US Postal Service to Halt Saturday Mail Delivery

Image from source, Washington Post

I'm sure some of my conservative friends (hi, Dan!) will declare that the United States Postal Service's dire financial straits are just another example of the "Obama economy." Of course, the issue is not so simple. Though Amazon.com and eBay are surely a cash cow for the USPS, particularly at Christmas time, the fact remains that we have many options when sending packages or messages. I made an observation over the holidays that every year I discover how bad my penmanship is getting when I do Christmas cards. How long until even that tradition is supplanted by e-messaging?

But that's not even the whole story. It was a 2006 ruling by the Republican Congress that pulled the drain-plug on USPS's cash flow. It is a prevalent opinion in the left-wing blogosphere (for good reason) that the GOP really, really wants to dismantle the Post Office for several reasons, including union busting and privatization. Which is curious, because the Post Office is Constitutionally mandated. So much for that strict constructionist malarkey, eh?

So, to try and save itself, USPS is cutting Saturday mail delivery. They'll still deliver packages and emergency items. And other than the cost to the economy for those postal workers whose pay is cut, I don't have a problem with the plan. Do you? Often times, I forget to check the mailbox on the weekends anyway, and if I'm expecting something, it's almost always a package. Good plan, hope it helps. And if this article is right, it is a ploy to get some attention for what Congress did to it in the first place.

[Excerpt]

The Post office is defying Congress by halting Saturday mail. But why?

The U.S. Postal Service announced today that it would stop delivering mail on Saturdays in an effort to save $2 billion per year and shore up its finances. Politically speaking, this is a bold move. In the past, Congress has moved to prevent USPS from cutting back delivery to five days a week. . .

Read more at: Washington Post