View Full Version : Postal Service to end Saturday mail service Aug. 5
http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/06/news/economy/postal-service-cuts/index.html?iid=Lead
It's way overdue in my opinion. It'll be interesting to see if Congress allows it to happen.
I don't know why they wouldn't, except some in congress would love to kill the postal system altogether. I'm not sure why as the government doesn't run this service, although I realize plenty of people think they do.
I guess if I was really cynical I could attribute it to some in congress doing a 'favor' for the other mail services, UPS, Fed-ex, etc.. I guess I could follow the money and see where it leads, but I fell too lazy to do that now. 5 days of postal service is fine with me. They could even go to 4 if needed.
The postal service is actually explicitly authorized by the Constitution in Article One to "establish post offices and post roads." Gotta love Wikipedia! ;)
Might be difficult to totally do away with it legally, even though it doesn't receive taxpayer dollars.
ApatheticNoMore
2-6-13, 2:55pm
It will be a boon to everyone who tacks fees on to late payments. Utilities do this sometimes, but notorious are credit card companies and cable companies (also notorious for giving a very short window to pay, glad I don't have cable to worry about). A boon to landlords I suppose if rent is mailed and if they are especially mean ones and don't allow any leeway before tacking on fees.
I don't know why they wouldn't, except some in congress would love to kill the postal system altogether. I'm not sure why as the government doesn't run this service, although I realize plenty of people think they do.
I guess if I was really cynical I could attribute it to some in congress doing a 'favor' for the other mail services, UPS, Fed-ex, etc.. I guess I could follow the money and see where it leads, but I fell too lazy to do that now. 5 days of postal service is fine with me. They could even go to 4 if needed.
<cynical hat>Due to congressional "management", the postal service has run up huge debts instead of doing what was necessary to keep their house in order (which they have tried to do). Which has kept postal services artificially cheap for private for businesses, and kept lots of postal money and infrastructure and unnecessary jobs in their districts</cynical hat>
If I had first class mail delivery once a week it would work for me (they'll be continuing 6 day a week package delivery).
Gardenarian
2-6-13, 4:50pm
On my birthday! The nerve!
ApatheticNoMore
2-6-13, 5:15pm
If I had first class mail delivery once a week it would work for me (they'll be continuing 6 day a week package delivery).
That's good, otherwise they would lose all their package business to others, even the biggies like Amazon would bail. Once a week mail would get even more inconvenient for using it to pay bills. I was nearly at the point of surrender in going to online billing, then when I'm just on the verge of doing so, they misread my gas meter and a bill comes $100 too high. Glad they didn't just deduct it, back to the drawing board.
That's good, otherwise they would lose all their package business to others, even the biggies like Amazon would bail. Once a week mail would get even more inconvenient for using it to pay bills. I was nearly at the point of surrender in going to online billing, then when I'm just on the verge of doing so, they misread my gas meter and a bill comes $100 too high. Glad they didn't just deduct it, back to the drawing board.
ANM, you can do online bill paying through your bank, and you absolutely review each bill, if you want, before it pays. We do on-line bill paying and I love it. Most we manually enter the amount, to review the bill, and just a few are automatically paid, like ones that are the same each month. But it is so convenient. Although most bills still come in the mail, a few we have come on-line, and still we can review them before paying.
It really is nice seeing everything in one place, and it makes organizing so much easier. No forgotten bills, and when I pay a bill, I can see at a glance what I paid in several previous months, so an inconsistency jumps out right away.
I'm a big fan of having the USPS and think we would be diminished as a country without it. That said, it is also a classic example of what happens when the government tries to run a business. Can anyone think of another industry that, when they are losing customers and revenue is dropping, they decide to raise the price and cut back services? No, because there isn't one! From a business standpoint it is mind bogglingly inept. If airlines, for example, are not selling seats the price drops and they waive all the ridiculous to begin with fees until those planes are full.
Lower the cost until people start to use the service again. Its still a viable service because not everything is better electronically and not everyone uses email for everything. Just like the government overall the only way out is to cut expenses AND increase revenue. But the expenses need to be cut a lot more than giving the delivery staff Saturday off. Cut rural delivery to 1x a week, home delivery within X miles of a central post office to 2x a week and business delivery to 3x. Expand and promote the heck out of the flat rate shipping program; its the only good idea to come out of USPS in a generation. Cut the number of employees by 1/2 (yea, yea I can already hear the moaning) and vehicles by 2/3 by paying all the carriers mileage on their own cars. Automate everything that can be automated. I know they've been trying to do that, but haven't succeeded yet. Make it 10% cheaper to ship by printing the label at home than it is to go to the post office and people will do it. Sell stamps only from vending machines or online. While we're at it, have just one design for stamps. All the commemorative issues are pretty and cool, but you need a whole staff of probably highly paid people to come up with them.
All that is just the beginning of what FedEx will do when they take it over in a few years. In other words, unless there is a complete turnaround in the way business is done at USPS I think their days are numbered. It's a shame.
ToomuchStuff
2-7-13, 1:37pm
I have yet to do online bill pay. I do receive them at home, but I do NOT send mail out from home. I do live pretty close to a postal station, have a mail box, outside of work, and we had issues in the neighborhood, years ago with kids (3 and a 5 year old stealing mail to try to start a fire, and a teenager caused the removal of the neighborhood mailbox, after shoving two dozen raw eggs into it).
I was less then shocked about the Saturday thing, and more wondering about why they aren't considering a New Zealand style proposal: www. thestar.com/news/world/2013/01/29/postal_service_may_cut_mail_delivery_to_3_days_a_w eek_in_face_of_internet.html (http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/01/29/postal_service_may_cut_mail_delivery_to_3_days_a_w eek_in_face_of_internet.html)
Companies have until August to figure out how no Saturday is going to affect their outgoing and incoming.
ApatheticNoMore
2-7-13, 1:54pm
I'm a big fan of having the USPS and think we would be diminished as a country without it. That said, it is also a classic example of what happens when the government tries to run a business.
Then what are UPS and Fed Ex? A good example of what happens when a for profit enterprise tries to run a business, badly run to the extreme. These companies are horrible, I mean if a really good alternative to the post office existed, well wouldn't it be nice, a person can dream, but of course one doesn't.
Can anyone think of another industry that, when they are losing customers and revenue is dropping, they decide to raise the price and cut back services?
