Amazing how the postal service seems to have money issues just before elections where mail in voting happens.
417
velveteentuzhi1 day ago
+132
All by design. The GOP financially crippled the USPS in 2006, they've just managed to crawl along until now
132
Shoot_from_the_Quip1 day ago
+22
And the USPS funds like 90% of its 80 billion budget through first class mail and parcels. We could fund the USPS shortcoming with just a few days of this war's expenditures.
22
aircooledJenkins1 day ago
-26
That was repealed in 2022.
People don't use the post office like they used to.
-26
Fresh_Individual55001 day ago
+1
That’s the place that gives out free cardboard boxes isn’t it?
1
Serial-Griller1 day ago
+12
Just. Like. Last. Time.
12
Magic_Neil1 day ago
+759
What I’m reading is that everything is going according to the plan of a certain group of people.
759
iatekane1 day ago
+195
Seems more like a project than a plan, I would think
195
asusc1 day ago
+55
couldn’t be that famous project the president swore he knew nothing about, could it?
55
yamirzmmdx1 day ago
+31
Nah. It's 2026 now.
Clearly it's past the 2025 deadline.
31
terry4961 day ago
+3
I've got slightly over two thousand reasons to agree with you
3
crimson_teacup1 day ago
+16
Yup, the old “make it fail, then say it failed” playbook. Starve a public service, jack prices, then yell “privatize.” At minimum, people should be bugging their reps relentlessly about USPS.
16
Dematrus1 day ago
+4
The word 'people' is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.
I prefer 'scum'.
4
East_Oven_99481 day ago
+8
Don't tell them that or else you're somehow the bad guy
8
wkaotp1 day ago
+239
Why does everything need to be for profit?
It should be a service for the people.
239
Creative_Parsnip_3851 day ago
+98
Cuz that would be #socialism
98
LBChango1 day ago
+35
We should go full capitalism. Sell public roads to any billionaire that wants them. Let them charge people to drive on them. Privatized police and military brought to you by Amazon and Meta. Fire fighters by way of subscriptions. Everything for sale to those that can afford it.
35
CallRespiratory1 day ago
+54
'Hell yeah brother" - guy who makes $10/hr working at a gas station in rural Alabama
54
WierdFinger1 day ago
+7
Man, I need to learn sarcasm like this. I always have to tell people that I am being sarcastic, like now... Go frell yourself. :)
7
laplongejr1 day ago
+5
> Sell public roads to any billionaire that wants them. Let them charge people to drive on them.
They wouldn't want to pay for maintenance. For now THEY use the roads *for free*.
5
LBChango1 day ago
+4
You need to pay a higher tier if you want consistent maintenance. Duh.
4
A_Queer_Owl1 day ago
+14
I work for a government run healthcare facility, we're required to make a profit, however we are also required to accept payment only through Medicare and Medicaid. so like what the f***.
14
LittleBirdiesCards1 day ago
+2
You are my kids' option for healthcare and dental. How do I make it work for my kids?
2
Deep901 day ago
+9
Someone wants it to fail so they can buy it for pennies.
9
CallRespiratory1 day ago
+8
>Why does everything need to be for profit?
Because this is America. F*** you, pay me.
8
TessaThompsonBurger1 day ago
+7
It's f****** stupid. The country is literally a union. Of states, yes but of people. It isn't a business we're investing in to turn a profit, its a f****** people's union we pay dues into for service.
7
Magic_Neil1 day ago
+10
It always has been, that’s why postal rates for letters and some parcels are so much lower than FedEx/UPS.
10
I_am_not_JohnLeClair1 day ago
+5
It still is. Don’t let them fool you. USPS delivers to every single address in the good ol’ U S and A. For profit entities do not
5
JoeSavinaBotero1 day ago
+8
USPS will even do last-mile deliveries for the other guys who don't want to drive out to the farm house to deliver a packet.
8
I_am_not_JohnLeClair1 day ago
+6
“Cash-strapped” usps *literally* works for Jeff Bezos on Sundays. maga willful ignorance knows no bounds
6
LowerRhubarb1 day ago
+2
Because Republicans believe anything to the left of hunting homeless and "lesser" people in the street is socialism. Except giving billionaires free money on the taxpayer dime, that's just what Jesus would do.
2
ShelfDiver1 day ago
+1
Why not frame the fire department, cops, and roads the same way? F*** the media and the POS GOP.
1
Worf1701D1 day ago
Doing something for the good of society is not what the current American emperor wants. He is determined to create a new GALATIC EMPIRE…..or something like that.
0
MentokGL1 day ago
+84
Can't vote by mail if there's no mail
84
Fantastic-Device-4871 day ago
+18
More expensive to drive to the polling location and more expensive to mail in your ballot.
