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wswartzendruber
Veteran
Joined: 23 Mar 2004
Posts: 1197
Location: Jefferson, USA
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 Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 2:28 pm Post subject: Do We Need USPS? |
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| So the Senate's allocating $34,000,000,000 for the USPS. Is there anything FedEx or UPS doesn't do for cheaper? |
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juniper
l33t
Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 756
Location: EU
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| Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 2:59 pm Post subject: Re: Do We Need USPS? |
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| wswartzendruber wrote: | | So the Senate's allocating $34,000,000,000 for the USPS. Is there anything FedEx or UPS doesn't do for cheaper? |
i remember fedex and UPS being over the top expensive. for regular stuff, I went with USPS, which was in my opinion shockingly good. My landlord lived in Colorado and I had to send some stuff to California (all from the east coast) regularly, and it would usually arrive in two days, no more. |
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dmitchell
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Joined: 17 May 2003
Posts: 1154
Location: Austin, Texas
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| Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 3:43 pm Post subject: |
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Of course we don't need it. It's a money pit.
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Old School
Apprentice
Joined: 20 Nov 2004
Posts: 231
Location: The Covered Bridge Capital of Oregon
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| Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 3:47 pm Post subject: |
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Better amend the Constitution if you don't care for the USPS. Federal mail delivery is one of the few things the Feds are supposed to do, according to the Constitution.
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aidanjt
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Joined: 20 Feb 2005
Posts: 1101
Location: Rep. of Ireland
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| Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Old School wrote: | | Better amend the Constitution if you don't care for the USPS. Federal mail delivery is one of the few things the Feds are supposed to do, according to the Constitution. |
Yeah, it's hard to justify a constitutionally mandated snail mail service in the 21st century, given the internet makes it redundant, and private operators can service delivery for holdouts.
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| juniper wrote: | | you experience political reality dilation when travelling at american political speeds. it's in einstein's formulas. it's not their fault. |
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juniper
l33t
Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 756
Location: EU
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| Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 4:19 pm Post subject: |
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| aidanjt wrote: | | Old School wrote: | | Better amend the Constitution if you don't care for the USPS. Federal mail delivery is one of the few things the Feds are supposed to do, according to the Constitution. |
Yeah, it's hard to justify a constitutionally mandated snail mail service in the 21st century, given the internet makes it redundant, and private operators can service delivery for holdouts. |
hasn't mail volume increased dramatically in the last few years on account of adverstising, many industries still using mail (i.e. my bank doesn't send me important info by email) and online shopping? My impression is that the only thing that has reduced are private letters. |
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dmitchell
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Joined: 17 May 2003
Posts: 1154
Location: Austin, Texas
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| Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Old School wrote: | | Better amend the Constitution if you don't care for the USPS. Federal mail delivery is one of the few things the Feds are supposed to do, according to the Constitution. |
The constitution allows it but doesn't require it.
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nomilieu
n00b
Joined: 22 Nov 2011
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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| juniper wrote: | | hasn't mail volume increased dramatically in the last few years on account of adverstising, many industries still using mail (i.e. my bank doesn't send me important info by email) and online shopping? My impression is that the only thing that has reduced are private letters. |
I'd believe it. I prefer getting some documents by snail mail anyway, as email is not exactly private, and I do order packages frequently (as local stores cater to the masses, not me). |
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aidanjt
Veteran
Joined: 20 Feb 2005
Posts: 1101
Location: Rep. of Ireland
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| Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 5:13 pm Post subject: |
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| juniper wrote: | | hasn't mail volume increased dramatically in the last few years on account of adverstising, many industries still using mail (i.e. my bank doesn't send me important info by email) and online shopping? My impression is that the only thing that has reduced are private letters. |
That isn't consumer demand, though, it's just paper spam, the only reason they still bother with it is because it's still cheap. The government shouldn't be encouraging/subsidising that at all. My bank doesn't need to post anything out to me at all, they have my phone number to send me an sms for alerts to prompt me to look at my account online, or phone calls for something sensitive which requires a credential challenge. And non-letter deliveries are well serviced by courier companies all over the world so that covers online shopping, and they could easily pick up the slack from the USPS for important legal/government shit until they reach the 20th century.