Yea any monopoly. The banks, although it might be a stretch to call that particular ponzi scheme much of an industry.
If airlines, for example, are not selling seats the price drops and they waive all the ridiculous to begin with fees until those planes are full.
and flying is still an aweful experience, you still get the full TSA treatment and squished together seats with no food served. I'm kind of boycotting flying entirely, unless I did the international thing. It's not worth it. Most peoples experience with much of private industry these days is aweful, it's all junk, buy products that fall apart right away. At a certain point it's easier not to buy at all. Continually watch your back for hidden gotchas, an extra fee, a product missing a part, etc.. Support for products nearly unavailable. It's not a pleasant experience, they can't even get consumerism right anymore. The post office can cut back delivery but at a certain point that only means noone will use them anymore, because it's just a tipping point to have everyone flee them. It's cutting off the nose to spite the face at a certain point. If Fed Ex took over would junk mail at least go away, or is Fed Ex going to deliver that along with thier aweful service which will probably increase a lot in cost if they don't have the post office to compete with anymore (probably the plan all along).
Then what are UPS and Fed Ex? A good example of what happens when a for profit enterprise tries to run a business, badly run to the extreme. These companies are horrible...
What makes you think they are poorly run? Big private enterprise can bury a lot of expenses (lavish parties, the CEO's jet, etc.), but ultimately they have to answer to the shareholders. If profits are down the management usually has a limited amount of time to reverse that trend or get canned. Being as efficient as possible is, in the end, the cheapest and easiest way to maximize profits. I just don't see how they could be "badly run to the extreme" and be in business for as long as they have.
and flying is still an aweful experience, you still get the full TSA treatment and squished together seats with no food served. I'm kind of boycotting flying entirely, unless I did the international thing. It's not worth it.
The point is that the incentives come out until business is revived enough to correct the revenue drop. That does not mean the airlines are trying to get everyone to fly. ANM, you are not their target audience. Don't take it the wrong way, but you are the kind of consumer who is way to expensive to go after. They go after the low hanging fruit of business travelers who just need to get there and people who are going too far to drive during a short vacation. They don't have to offer bigger seats or full meals or anything else to get these customers. The airlines can lure those people back with just a price concession on a ticket and a few bonus miles. You may not appreciate it, but that doesn't make it bad business.
If Fed Ex took over would junk mail at least go away, or is Fed Ex going to deliver that along with thier aweful service which will probably increase a lot in cost if they don't have the post office to compete with anymore (probably the plan all along).
My experience with FedEx is flawless and I use them almost daily. They cost more than USPS, but I've never had a problem (and have with the Post Office) so its worth it to me. I'm really curious to know what FedEx did to you to bring on the beat down? On the other point I'm pretty sure FedEx would LOVE to deliver junk mail to you. A billion or so more items to ship every day? Can you say ka-ching? OTOH, FedEx might decide there just isn't any way to make any money with that business model and will say no thanks. If the Postal Service doesn't change gears we will know soon enough.
The reality is that comparing UPS or FedEx to USPS first class mail is ridiculous. No one offers residential letter service other than USPS, and no one other than a government agent ever will, because there's no money to be made in it. We've been spoiled by low-cost mail service.
goldensmom
2-11-13, 7:14am
Our mailbox is at the end of our 1/2 mile driveway and we often forget to even check for mail on Saturday. On occasion we've gotten mail (property tax bill with an unexpected increase) on a Saturday that we could do nothing about until Monday anyhow so it just spoiled the rest of the weekend. The couple of bills that we pay by mail have a lead time of at least 2 weeks so no Satuday mail delivery would not be an excuse for a late payment. Ending mail delivery on Saturday would probably not be a problem for us.
We've been spoiled by low-cost mail service.
+1. And also by low cost food, fuel, roads, cars, airline tickets, cell phones, mortgages...
Here's (http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/node/2927#.URkaaB0s4jM) a great article about the USPS. I love my PO and it's not in danger of closing but I'd sure miss Saturday mail delivery. We need to remember that the last letter of USPS stands for "sevice". They are meant to provide a service at a low cost, not make a profit.
The reality is that comparing UPS or FedEx to USPS first class mail is ridiculous. No one offers residential letter service other than USPS, and no one other than a government agent ever will, because there's no money to be made in it. We've been spoiled by low-cost mail service.
Yes. The first thing to change if the post office gets privatized will be rural mail delivery. No businessperson in their right mind would want to take that on as it stands now.
I'm a big fan of having the USPS and think we would be diminished as a country without it. That said, it is also a classic example of what happens when the government tries to run a business. Can anyone think of another industry that, when they are losing customers and revenue is dropping, they decide to raise the price and cut back services? No, because there isn't one! From a business standpoint it is mind bogglingly inept. If airlines, for example, are not selling seats the price drops and they waive all the ridiculous to begin with fees until those planes are full.
Lower the cost until people start to use the service again. Its still a viable service because not everything is better electronically and not everyone uses email for everything. Just like the government overall the only way out is to cut expenses AND increase revenue. But the expenses need to be cut a lot more than giving the delivery staff Saturday off. Cut rural delivery to 1x a week, home delivery within X miles of a central post office to 2x a week and business delivery to 3x. Expand and promote the heck out of the flat rate shipping program; its the only good idea to come out of USPS in a generation. Cut the number of employees by 1/2 (yea, yea I can already hear the moaning) and vehicles by 2/3 by paying all the carriers mileage on their own cars. Automate everything that can be automated. I know they've been trying to do that, but haven't succeeded yet. Make it 10% cheaper to ship by printing the label at home than it is to go to the post office and people will do it. Sell stamps only from vending machines or online. While we're at it, have just one design for stamps. All the commemorative issues are pretty and cool, but you need a whole staff of probably highly paid people to come up with them.
All that is just the beginning of what FedEx will do when they take it over in a few years. In other words, unless there is a complete turnaround in the way business is done at USPS I think their days are numbered. It's a shame.
USPS isn't a business, it's a service. It was never designed to be a for-profit enterprise!
Tussiemussies
2-12-13, 4:33pm
I think UPS does a great job. Their service here has been fantastic. Since we live down a hill some of them have had to walk the package down so they don't risk getting stuck. They always ring the doorbell when the package is delivered, and if I am at the door and happen to talk to them, they all seem very friendly...