It's a win-win! /s
18
filanwizard1 day ago
+59
A thing to remember is the payment structure into the pension fund that Congress forced the USPS into was specifically designed to fail. they have something where they have to make whole payments all at once or something while the private sector and even full government agencies pay in over time.
59
Ndtphoto1 day ago
+24
Yeah that was a Republican initiative I think back in the Bush II days. Looking at politics now it's not even close to the most ridiculous things that are passed but it's still a 9 on the ridiculousness scale.
Edit to add a link : https://ips-dc.org/how-congress-manufactured-a-postal-crisis-and-how-to-fix-it/
Can't believe that was 20 years ago
24
muftak31 day ago
+10
They were mandated to pay for retirees 75 years in advance within 10 years. Why they were bleeding money. It was repealed in 2022. I'm not sure where the $5B in savings from the repeal is going.
10
brahbocop1 day ago
+2
I imagine it takes a long time for a business to recover from the shit it had to go through for almost 20 years.
2
Jaschndlr1 day ago
+1
Isn't stopping pension contributions just them saying they're got going to comply with that anymore, or am I misunderstanding?
1
BadDecisionPolice1 day ago
+15
I’m sure this has absolutely nothing to do with upcoming elections.
15
barfly27801 day ago
+56
Raise taxes on the top 10% of the country. That’ll pay for it.
56
DonnerPartyPicnic1 day ago
+21
Close loopholes that the top 10% use to dodge taxes*
21
PandaJesus1 day ago
+1
***Do both***
1
GovernorHarryLogan1 day ago
+6
The vast majority of the top 10% of earners in this country own their own businesses and essentially pay 0 federal income tax as it is through various deductions reducing their "income" to essentially 0.
About half of US households pay 0 in income tax actually.
It isnt about raising their taxes. That would still equate to 0.
It is about reforming the tax code as a whole to ensure they, and really everyone, can not reduce their burden to 0 and pay their fair share.
6
Easy_Bite68581 day ago
+2
I really try to avoid the terminology "paying their fair share" because it invites endless semantic dissection of what fairness means in context. Right idea but wrong execution. Instead, we should approach it with economic and mathematical modeling with the express purpose of checking the negative externalities of wealth inequality while still fostering growth (which are naturally in conflict). Similar to how a speed limit is intended to optimize between safety and flow of traffic. Taxes represent a non-market way to check against the economic (and therefore political) weight of accrued capital and wealth inequality. Taxes are about social protection and defense.
2
4RCH43ON1 day ago
+10
The postal service is essentially a solvent business that gets looted by the government to keep undermining it.
10
brahbocop1 day ago
+1
Finally, a commenter that f****** gets it!
1
Throwawayconcern20231 day ago
+64
I seek a 40% drop in executive pay first.
64
mishap11 day ago
+42
Postmaster general gets like $300k/yr + performance bonuses.
Not quite what UPS and FedEx paid their CEOs at $24M and $13M last year. Dejoy used to make over $1M/yr as CEO of XPO. Makes you think he's in it for other things beyond that salary.
42
tidal_flux1 day ago
+18
The current Postmaster General was on the board of directors at FedEx. What a strange coincidence…
https://about.usps.com/who/leadership/officers/pmg-ceo.htm
18
HimTiser1 day ago
+10
I wonder how much money they make from all the presorted junk mail I get? 10% of the mail I get is legitimate.
10
Weorth1 day ago
+5
You can refuse that junk mail, just gotta let the post office know you don't want it. Used to sort stuff and they told me you basically ask not to have it given to you and they don't put it in your stack when casing.
5
HimTiser1 day ago
+1
Definitely worth a shot! Thanks
1
Fantastic-Device-4871 day ago
+1
Electronic banking and electronic transactions put a huge dent in USPS's daily delivery volume. A couple of clicks here and there don't cost anything.
1
Xbox_Lost1 day ago
+5
Here's 80 cents, will you drive this letter across the country for me? You want a dollar? Screw you! I'll do it myself.
5
thereverendpuck1 day ago
+3
If USPS wanted to save money just suspend deliveries on Saturdays until around the holidays. The increase in postage? Not a big fan but we’ll get by.
3
TrainingSword1 day ago
+6
So much for forever stamps
6
Martin_Aurelius1 day ago
+10
Before "forever" stamps you had to buy smaller stamps to make up the difference whenever they raised the cost of stamps.
When stamps went from 33¢ to 34¢ you had to buy a bunch of 1¢ stamps to make up the difference.
Now with forever stamp you can still use your stamp you bought for 50¢ back in 2018 without any additional cost, even though current postage is 78¢.
10
Fantastic-Device-4871 day ago
+7
Forever going up in price.
