Really?

American Express is paying customers $300 to close their accounts, thus reducing their market share.

David2.0 on August 18, 2009 at 12:54 PM

Unlike the USPS, AmEx doesn’t see decreasing market share as a problem that needs to be solved…they see it as a solution to a totally unrelated problem.

Cons about the USPS: It has a relatively singular function–receive and deliver mail A to B, B to A. It is not efficient, nor flexible, nor profitable, and much effort is expended in distributing junk mail.

Healthcare like the USPS: It’ll be regular, reliable. However, regularity isn’t a function you seek out of health care–you need it to function irregularly–like on Friday night and Sunday morning. Moreover, you need it to be flexible, since your back pain or chest pain ain’t like the next guys and you’d appreciate some flexibility into other competing diagnoses and taking history into account. The thing that Obama wants the public to learn is that the healthcare you’re missing out on under Obamacare–never existed, so you’ll never miss what you never knew about.

jero-jones nails it. The USPS exists to provide a service, not make a profit. Some government efforts are not spawn of the devil.

hmmm and we now want to do a government healthcare biz….

David2.0 on August 18, 2009 at 1:26 PM

Sorry Dave your APR went up because those like me. I pay my bill off every month so that I don’t accrue interest charges. I have been an AE member since 1981. The only money they make off me is the yearly membership charge.

USPS uses a lot of FEDEX shipping. Lots. Non Union Fedex.

seven on August 18, 2009 at 12:19 PM

Yeah, a Fedex van would back up to the dock about 10 AM with Express Mail that had to be delivered by noon. And virtually all carriers were already on the street.

The German company – I can’t remember the name right now – would accept packages from people and then just mail them. We also delivered a lot of packages that were “too expensive” for the private carriers – they would bring them in the door in the evening and we’d deliver them the next day. I always wondered why the USPS signed contracts to help their competitors to cut their costs. Because it’s was the govenment and they were stupid, would be my guess.

Funny, because I complained one time when the mailman didn’t pick up my out going mail. The supervisor told that they weren’t obligated to pick up mail, that that was just a “courtesy”.

So if they aren’t obligated to pick up or deliver mail, what exactly are they supposed to do?

rbj on August 18, 2009 at 12:34 PM

They are supposed to pick up outgoing mail “as delivery is made”. If you don’t get mail that day, they don’t want the carrier to pick any up, that’s “wasting time”.

Sound familiar? The government has created a regulatory system for the USPS that breeds inefficiency, stagnation, and waste.

Duh! Everything the government touches breeds inefficiency, stagnation and waste.

Now they are pushing automated flat sorting and that may very well be the end of the line for the USPS.

I pray that these people never get in charge of my health care.

Technology has killed the USPS bottom line. Once upon a time businesses only mailed catalogs, then along came this thing called a website (online catalog). Ask yourself what is cheaper bulk mailing millions of catalogs monthly/quarterly or maintaining a website? That simple equation is a huge loss of revenue for the USPS. Secondly, email has pretty much killed the hand written letter, another huge source of revenue. Also, factor in electronic bill paying and electronic bills they are hurting. As several people have pointed out the USPS receives no government money to run, if you take into account they have lost multiple sources of revenue due to technology. Along with losing the revenue streams they are required to maintain the same level of service.
The black helicopter crowd needs to quit making stuff up. Bet these are the same people complaining about having the old corner mailbox removed. Technology has killed the bottom line for the USPS. Even going to five days a week for mail delivery will not stop the bleeding.

My friend who works for the PO says the problem is a complete drop in advertising mailers. That’s the bread and butter stuff.

And a lot of advertising has simply stopped.

AnninCA on August 18, 2009 at 11:53 AM

Ann, you may have just hit on one of the best things to come out of this economic downturn… a reduction in junk mail.

If it weren’t for junk mail, I’d have no mail at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me.

check out Contessa Brewers Pelosi imitation as she shamelessly supports Obamas analogy -

http://iam7545.wordpress.com/ http://iam7545.wordpress.com/

iam7545 on August 18, 2009 at 3:09 PM

I mean … umm … what’s the best way to say it …

That is too funny.

As I’ve said to AnninCA several times before; anyone that believes the US government can provide any type of service better, more cost effective and efficient than the private sector is:

A moron
A liar
Blinded by their socialist ideology
Blinded by their allegiance to “THE ONE”
or all of the above, and in AnninCA’s case I suspect it is all of the above!

An aside: A Representative (don’t remember who) had proposed a bill that USPS carriers be charged with conducting the census since they are most knowledgeable about who is on their route. This solution would take the task away from Rahm Emanuel, who has seized on it, cut ACORN out of the equation, eliminate the costs of hiring census takers, provide a more accurate count, and use federal personnel more effectively.

Does anyone know whatever happened to this bill or who proposed it?

onlineanalyst on August 18, 2009 at 12:32 PM

The answer is Jason Chaffetz from Utah. I think the idea is pure genius. Using an existing system that is already in place.

Therefore, it will never happen.

Sorry xblade. Your post was getting in while I was typing mine.

SKYFOX

No problem. Maybe if enough people inject logic into the conversation, she’ll eventually get a clue. I won’t hold my breath though.