Yes. The first thing to change if the post office gets privatized will be rural mail delivery. No businessperson in their right mind would want to take that on as it stands now.
It's held down the cost of delivery in general - if USPS went away, I expect the private carrier rates would go up since they no longer have to compete with government mandated rates.
I think UPS does a great job. Their service here has been fantastic. Since we live down a hill some of them have had to walk the package down so they don't risk getting stuck. They always ring the doorbell when the package is delivered, and if I am at the door and happen to talk to them, they all seem very friendly...
Me too, especially after living in Guatemala and experiencing their postal "service".... Twas dreadful.
Answering the lies that privatization zealots and FedEx are peddling
The Post Office is not broke--and it hasn't taken any of our tax money since 1971
Consider $.50. What does that buy these days? Not a cuppa joe--that'll cost you two bucks at Starbucks, and even McDonald's wants a dollar for a small. Nor will it get you a newspaper, a pack of gum, a shoeshine, or a bus token. And Walmart, which promotes itself as the palace of cheap, sells practically nothing for a half-buck.
There's one place, though, where you can get a steal of a deal for a fifty-cent piece: your local post office. Put down two quarters or five dimes there, and you'll get a first-class stamp in return... and you'll even get a nickel in change. Slap that 45-cent stamp on a letter, drop it in the mailbox, and our nation's postal workers will move your missive across town or clear across country--hand delivering it to any address in America within three days (42 percent arrive the very next day (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/business/cuts-by-postal-service-will-slow-first-class-mail.html?pagewanted=all), and 27 percent more get where we want them to go within two days).
Each day, six days a week, letter carriers traverse four million miles toting an average of 563 million pieces of mail, reaching the very doorsteps of our individual homes and workplaces in every single community in America. They ride snowmobiles to reach iced-in villages, for example, fly bush planes into outback wilderness areas that have no roads, run Mail Boats out to remote islands in places like Maine and Washington state, and even use mules on an eight-mile trail to bring mail to the 500 members of the Havasupai tribe of Native Americans living on the floor of the Grand Canyon.
From the gated enclaves and penthouses of the ueber-wealthy to the inner-city ghettos and rural colonias of America's poorest families, the US Postal Service literally delivers. All that for 45 cents. And if you've written the wrong address or your recipient can't be found, you'll get your letter or package back for no charge. The USPS is an unmatched bargain, a civic treasure, a genuine public good that links all people and commu-nities into one nation.
So, naturally, it must be destroyed.
The postal panic of 2012
For the past several months, the laissez-fairyland blogosphere, assorted corporate front groups, a howling pack of congressional right-wingers, and a bunch of lazy mass media sources have been pounding out a steadily rising drumbeat to warn that our postal service faces impending doom: It's "broke," they exclaim, the situation "is dire," USPS "nears collapse," it's "a full-blown financial crisis!" This is the year, they insist, that the whole shebang will implode: The PBS Newshour recently alarmed viewers about"a complete shutdown this winter, (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/government_programs/july-dec11/postoffices_09-06.html)" and even the current Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, has added to the din by declaring, "we'll be out of cash next August (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/government_programs/july-dec11/postoffices_09-06.html)."
Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. --Herodotus, 503 B.C.No, but the corporate privatizers will, if we let them. --Hightowerodotus, 2012 A.D.
According to this gaggle of gloomsayers, the national mail agency is bogged down with too many overpaid workers and costly brick- and-mortar facilities, so it can't keep up with the instant messaging of internet services and such nimble corporate competitors as FedEx. Thus, say these contrivers of their own conventional wisdom, the Postal Service is unprofitable, is costing taxpayers billions of dollars a year in losses, and is plummeting irreversibly into bankruptcy. Wrong, wrong, and wrong. I realize that the Powers That Be never allow truth to get in the way of their policy intentions, but--come on--three strikes and you're out! Let's examine:
UNPROFITABLE. So what? When has the Pentagon ever made a profit? Never, nor does anyone suggest it should. Neither has the FBI, Centers for Disease Control, FDA, State Department, FEMA, Park Service, etc. Producing a profit is not the purpose of government-- its purpose is service. And for two centuries--from 1775, when the Continental Congress chose Benjamin Franklin to be our fledgling nation's first Postmaster General--until 1971, when Richard Nixon's Postal Reorganization Act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_Reorganization_Act) took effect--America's nationwide network of post offices was fully appreciated as a government service.
In fact, the Post Office Department was considered such an important function of public affairs that it was explicitly authorized by the founding document of our nation's government (Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution). The founders would've laughed their wigs off had anyone proposed that the existence of such an essential civic agency be dependent on its profitability. Be efficient and fiscally responsible, yes, but the bottom line for the Post Office was delivering a public service for the good of all the people.
But, Nixon happened. His presidency gave laissez-faire ideologues a long-sought opening to insert blasting caps into the structural framework of government. Their first big success was the 1971 "reform" that shattered the public service model by imposing a bottom-line profit mentality on the agency and installing a corporate form of governance over it. "Run it like a business," was the political demand of the right-wing think tankers, Nixonians, and congressional fixers.
So, overnight, the cabinet-level Post Office Department that was overseen by Congress and funded by taxpayers was transformed into today's Postal Service, overseen by a Board of Governors and funded by postage sales. Technically, USPS is an independent agency of the executive branch, but operational authority is in the hands of the 11-member board (whose acronym, aptly enough, is "BOG"-- as in a morass that prevents progress).
Will it surprise you to learn that the BOG tends to be quite corporate? From 2005 until last year, for example, one of its most influential members wasJames Miller III (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_C._Miller_III), who was Ronald Reagan's budget director and a longtime proponent of totally privatizing mail service. He's a product of such right-wing Koch-funded outfits as the American Enterprise Institute and Citizens for a Sound Economy (now called Americans for Prosperity) that are ardent pushers of postal privatization.
Also, prior to the 1971 transformation, the Postmaster General had status as a cabinet official appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. Now, though, the top postal executive is hired (and fired) by the board. This helps explain why incumbent Donahoe--who started as a postal clerk and rose through the ranks to the PGship--has been a willing member of the sledgehammer crew that's out to "save the service" by demolishing it.
TAXPAYERS. The anti-government ideologues have had to concede that profit's not the point, but still they groan that USPS is losing billions of dollars a year. Why should hard-pressed taxpayers be expected to keep shoveling money from the public treasury into this loser of a government agency?