7
Fantastic-Device-4871 day ago
+2
Could be worse: [https://media.azpm.org/master/image/2024/7/15/element/global-postage-comparison.jpg](https://media.azpm.org/master/image/2024/7/15/element/global-postage-comparison.jpg)
*(This chart was compiled in 2024.)*
2
rockerscott1 day ago
+2
Just make postage a whole dollar amount instead of this $0.78 garbage.
2
scenr01 day ago
+2
Stamps are literally 78 cents right now. The last time I looked it was 61 cents. And now they want to raise it again?! Wtf?!
2
invalidpassword1 day ago
+4
The loss of pensions will make for a senior population often depending 100% on Social Security which doesn't pay a living wage in most cases.
4
steathrazor1 day ago
+1
And they already claim SS will be bankrupt it 10ish years if something isn't done (or so I heard at least)
1
OskaMeijer1 day ago
+1
SS can't go bankrupt by its very nature, all that can happen is payouts will have to drop to be in line with current incoming SS taxes.
1
nutationsf1 day ago
+1
I believe it maybe massively over funded at this point
1
invalidpassword1 day ago
+1
According to whom.
1
marzipan071 day ago
+4
Ordinarily, when demand drops for a good, you can try to lower the price to try to spur demand, or you can increase the price to gouge the remaining customers which then causes more of them to no longer want the good. Postal service always chooses the second option.
4
Fantastic-Device-4871 day ago
+3
That's just crazy! You're talking sense!
This is the USPS we're talking about. Normal economics don't apply.
3
brahbocop1 day ago
+2
You’re right actually! The USPS receives almost no government funding but is basically ran by the government so yes, normal economics don’t apply. Imagine a business that one political party hates and wants to go under, being allowed to make decisions on its behalf to, you know, try to make it go under.
2
Knees0ck1 day ago
+1
This is a precursor the the very convenient closures &/or lessening of services for election season
1
Aerchaiz1 day ago
+1
Running it like a business...
1
Fantastic-Device-4871 day ago
-1
Am I lucky, or do other folks get mail delivered on Sunday?
-1
Ditka851 day ago
+2
Kenosha WI gets Sunday mail.
2
Fantastic-Device-4871 day ago
+2
If it's overtime, it's pricey.
2
snowflake37wao1 day ago
make it 8¢ extra for stamps and dont suspend pensions, there are worse things getting funded we wont care. make it 4 and drop pensions and lose our mail and we’ll care in a burn your house down way stop fuckin around
0
Mydreamsource1 day ago
-7
Yet another price hike with no plan to fix their poor service and falling approval ratings.
-7
Fantastic-Device-4871 day ago
+1
They could start by saving gas and payroll by not delivering mail on weekends, **especially on Sunday!**
1
Mydreamsource1 day ago
Yes, you are most correct. I have mail trucks in my neighborhood 7 days a week. Usually there are two. One for mail and one for packages. Probably only 1 in 10 mail deliveries is actual, useful mail. The rest are ads, or political oversized postcard, basically junk mail that goes straight to recycling.
0
Devayurtz1 day ago
-9
I support both of these. Pensions are a dated concept - that's why like... nothing else has them. It's a ball and chain for the USPS. It will never stand a chance with that craziness.
-9
brahbocop1 day ago
+7
Yeah, no. Pensions should absolutely be a thing still and the USPS’s requirement to pre-fund their pensions was done to try and make them go out of business.
7
Grins1111 day ago
+2
This is the answer. It was done to ruin it to privatize it. It was done under bush in 2006. No other business has that requirement.
2
dazed_delujenelle1 day ago
-57
USPS is literal garbage. If they weren’t constitutionally mandated to provide mail service they’d have been out of business years ago.
-57
oakleez1 day ago
+12
They're perfectly fine, current management excluded.
It's not supposed to be a profitable business. It's supposed to be a service provided because we pay taxes.
The GOP narrative that it's a bad thing because it "loses money" is utter nonsense.
12
Seeteuf3l1 day ago
+1
Shouldn't it at least break even by law (which it hasn't managed to do) so to cover it's operating costs
1
jaythebearded1 day ago
+20
Well they aren't a business so doesn't really apply
20
Beznia1 day ago
+7
Yeah seriously... Why do they have to make money? It's a public service. I know why, it's just ridiculous they are used as a political pawn for seemingly no reason.
7
Fracture-Point-1 day ago
+24
Yeah, and the fire department wouldn't exist either if they had to fund themselves. What's your point?
24
dazed_delujenelle1 day ago
-20
At least the fire department doesn’t deliver my mail to the wrong address constantly!
-20
Fracture-Point-1 day ago
+7
Has the post office ever hosed down your neighbor's house when yours was on fire?
91 Comments