experience from international mailings. They estimate that this causes 400M in losses each year [0].

Though, overall, this has been a long arc of slowly trying different ways to gut or kill the program in the last ~40 years.

[0] https://mailingsystemstechnology.com/article-4596-The-US-Rem...

Re: The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service [pdf]

#24

Post by alexbanks »

InTheArena wrote: post #13

The USPS's primary revenue source is as a Spam delivery service. That basic problem is why it has refused to modernize. Anything with any significant value is already sent via Amazon, FedEx, DHL or UPS, or hand-delivered (in the case of really valuable stuff). See: https://www.insidesources.com/outbox-vs-usps-how-the-post-of... The USPS has to be reformed and it needs a new purpose in life, other then stable governme…

How do I do mail in voting via Amazon, FedEx, DHL?

Re: The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service [pdf]

#25

Post by teslabox »

There are various advocates for allowing the USPS to return to the banking business. They would put the exploitative check cashing stores out of business.

Ellen Brown's has written a copy pieces advocating for postal banking.

What We Could Do with a Postal Savings Bank: Infrastructure that Doesn’t Cost Taxpayers a Dime - https://ellenbrown.com/2013/09/23/what-we-could-do-with-a-po... (2013)

This piece concludes by suggesting the postal service is being looted so its property portfolio can be sold off.

Re: The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service [pdf]

#26

Post by darawk »

bmitc wrote: post #20

The amount of narcissism these people (the Koch's, for example) have is just astounding. If you're a billionaire, what could possibly be a reasonable explanation for why you even care about the post office? Why are these people so hell bent on hurting people to feed their own narcissism? The USPS could be improved but struggles primarily due to active efforts to kill it off. But it's a wonderful idea of a service tha…

It's ideological. They believe that the government should not be in the postal business. They probably believe that it's harmful to competition in various ways, and they are probably right in certain narrow contexts.

Re: The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service [pdf]

#27

Post by _emacsomancer_ »

Matticus_Rex wrote: post #7
_emacsomancer_ wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of the other major delivery services in the US (UPS, FedEx, DHL, Ontrac) are horrible and far worse than the USPS. And without the USPS to compete against, they'd be even worse.

Worse in what way? I've always had better experiences with every one of their competitors.

UPS, FedEx, DHL etc., when they aren't just completely scummy (lying about delivering something when they haven't; lying about delivery charges), take far longer to deliver packages and often leave them in completely arbitrary places - in the middle of the driveway, for instance.

Essentially none of the major commercial delivery services in the US seem to know anything about actually delivering packages.

Re: The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service [pdf]

#28

Post by toiletfuneral »

InTheArena wrote: post #13

The USPS's primary revenue source is as a Spam delivery service. That basic problem is why it has refused to modernize. Anything with any significant value is already sent via Amazon, FedEx, DHL or UPS, or hand-delivered (in the case of really valuable stuff). See: https://www.insidesources.com/outbox-vs-usps-how-the-post-of... The USPS has to be reformed and it needs a new purpose in life, other then stable governme…

why should basic government services be profitable?

Re: The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service [pdf]

#29

Post by ralph84 »

enraged_camel wrote: post #6
armitron wrote: post #2

Having lived in four different US states and in a number of European countries (currently resident in Germany), all I can say is good riddance. USPS is by far the worst mail service I have ever encountered. It's so bad that there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that one can do a lot better, assuming one is allowed to compete. And even though they proudly say they receive NO money from the federal government, they do…

The USPS offers a unique combination of affordability and reliability that simply cannot be matched by the private sector. Yes, it is subsidized. The reason is that being able to send and receive mail cheaply and reliably is the cornerstone of our society and our economic system.

I guess maybe you haven't enabled electronic statements for your accounts or something, but for me 99% of what I get from USPS is junk mail or online shopping deliveries. Not clear why either of those need to be subsidized.

Re: The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service [pdf]

#30

Post by ericmay »

alexbanks wrote: post #24
InTheArena wrote: post #13

The USPS's primary revenue source is as a Spam delivery service. That basic problem is why it has refused to modernize. Anything with any significant value is already sent via Amazon, FedEx, DHL or UPS, or hand-delivered (in the case of really valuable stuff). See: https://www.insidesources.com/outbox-vs-usps-how-the-post-of... The USPS has to be reformed and it needs a new purpose in life, other then stable governme…

How do I do mail in voting via Amazon, FedEx, DHL?

The question is why can’t we? Why can’t the USG print and mail out ballots using these services? I don’t think they are fundamentally less secure, and if they are than we can just have them add on the capability of doing secure delivery.
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