They're not.
IMPORTANT FACTOID NUMBER 1: Since 1971, the postal service has not taken a dime from taxpayers. All of its operations--including the remarkable convenience of 32,000 local post offices (more service outlets than Walmart, Starbucks, and McDonald's combined)--are paid for by peddling stamps and other products.
But wait, what about those annual losses? Good grief, squawk the Chicken Littles, USPS has gone some $13 billion in the hole during the past four years--a private corporation would go broke with that record! (Actually, private corporations tend to go to Washington rather than go broke, getting taxpayer bailouts to cover their losses.) IMPORTANT FACTOID NUMBER 2: The Postal Service is NOT broke. Indeed, in those four years of loudly deplored "losses," the Service actually produced a $700 million operational profit (despite the worst economy since the Great Depression).
What's going on here? Right-wing sabotage of USPS financing, that's what. In 2006, the Bush White House and Congress whacked the post office with the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-6407)--an incredible piece of ugliness requiring the agency to PRE-PAY the health care benefits not only of current employees, but also of all employees who'll retire during the next 75 years. Yes, that includes employees who're not yet born! No other agency and no corporation has to do this. Worse, this ridiculous law demands that USPS fully fund this seven-decade burden by 2016. Imagine the shrieks of outrage if Congress tried to slap FedEx or other private firms with such an onerous requirement. This politically motivated mandate is costing the Postal Service $5.5 billion a year--money taken right out of postage revenue that could be going to services. That's the real source of the "financial crisis" squeez-ing America's post offices.
But it's not the only hocus pocus that has falsely fabricated the public perception that our mail agency is "broke." Due to a 40-year-old accounting error, the federal Office of Personnel Management has overcharged the post office by as much as $80 billion for payments into the Civil Service Retirement System. This means that, far from being a drain on the public treasury, USPS has had billions of its sales dollars erroneously diverted into the treasury. Restore the agency's access to its own postage money, and the impending "collapse" goes away.
BANKRUPTCY. That's all well and good, claim postal agency opponents, but there's no disputing the fact that government-delivered mail is a quaint idea whose time has gone. They point out that USPS's first-class business has fallen by about 7.5 percent (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_23/b4231060885070.htm) in each of the past couple of years, and even Postmaster Donahoe says flatly, "That's not going to change." This funereal school of despair breaks into two groups: "Kill it" and "Shrink it."
The killers are the outright privatizers who've pushed for decades to get the post office out of... well, out of our mailboxes. In the 1960's, AT&T chairman Fred Kappel headed a presidential commission on postal reform, and he told a congressional panel, "If I could, I'd make the Post Office a private enterprise." He couldn't, but he did set down the marker that remains the Holy Grail of the corporate elite. Unsurprisingly, FedEx CEO Fredrick Smith (a former board member of the Koch boys' Cato Institute) has been the leading corporate champion for, as he put it in 1999, "closing down the USPS."
The greater danger at the moment, however, are the shrinkers. They propose to fix the proud public service by cutting it down to size (they mean "fix" in the same way veterinarians use the term). Postmaster Donahoe is presently the shrinker-in-chief, having put forth a plan that will:
Close 3,700 of our post offices.
Shut down about half of the 487 mail processing centers across the country.
Cut more than 100,000 postal jobs (or, as Donahoe prefers to phrase it, "reduce head count").
Restrict mail delivery to five days a week by eliminating all Saturday postal services.
Do away with the agency's 40-year standard of next-day delivery of first-class mail, replacing it with a lesser goal of two days or more.
Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine is among the people of common sense who recognize that the post office "cannot expect to gain more business, which it desperately needs, if it is reducing service." (http://www.thenation.com/article/going-postal-digital-era) Likewise, Fredric Rolando, head of the National Association of Letter Carriers, sees that compromising "high-quality service" is a boneheaded business move: "Degrading standards not only hurts the public and the businesses we serve; it's also counterproductive for the Postal Service because it will drive more people away from using the mail. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/business/cuts-by-postal-service-will-slow-first-class-mail.html?pagewanted=all)" Such drastic cutbacks, consolidations, and eliminations create a suicidal spiral that will slowly but surely kill USPS.
Small minds at workThe attack of the shrinkers and killers is another sad (and shameful) product of our nation's current crop of no-can-do "leaders" (see December 2011 Lowdown (http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/node/2837)). They've given up on America's Big Idea of creating a democratic society united by pursuit of the common good and energized by the spirit of "together we can." Instead, corporate elites are out to shove America's greatness into a shriveled ethic that says, "I got mine, you get yours."
While it's certainly true that emails and tweets are faster than mail, there remains a vast demand for postal services, especially where broadband internet does not reach (50 percent of rural residents, 35 percent of all Americans), as well as when hard copy and physical delivery are essential. FedEx has its place, but its self-serving priority is always to go after maximum profit--it has no interest in or ability to deliver universal service at an affordable price to the whole nation.
Postal privatizers and downsizers have reams of data on the price of everything USPS does--yet they are completely unable to calculate value. They don't give a whit either that their model of "service" would leave out entire groups of people, communities, and businesses, or that they'd be taking away much more than mail from millions of fellow citizens. Despite the right-wing denigration heaped on the this public service, ordinary folks still feel personally attached to their post office and mail carriers. Sure, there are complaints and some horror stories, but there are many more (though less reported) stories of extraordinary service and simple human kindness by postal workers, which is why the agency has been named the most trusted in government for six straight years.
The post office is more than a bunch of buildings--it's a community center and, for many towns, an essential part of the local identity, as well as a tangible link to the rest of the nation. As former Sen. Jennings Randolph poignantly observed, "When the local post office is closed, the flag comes down. (http://www.thenation.com/blog/163650/save-post-office-movement-defends-human-side-government)" The corporatizer crowd doesn't grasp that going after this particular government program is messing with the human connection and genuine affection that it engenders.
But then, all you need to know about that crowd's sensitivity to our people's deeper values is that the list of 3,700 postal facilities suggested for closure includes the historic Franklin Post Office in Philadelphia. It is located on the very site of Old Ben's house in Franklin Square, right next door to the US Postal Service Museum. And, get this, in an especially tender touch, the Franklin office received notice that it was going on the chopping block last July 26--exactly 236 years to the day in 1775 when the Continental Congress enacted Franklin's proposal to establish a national post office for our fledgling democracy.
