Free Republic

By Edward Hudgins President Obama stumbled onto the analogy which perfectly points out the dangers of the very government-run health care system that he advocates. In a recent public appearance Obama tried to assure concerned citizens that a government-option health insurer would not drive private insurers out of business. He said, “UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. It’s the post office that’s always having problems.” Indeed, today the U.S. Postal Service faces a $6 billion deficit and possibly will need to cut services as well as secure a taxpayer bailout. Monopoly Mail Let’s run with Obama’s postal example. To...

President Obama made what his advisers believe were his first public comments on the U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday, basically knocking its performance during his health-care-themed town hall in New Hampshire. He said an audience member raised a "legitimate concern" about how a government-run health-care program might affect private insurers. "My answer is that if the private insurance companies are providing a good bargain, and if the public option has to be self-sustaining -- meaning taxpayers aren't subsidizing it, but it has to run on charging premiums and providing good services and a good network of doctors, just like any...

The U.S. Postal Service is having major financial problems, and could shut down as many as 1,000 branches, and possibly cutting back on home delivery. The Post Office is heading toward a $7 Billion loss this fiscal year. Competition from the internet and other delivery companies are being blamed for the problem, along with the recession. . . . . . (Watch Video)

INDIANAPOLIS -- A postal worker who was shot in the face after encountering a bank robber Thursday spoke Saturday about the harrowing ordeal. Robert Norman, 54, has worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 30 years, but he will spend the next six to eight weeks recovering from the wound, 6News' Sarah Cornell reported. Norman and his doctors said he is very fortunate that the bullet struck right below his right eye. "God protected me. I could have died," Norman said. Norman was inside a Wanamaker Chase Bank, in the 8800 block of Southeastern Avenue, to get some spending money...

The postal service You've got (no) mail Apr 30th 2009 | NEW YORK From The Economist print edition The postal service has been hit hard by the recession and by faster competition ENGRAVED magnificently above the columns of the main post office in Manhattan is a promise of the postal service’s resilience. “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night”, runs the motto, “stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Inclement weather is one thing, but the downturn is posing a greater challenge. Starting on May 9th, New York’s main post office, which prides...

he financially strapped U.S. Postal Service will run out of money this year without help from Congress, Postmaster General John Potter warned on Wednesday. "We are facing losses of historic proportion. Our situation is critical," Potter told a House subcommittee. The agency lost $2.8 billion last year and is looking at much larger losses this year said Potter, who is seeking congressional permission to reduce mail delivery from six days to five days a week. Potter also urged changes in how it pre-pays for retiree health care to cut its annual costs by $2 billion. If the Postal Service does...

LAKE WATEREE, South Carolina (CNN) -- At a time when the U.S. Postal Service says it is experiencing a financial crisis, it purchased a $1.2 million home from an employee so he could relocate, a CNN investigation has found. Postal Service spokesman Greg Frey said the home will be resold, as others have been. "It's not like we threw away a million dollars," Frey told CNN. "We are hoping it's going to go for the appraised value." But a real estate agent in the area said the home could be a tough sell in a depressed housing market -- and...

STEUBENVILLE -EMPTY ENVELOPE — Brian D’Amico, vice president of the College Republicans at Franciscan University of Steubenville, holds the torn and empty envelope that was received Friday at the Jefferson County Board of Elections. D’Amico said he had mailed the envelope containing 115-130 voter registration forms a week ago but it was stamped at the Youngstown postal center as “received unsealed.” Some voter registration forms originally thought to be missing were delivered today to the Jefferson County Board of Elections. Diane Gribble, director of the board of elections, said 56 voter registration cards were delivered today from the Pittsburgh post...

Sessions Leads 100th Year Boy Scout Recognition Efforts http://sessions.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=89413 Introduces Commemorative Coin, Garners Support for Commemorative Stamp Washington, Apr 23, 2008 U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions (R-Dallas) is leading congressional efforts to recognize the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America in 2010 by introducing legislation for a “100 Years of Scouting” commemorative coin. “Boy Scouts are a significant part of American culture, shaping the values, citizenship, and skills of millions of young men,” Sessions stated. “As an Eagle Scout with four generations of Boy Scouts in my family, I strongly value the Boy Scouts’ history of instilling a sense...

The U.S. Postal Service is known for saying "neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night" will slow its service. But what about a federal investigation? Long before it ever reaches a mailbox, the information on packages and envelopes can be recorded. The service has approved 10,000 requests from law enforcement agencies to document information on the outside of letters and parcels as part of criminal investigations. Civil liberties activist Randall Kallinen says the information-gathering is being conducted without warrants. "What we're talking about here is wholesale envelopes, thousands and thousands of requests with no judicial review," Kallinen said. He...