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| juniper wrote: | | you experience political reality dilation when travelling at american political speeds. it's in einstein's formulas. it's not their fault. |
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antonlacon
Apprentice
Joined: 27 Jun 2004
Posts: 230
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| Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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| dmitchell wrote: | | Of course we don't need it. It's a money pit. |
On the whole, USPS operations make money. They're being screwed by law requiring them to prefund the next 75 years worth of retirement/healthcare benefits of their employees in the next 10 years. IOW, Congress put another $6 billion item into their budget without authorizing any means to raise funds to pay for it.
More details on this are in the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. |
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Muso
l33t
Joined: 22 Oct 2002
Posts: 655
Location: The Holy city of Honolulu
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| Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 6:12 pm Post subject: Re: Do We Need USPS? |
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| wswartzendruber wrote: | | So the Senate's allocating $34,000,000,000 for the USPS. Is there anything FedEx or UPS doesn't do for cheaper? |
The postmaster general doesn't agree with the senate. The ending of Saturday deliveries and the closing of numerous post offices must happen. Harry Reid, in his rather insulting speech on the senate floor in defense of this ludicrous spending proposal, claimed that the elderly love junk mail, it's one of the only ways that they feel in touch with the world. Of course the largest constituency that signed up to stop having junk mail delivered to them were the elderly... but facts just seem to get in Dirty Harry's way. Also of note, Nevada has 4 mail processing centers. So all this spending comes down to is a pay off for Dirty Harry's electorate.
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energyman76b
Advocate
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 2022
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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Important stuff can't be sent by email. Way too unreliable. I want my bills in paper form. If I have to sent some documents, I pay a few euros extra and it is the postal services problem not mine if they get lost. email? Nightmare.
The last week I got 3 packages. None took more than 2 days between sending and receiving. Of course, I don't use ups...
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| AidanJT wrote: |
Libertardian denial of reality is wholly unimpressive and unconvincing, and simply serves to demonstrate what a bunch of delusional fools they all are.
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Satan's got perfectly toned abs and rocks a c-cup. |
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petrjanda
Veteran
Joined: 05 Sep 2003
Posts: 1557
Location: Brno, Czech Republic
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 12:07 am Post subject: |
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to send a small package from US to australia, USPS charges about $30(international priority mail), Fedex/UPS charge about 3-4x as much.
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There is, a not-born, a not-become, a not-made, a not-compounded. If that unborn, not-become, not-made, not-compounded were not, there would be no escape from this here that is born, become, made and compounded. - Gautama Siddharta |
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pjp
Administrator
Joined: 16 Apr 2002
Posts: 16029
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 12:39 am Post subject: |
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USPS service is excellent in my experience. Compared with UPS, not so much. FedEx I've used less than both, but have had no issues.
Neither UPS, FedEx, etc. deliver snail mail, so that's one area the USPS has a govopoly on.
Also, the USPS is supposedly self-sufficient, excluding lolgov mandates any non-leftocrat would be screaming about if they were forced upon a private company. Like solvency of pensions until 2491.
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big dave
n00b
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 0
Location: land of first world problems
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 12:43 am Post subject: |
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| a federal mail system may be constitutionally mandated, but 6 day service isn't. neither is prohibiting segways. the USPS was the #1 opponent... a single driver would have been able to cover FAR more ground in far less time, and the unions protested like crazy as it would have led to up to 60% redundancy in many towns. |
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Old School
Apprentice
Joined: 20 Nov 2004
Posts: 231
Location: The Covered Bridge Capital of Oregon
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 12:53 am Post subject: |
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| dmitchell wrote: | | Old School wrote: | | Better amend the Constitution if you don't care for the USPS. Federal mail delivery is one of the few things the Feds are supposed to do, according to the Constitution. |
The constitution allows it but doesn't require it. |
True.
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- Oscar Wilde |
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dmitchell
Veteran
Joined: 17 May 2003
Posts: 1154
Location: Austin, Texas
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 2:31 pm Post subject: |
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| big dave wrote: | | a federal mail system may be constitutionally mandated |
It isn't. I would have thought somebody in the 99th percentile, who has only ever met two people clearly more intelligent than himself, would have known that.
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