Think largeThe biggest lie of all is that USPS is an antiquated, unnecessary, failing civic institution that simply must give way to electronic technology and corpo-rate efficiency. This is nothing but ideological hogwash spewed by private profiteers and political quislings. Obviously, the Postal Service is no longer the only player making the rounds, and it must make some major adjustments to find its proper fit and new opportunities in the marketing and public service mix. But this requires top management and polit-ical overseers to be a bit more creative and business- like than constantly cutting, closing, outsourcing, eliminating--and giving in to the bashers and slashers.
This is the time to innovate, offer new services and products--don't shrink, expand! Start with three phenomenal assets that USPS has: (1) that network of 32,000 retail outlets (many of them historic and even works of art) that form the most extensive local presence of any business or government in America, drawing more than seven million people into them each day; (2) an experienced, smart, skilled, and dedicated workforce of nearly 600,000 middle-class Americans who live in the communities they serve and are brimming with ideas and energy to move the Postal Service forward--if only those at the top would listen and turn them loose; and (3) the general good will of the public, which sees their local post office and its employees as "theirs," providing useful services and standing as one of their core civic insti-tutions (in a 2009 Gallup Poll, 95 percent of Americans said it was personally important to them that the Postal Service be continued).
Let's build on those big pluses. This is one government program that really works for the people, but it can work better and do more. Here are just a few ideas:
Go digital. John Nichols reports in The Nation magazine that USPS already has the world's third-largest computer infrastructure, including 5,000 remote locations with satellite internet service. Expand that into a handy consumer service offering high-speed broadband all across the country. Rather than bemoan the loss of postal business to the internet, become an internet hot spot in town after town for universal email, digital scanning and forwarding of documents, etc.
Expand the store. Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to let post offices sell products and services that they're now barred from offering (thanks to corporate opposition and congressional meddling). Sanders suggests allowing sales of cell phones, delivery of wine, selling fishing licenses, notarizing documents, etc. This would be a boon to the people in poor neighborhoods and rural areas who don't have convenient access to such services.
Seven days. Instead of reducing service, be the only entity that offers reliable delivery service to every community in the country, seven days a week.
Bank here. From 1910 until bank lobbyists killed it in 1966, a Postal Banking System operated successfully through local post offices all across the land. It offered simple, low-cost, federally insured savings accounts to millions of "unbanked" Americans who couldn't meet the minimum deposit requirements of commercial bankers or afford their fees. Today, banks are even less interested in servicing the steadily rising number of poor people, leaving them to the un-tender mercies of payday lenders and check-cashing chains. So let's bring this small-deposit banking system back into our easily accessible and familiar neighbor-hood post offices to serve these people and create loan funds for investments in local communities.
America's postal service is just that--a true public service, a grassroots people's asset that has even more potential than we're presently tapping to serve the democratic ideal of the common good. Why the hell would we let an elite of small-minded profiteers, ranting ideologues, and their political hirelings drop-kick this jewel through the goal posts of corporate greed? This is not a fight merely to save 32,000 post offices and the middle-class jobs they provide--but to advance the BIG IDEA of America itself, the bold, historic notion that "Yes, we can" create a society in which we're all in it together.
That's worth fighting for, which means that you and I must add our voices and grassroots activism to those who're daring to confront the cants and greed of the privatizer elite. It means standing up to them, but most importantly standing up for ourselves, our values, our country.
early morning
2-13-13, 12:34am
thank you, MaryHu! Post office bashing really ticks me off. Our post office has been shuttered and packages now have to be picked up 10 miles away, only when I'm at work. And UPS has taken to delivering packages TO THE POST OFFICE for final delivery to homes here. I detest UPS - they won't knock on the door, and refuse to set packages in our shed during inclement weather, although you can touch the shed door while standing at our back door - no, they leave things sit in rain or snow. Heaven forbid they put things on the FRONT porch, which is COVERED!!
Oh don't thank me, that's Jim Hightower's article. He's a peach.
Oh don't thank me, that's Jim Hightower's article.
Thanks for pointing that out. This is a good time to remind folks that it is generally considered a copyright infringement to post other's work without attribution. Good netiquette calls for a poster to introduce someone else's work, provide a short snippet and a link to the complete article.
That was a fantastic article! Thank you MaryHu. I'm afraid the 'every man for himself' crowd are winning.
All these right wingers who jump up and slap their hands over their hearts, fairly screaming the national anthem and declaring how great this country is and how much they love it seem to be doing everything in their power to destroy everything that MAKES it great.
Oh don't thank me, that's Jim Hightower's article. He's a peach.
Not the first word that came to mind, but ok.
Thanks for pointing that out. This is a good time to remind folks that it is generally considered a copyright infringement to post other's work without attribution. Good netiquette calls for a poster to introduce someone else's work, provide a short snippet and a link to the complete article.
***MOD HAT ON***
Just a reminder everyone, Alan is correct. We do need to be careful to attribute work that is copied from the public domain. A quick sentence telling us what it is and what/who its from is enough, but a link to the original is better. If anyone has questions about posting a link please feel free to contact any mod or admin. Thanks.
Go digital...
Expand the store...
Seven days...
Bank here...
That was a fantastic article! Thank you MaryHu. I'm afraid the 'every man for himself' crowd are winning. All these right wingers who jump up and slap their hands over their hearts, fairly screaming the national anthem and declaring how great this country is and how much they love it seem to be doing everything in their power to destroy everything that MAKES it great.
You libs are funny sometimes peggy. Thoughts of updating the postal service(s) posted on the first page were met with all kinds of resistance. Apparently that was because they didn't come from a far left wing social commentator. I guess it just has to be political to make it fun, huh?
It was pointed out earlier that it is a service, not a business. That is correct, but it does not mean the USPS shouldn't do everything it can to remain viable. The world has changed more than the PO has changed since Ben Franklin was sorting mail. It's time for them to get up to speed. BTW, three of Hightower's four suggestions above make sense if we were to look at running the USPS like a business. The fourth, banking, doesn't. Yes, we need banking reform, but the government already handles enough of our money thank you.
Oops! Sorry about the long post and not attributing it immediately. I kind of ran out of space. I had posted a link to it in an earlier post but kind of thought no one was linking to it and thought some of it's points were very valid. Sorry.