WASHINGTON, DC — Frank Sinatra, one of the most iconic entertainers of the 20th century, will be commemorated on a postage stamp next spring, Postmaster General John Potter announced today. Sinatra’s three children — Nancy, Frank, Jr. and Tina Sinatra. — will preview the stamp image during a special ceremony in Beverly Hills, CA, on Sinatra’s birthday, Wed., Dec. 12. “Frank Sinatra was an extraordinary entertainer whose life and work left an indelible impression on American culture,” said Potter. “His recordings, concert performances and film work place him among America’s top artists, and his legendary gift for transforming popular song...

Rentals of DVDs from companies such as Netflix cost the U.S. Postal Service tens of millions of dollars each year because its sorting machines can't process millions of return envelopes, government inspectors say. The postal service incurs more than $20 million per year in labor costs to hand-sort DVDs. And costs are expected to total as much as $30 million per year by 2009. "Because these mail pieces are not machinable, the Postal Service pays significant additional labor costs to manually process them," auditors wrote in a recent report issued by Tammy L. Whitcomb, the deputy assistant inspector general for...

Question: Why is the U.S. Postal Service removing all clocks from its lobbies? Answer from the U.S. Postal Service: "It's part of our retail standardization program to make all the post offices look alike so you get the same service and the same supplies are available everywhere you go." Answer from a woman in line at the Academy Post Office on San Antonio NE: "That would be so I don't know how long I've been standing here." Yes, the clocks are gone, or they will be as post offices all over the country continue a decade-long switch to red, white...

If a first class letter is supposed to take (e.g.) three days, do they mean business days or calendar days, or some combination? Specifically, do they count Sundays and legal holidays? Today is Saturday, January 13. If I mail something today, before the cutoff acceptance time, would three delivery days be - Tuesday - Thursday (because of excluding Sunday and Monday, MLK Day) - something else Of course, usps.com is silent on this matter. Thanks.

The U.S. Postal Service is helping cigarette bootleggers evade the law, warned the June 18 “World News Tonight.” But while ABC’s Dan Harris explored the legal quandary the postal office faces in preventing tax evasion from Internet sales of tobacco, he left out a key reason for the strong black market in cigarettes: high state tobacco taxes. “New York’s attorney general says this is an illegal act taking place nearly every day, in broad daylight, with the help of the United States Postal Service,” Harris began. His story focused on Indian reservations shipping tax-free cigarettes to customers all over the...

It's Memphis' first bilingual mail center U.S. Postal officials are hoping a new bilingual post office here will make life easier for Spanish-speaking residents and speed up waits. Memphis' first bilingual post office -- a contract unit with Nationwide Insurance -- opened Monday in Hickory Hill. The post office, at 3546 Hickory Hill, shares a building with a Nationwide insurance agency and a Spanish-speaking consulting service. The office is staffed with nine Hispanic agents, some of who've recently gone through U.S. Post Office training, said Nationwide agent and owner Larry Crum Sr. Crum said postal officials saw a need for...

Mar. 15 - Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the country and it's hard to find someone who hasn't been a victim. But some accuse a government agency of actually helping thieves gain access to personal information. Even in this age of technology, we still rely on regular mail to send and receive sensitive information. Yet some Bay Area consumers say the post office isn't providing strict enough protection for their mail. They say the current 'change of address' system itself needs changing. Kathleen Shecter, Redwood Shores: "We have really tiny mailboxes so the junk mail fills them...

[SCOTUS] Justices Allow Postal Customers to Sue By Gina Holland, February 22, 2006 Associated Press The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the Postal Service can be sued by a woman who tripped over mail left on her porch. The 7-1 decision revived a Pennsylvania woman's claim that she was entitled to damages after suffering wrist and back injuries during the 2001 fall at her home in suburban Philadelphia. The letters, packages and periodicals were put on Barbara Dolan's porch instead of in her mailbox. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, dismissed government concerns of costly litigation. "The government...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Media Relations 202-268-2155 December 6, 2005 News Release No. 05-108 www.usps.com USPS ENDS YEAR IN BLACK AND DEBT FREE; ESCROW FUND LOOMS Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Postal Service reported today it concluded fiscal 2005 with a net income of $1.4 billion on record revenues of $70 billion and record volume of 212 billion pieces of mail. "Financially, we are in the best position we've been since the 1970s," said Postmaster General John E. Potter at the December meeting of the Board of Governors. "Despite the strong financial and productivity records of recent years, we are...

In what is regarded as the world's largest privatization attempt ever, Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, is putting the wheels into motion as he attempts to privatize the Japanese postal-banking service known as the Japan Post. The move has thrown Japan into one of the largest political battles it's seen in recent years. In fact, just recently lower house lawmaker, Yoji Nagoaka, was so torn on whether to vote for or against privatization that he committed suicide (!) just to relieve himself of the pressure. Read More: http://osusentinel.com/theopenend/index.php/2005/08/02/p684