No there's nothing wrong with the post office being viable. But that's jut the point, it is viable. It's just the demand that it fund 75 years worth of retirement benefits in advance that's killing it. They're putting up money for employees who haven't even been conceived yet. No other business has to do that. And if they did they wouldn't be viable either!
No there's nothing wrong with the post office being viable. But that's jut the point, it is viable. It's just the demand that it fund 75 years worth of retirement benefits in advance that's killing it. They're putting up money for employees who haven't even been conceived yet. No other business has to do that. And if they did they wouldn't be viable either!
I agree that the pension rules place an unfair burden on the PO. That, along with every other government pension, is worth a conversation on their own. It is rather unique as a government service provider that produces a significant percent of its cost. Compare that to something like the National Park Service who does raise revenue from entry permits and other misc. charges, but doesn't even come close to what it costs to run and maintain the parks. Anyway, there is an opportunity to increase revenue, possibly by a very large margin, at the PO. With our overall debt and spending both at record levels I just think we need to take every opportunity to cut costs AND increase revenues. If the PO takes many of the same steps that a business would if it were facing the same situation it should help. Like I said earlier, cutting back services and raising prices is the polar opposite of how you begin a turnaround. Even Hightower seems to agree with that.
Like I said earlier, cutting back services and raising prices is the polar opposite of how you begin a turnaround.
I don't agree with that - if the problem with your service model is that you're offering too many services for too low a price, how do you correct that?
I don't think moving to twice a day delivery and reducing the cost of first class mail would improve the USPS's bottom line. I don't think continuing 6 day delivery with shrinking volumes of mail would, either.
***MOD HAT ON***
Just a reminder everyone, Alan is correct. We do need to be careful to attribute work that is copied from the public domain. A quick sentence telling us what it is and what/who its from is enough, but a link to the original is better. If anyone has questions about posting a link please feel free to contact any mod or admin. Thanks.
Not to be doubly redundant...:D
Not to be doubly redundant...:D
Doubly redundant. Is that 2 redundancies or 4?
I'm a big fan of having the USPS and think we would be diminished as a country without it. That said, it is also a classic example of what happens when the government tries to run a business. Can anyone think of another industry that, when they are losing customers and revenue is dropping, they decide to raise the price and cut back services? No, because there isn't one! From a business standpoint it is mind bogglingly inept. If airlines, for example, are not selling seats the price drops and they waive all the ridiculous to begin with fees until those planes are full.
Lower the cost until people start to use the service again. Its still a viable service because not everything is better electronically and not everyone uses email for everything. Just like the government overall the only way out is to cut expenses AND increase revenue. But the expenses need to be cut a lot more than giving the delivery staff Saturday off. Cut rural delivery to 1x a week, home delivery within X miles of a central post office to 2x a week and business delivery to 3x. Expand and promote the heck out of the flat rate shipping program; its the only good idea to come out of USPS in a generation. Cut the number of employees by 1/2 (yea, yea I can already hear the moaning) and vehicles by 2/3 by paying all the carriers mileage on their own cars. Automate everything that can be automated. I know they've been trying to do that, but haven't succeeded yet. Make it 10% cheaper to ship by printing the label at home than it is to go to the post office and people will do it. Sell stamps only from vending machines or online. While we're at it, have just one design for stamps. All the commemorative issues are pretty and cool, but you need a whole staff of probably highly paid people to come up with them.
All that is just the beginning of what FedEx will do when they take it over in a few years. In other words, unless there is a complete turnaround in the way business is done at USPS I think their days are numbered. It's a shame.
Your idea of improving the PO? Really? In your first paragraph you say 'what business cuts service' to increase customer base...yet, in your second paragraph you advocate exactly that!
Cut rural delivery to 1 day a week? Home delivery to 2 times a week? if that isn't 'cutting back' I'd sure hate to see your idea of cutting back!
Oh, wait, your idea of cutting back is to just hand it all over to private industry. Yeah, they'll save the PO.
The thing that has damaged the PO, the health care and pension funds, completely unheard of in private, or public sector, is THE problem. And it was dreamed up by...wait for it...republicans. The same republicans who don't give a rats ass about the health care of the nation...except when they can use it as a hammer to destroy something they think is...(((shutter))) liberal!
Every man for himself! Corporate rule! Greed rules! Something ain't worth nothing unless it makes a profit. And only profit makers tuck bucks into the senators pocket, sooo....You follow the money.
Why are republicans always on the wrong side of EVERYTHING! You know, you people can simply self deport if you find life here so onerous!;)
Your idea of improving the PO? Really? In your first paragraph you say 'what business cuts service' to increase customer base...yet, in your second paragraph you advocate exactly that!
The examples are things that could be done to make the PO self-supporting or maybe even profitable. They only apply if that is the goal. Everything else, and I mean EVERYTHING else, in our society is subsidized by our benevolent government so I see no reason to discontinue that with the PO. There are at least benefits that come from that subsidy. I do think that in light of the national debt and continued deficit spending that it would be in the PO's best interest to reduce costs as much as possible. That is something I wish EVERY government sector would do, but that's getting way ahead of ourselves.
Oh, wait, your idea of cutting back is to just hand it all over to private industry.
I don't advocate that and don't think it would be beneficial. I simply think there is a good chance that's where it will end up if things don't change.
The thing that has damaged the PO, the health care and pension funds, completely unheard of in private, or public sector, is THE problem.
It is, to be sure, the biggest financial problem the PO has. Congress should eliminate that requirement because it makes no sense, at least in its current form. Personally I can't think of ANY government employee that deserves to get anything more than the same social security payments the rest of us get. That includes presidents, mailmen, staff sargents, judges, senators... Especially senators.
And it was dreamed up by...wait for it...republicans. The same republicans who don't give a rats ass about the health care of the nation...except when they can use it as a hammer to destroy something they think is...(((shutter))) liberal! ... Every man for himself! Corporate rule! Greed rules! Something ain't worth nothing unless it makes a profit. ... Why are republicans always on the wrong side of EVERYTHING! You know, you people can simply self deport if you find life here so onerous!
And yet the country remains divided. How can that be?
Doubly redundant. Is that 2 redundancies or 4?
It's from the department of redundancy department.:D
And yet the country remains divided. How can that be?
Ok, well , maybe I shouldn't take a swipe at republicans, but it isn't all gratuitous. (and they make it so darned easy!)
It just seems that whenever I see some silly, useless, wrong-headed, totally partisan, or just plain mean legislation, I can usually trace it back to a republican. Sure, the left has it's share of goof-balls, but we recognize that they are goof-balls, and snicker behind their backs! We don't give them the keys to the car and the credit card and say "you know, that Sharia law legislation...you got something there!"
We don't nod and cheer (or celebrate!) when someone displays total ignorance of science (which isn't a liberal conspiracy, as it turns out) or denigrates education.
It's just so frustrating Gregg. Especially when we see the 'normal' republicans, you know, educated, thoughtful people, become completely complacent as these nutters take over their party. And every time they give equal validity to what are essentially tin foil hat wearers, the rest of us can only shake our heads and try to turn away from the train wreck. (but it's just so darn entertaining!)
The onerous PO regulations that are killing this great service were thought up, and instigated by republicans. It's a fact. I didn't do it. The democrats didn't make them do it. And until the real republicans, or what is left of them, grow a pair and stand up to economy killing and wrong-headed legislation, it will continue and the republican party will die.
I'm not saying this as a partisan, but as someone who has eyes and ears, and can see what's happening. To be honest, I don't want the republican party to become irrelevant. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and I don't want to see a single party totally dominate. Even if it is my party...now. I would hate to see arrogance distort what I pretty much agree with today.
The onerous PO regulations that are killing this great service were thought up, and instigated by republicans. It's a fact. I didn't do it. The democrats didn't make them do it.
This is in fact the case and is supported by the numbers.
From the 2012 10-K for FY 2012
http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/financials/10k-reports/fy2012.pdf
Page 10
The Postal Service continues to suffer from a severe lack of liquidity. In the past six years, since the enactment of the
congressionally mandated prefunding, we have incurred $41 billion of net losses, including $32 billion of expenses for
prefunding to the PSRHBF. While we were not able to pay the $11.1 billion of prefunding obligations in 2012 - this
amount has been expensed and is reflected as a liability in our balance sheet. We have paid $21 billion of cash to the
PSRHBF for prefunding over the past six years. During that time, our debt has increased by nearly $13 billion, reaching
the $15 billion borrowing limit at the end of 2012.
end of quote
Only the Post Office is required to pre-fund retirement benefits for 75 years, and to do so on an accelerated basis. 78% of net losses over the past 6 years has been a direct result of the congressional mandate, which is simultaneously draining the Post Office of liquidity and causing a sharp rise in debt.
Meanwhile, under funded retirement liabilities are pandemic in the private sector.
In the end, the Republican-authored Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (P.L. 109-435) is having such a devastating effect on the ability of the Post Office to adapt to a challenging environment that it does not take much of a cynic to conclude that that is in fact the Act's purpose.
Sorry if that is polarizing Greg, but that is how it looks to me.
B
Do we really need to posit a Republican conspiracy to explain the postal service’s problems? Does a rule against unfunded pension obligations qualify as onerous regulation? I’ll grant you that only one state in the union fully funds its public pension system, but does that make it somehow unfair to ask that the USPS not shift costs to future generations?
Wouldn’t a reasonable person want to consider the impact of rising fuel prices, declining print media, the availability of any number of competing electronic communication and package delivery options and e-commerce and electronic banking as elements in the rise of postal system unit costs? With so many real world pressures out there, is a conspiracy theory really necessary?
I can see requiring them to fund 20 or maybe even 30 years of pension, they have folks working there now who will be retiring in that time frame. But 75 years?! Come on, that's nuts. Those workers aren't even born yet much less working there, hell their parents may not even be born yet!
ApatheticNoMore
2-15-13, 1:06pm
Those workers aren't even born yet much less working there, hell their parents may not even be born yet!
They could be working there, if they are 20 maybe and live to 95. Now that's far beyond the average (and decreasing!) lifespan in this country (or anywhere for that matter). But I guess it is taking full consideration of all outliers that will live that long. Post office pensions may be simply unsustainable. I love the post office and think they provide great service for the money, but it doesn't mean anyone's pensions are sustainable at this point. However, noone reallly has a better plan of how to support people in old age either, how will the Fed Ex and UPS employees make it in their old age for instance? It's a problem we don't have to worry about today because it's not required they fund anything, but a bunch of broke old people will be a problem to worry about tommorow. That it shouldn't be the post offices burden to fund the retirements is fine, but whose is it? Social Security? Ok, it probably makes the most sense but it has to be rock solid then. Zirp bank accounts that don't keep up with inflation is not a plan. Telling everyone to put all their money in crooked wall street and cross their fingers, yea well, that's not much of a plan either.
I still say do away with government pensions and let all those folks into the social security system like the rest of us.
They could be working there, if they are 20 maybe and live to 95. Now that's far beyond the average (and decreasing!) lifespan in this country (or anywhere for that matter). But I guess it is taking full consideration of all outliers that will live that long. Post office pensions may be simply unsustainable. I love the post office and think they provide great service for the money, but it doesn't mean anyone's pensions are sustainable at this point. However, noone reallly has a better plan of how to support people in old age either, how will the Fed Ex and UPS employees make it in their old age for instance? It's a problem we don't have to worry about today because it's not required they fund anything, but a bunch of broke old people will be a problem to worry about tommorow. That it shouldn't be the post offices burden to fund the retirements is fine, but whose is it? Social Security? Ok, it probably makes the most sense but it has to be rock solid then. Zirp bank accounts that don't keep up with inflation is not a plan. Telling everyone to put all their money in crooked wall street and cross their fingers, yea well, that's not much of a plan either.
I think you're right there. People get the wrong idea when they hear 75 years. If the best practice is to fund the actuarial liability from the day a new hire is vested until his youngest benefifiary dies, that is not the same thing as saying you're paying for retirement 75 years in advance.
I also think you're right that we have a pension and social security issue in that our collective promises exceed our collective ability to deliver. I think we need to look to the example of a couple of the European countries who have concluded their benefits are unsustainable and are implementing nominal account systems that make increases dependent on the growth of the underlying economy. No matter where you fall on the spectrum between tax-funded or independant funding of retirement through private investment, I think we need to recognize that all that money has to be earned somewhere in the real economy.
I still say do away with government pensions and let all those folks into the social security system like the rest of us.First you take away my gun rights, now you take away my public pension :-)! Just teasing but many public pensions, and corporate pensions, have changed or done away with their current plans and made them more inline with the Soc. Sec. system and/or 401k combos. CalPERS, Calif public employee pension, just redid their whole system for new hires begin Jan. 1 2013. They changed the retirement age from 55 to 67 (and from 50 to 63 for public safety employees), require that employees pay half of their pension costs (7%/month with a matching 7% from the employer), require employees to pay more towards their retirement medical costs, and have done away with a lot of the "perks" that have lead to the high pension pay outs. So I think the USPS needs to do something along those lines rather then doing away with their pension plans. Make them more inline with SS, have a higher retirement age and more employee contributions, and stop funding them so heavily. I also love my postal service, but agree that they need to make some pretty vast changes to their structure and manner of service to remain financially and technically viable.
Blackdog Lin
2-15-13, 11:01pm
Umm, you are aware aren't you, that any USPS employee hired after 1986 is NOT on a pension plan? They are on Social Security (with the deductions for same) along with their voluntary and matching contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan. A 401-K for government employees. But NOT a pension plan. It went away like so many of the other pension plans.
And 1986 was a long time ago.
ToomuchStuff
2-16-13, 3:32am
According to a few postal carriers I get to hear B&Ming a few times a week, the government IS treating this like social security. They want if funded, so they can dip into the funds.
According to a few postal carriers I get to hear B&Ming a few times a week, the government IS treating this like social security.
It brings to mind my experiences with the postal service and how they tend to complain. The postal service people I deal with in my face to face experiences at my local post office are some of the grumpiest workers I run across. My sample size is pretty small, but UPS employees always seem energetic and relatively satisfied. Maybe there needs to be some sort of analysis on employee motivation and productivity?
I don't know much about pay and benefits, but one of my previous employers went through a bench marking study and revised all the pay grades and benefits to match industry averages (except the CEO types who were grossly overcompensated). It seems like not only the postal service, but all government agencies should go though a review that compares their pay and benefits to the competitive private sector.
About the only thing I will miss with Saturday delivery is my Netflix DVD deliveries, but it does seem like the loss of part of a national institution. I wonder what a national vote would say?
gimmethesimplelife
2-16-13, 11:14am
Recently I have been mystery shopping the USPS for a new mystery shopping company and I have to say I have been impressed with the service I have been given on my post office mystery shops. I think maybe there has been a crackdown on the service levels offered, or lack thereof, as I have been selling off my clutter in bursts using the post office for shipping and the service until recently has left a lot to be desired, at least here in Phoenix at the few post office branches I go to. I applaud the recent focus on customer service but wonder if it is too little, too late? Rob
ApatheticNoMore
2-16-13, 12:49pm
Umm, you are aware aren't you, that any USPS employee hired after 1986 is NOT on a pension plan? They are on Social Security (with the deductions for same) along with their voluntary and matching contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan. A 401-K for government employees. But NOT a pension plan. It went away like so many of the other pension plans. And 1986 was a long time ago.
Then what is there left to fund for 75 years? Some kind of health benefits for old age if such exists? Because pretty much noone working in 86 is going to be alive 75 years from now. What all post-office workers start setting world records in lifespan? And a 401k with matching needs absolutely no advance funding, it's funded at the time of contribution and then good luck. Of course even matching beats most private sector work, but then most people are probably never going to retire.
Umm, you are aware aren't you, that any USPS employee hired after 1986 is NOT on a pension plan? They are on Social Security (with the deductions for same) along with their voluntary and matching contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan. A 401-K for government employees. But NOT a pension plan. It went away like so many of the other pension plans.
And 1986 was a long time ago.I know that the USPS was under the Fed civil service retirement system (CSRS) plan until 1986 but then new hires went to the Federal Employee Retirement system (FERS) plan. I knew they were different but I was of the understanding that FERS was still a public pension plan and, like many other public pensions nowadays, allow for a defined benefit pensions (which can be taken much earlier then SS or a 401K type plan) as well as allows for social security contributions and a 457 deferred comp savings plan (like a 401K for government employees) or similiar. But I could be wrong so will look it up.
ETA: OK I just looked up FERS and it is pretty much what I said above - a 3 part system which includes SS contributions like everyone else, a Thrift Savings Plan with employer matching like a 401K, and a defined benefit pension that one can begin collecting around age 55 (56 if you were born in 1970 or later). The defined benefit pension is similiar to my government pension in that it it's a combo of employer and employee funded (7% by each), allows you to add time to your plan via military credits for time-in-service (active duty), sick leave, other government jobs, etc..., it has a retirement healthcare benefit until age 65 when you can qualify for Medicare, and allows retirement at age 55 with full pension benefits (Calif use to allow retirement at age at 55 - 50 if you are a public safety employee like I was - but have changed that to age 67 now and 63 for public safety employees). So apparently that is what needs to be funded for 75 years and SS and Thrift Savings are just added retirement benefits. For myself, I didn't pay anything into SS except for my military time (10 years) so really won't get much. And whatever SS I do qualify for based of those 10 years will be reduced by 2/3rds of the amount I receive from my public pension. So if I am entitled to $1,000/month SS and $1,000/month public pension, my SS will be reduced by approx. $700/month and I'll only recieve $300 in SS benefits.Sounds like the USPS has it a bit better as they will get both.
I've really not had any issues with the USPS except for the mail carrier putting wrong mail in the unit mail boxes in my complex, at least mine (big metal box with multiple individual mail boxes in it on a short pole). I got a PO box for a while because of it, but the mail carrier must have changed, because it stopped happening.
I'm doing my part to support the USPS. I've gone back to an old, old habit of writing lots of letters. I receive nearly all of my bills via online statements and usually pay them via online banking, but I actually like the old way of sitting down, writing out checks and such.
I receive nearly all of my bills via online statements and usually pay them via online banking, but I actually like the old way of sitting down, writing out checks and such.
I get all my bills online and pay everything but rent with online banking. I write so few checks that I'm still using checks with my address from 9 years ago. I don't miss the old way of writing checks each month for everything. Besides rent the only bill I have to actively pay each month is my credit card, since it's always a different amount. I like the simplicity that this has brought to the chore of bill paying.
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