Mailing a letter to cost a penny more next year

[jsr]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- It'll cost another penny to mail a letter next year.

The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service said Thursday that it will raise postage rates on Jan. 27, including a 1-cent increase in the cost of first-class mail to 46 cents.

Under the law, the post office cannot raise prices more than the rate of inflation, or 2.6 percent. The mail agency, which expects to lose a record $15 billion this year, has asked Congress to give it new authority to raise stamp prices by 5 cents, but the House has yet to act.

The Postal Service also will increase rates on priority mail shipping, by 4 percent.

Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/10/11/3025917/mailing-a-letter-to-cost-a-penny.html

[Onlooker]

1. I wish they would just make it 50 cents

I still think the Post Office is great. It's a terrific service, but what drives me nuts is their penny increases, so that I never know what stamps to use. Change the law and make it 50 cents, and keep it at that price for awhile. To send something from Boston to Los Angeles for 50 cents is a bargain in my opinion.

[onehandle]

5. The Direct Mail Lobby won't let them.

The cost of junk mail would go up too much for them.

Oh, the horror.

[CreekDog]

18. I don't want delivery of junk mail, period

I don't solicit it, I don't want it.

I try to stop it, a ton of it still comes through.

I recycle it, it costs me tax money and state money for my state/community to recycle it for me. (and I didn't want it in the first place)

It wastes resources (paper, fuel to deliver it, etc.) and I don't want it.

Stop this nonsense and waste and stop the harmful environmental impact of sending me CRAP and BAD DEALS that I don't want in the first place.

[PATRICK]

27. Have you tried stopping all standard mail delivery

to your address by request at your local Post Office? Still some advertising comes through first class and some valuable information etc. via low rate mail. But there are people very dedicated to eliminating paper waste and it seems this might be an answer in your case.

Picking and choosing what comes through is not even easy on the telephone Do Not Call registry which won't end what a lot of people consider a nuisance. The other problem if not paper you have to work very hard to be properly served online- again without getting spammed and taking down the mailbox.

Maybe we should go back to labor intensive Town Criers, but at what hour(s)?

[CreekDog]

28. I still get a lot of correspondence via mail, and I don't want to stop that

but the bulk crap that I keep trying to stop --it's impossible to stop it.

[PATRICK]

32. Analyze that "standard" mail described in the right hand postage block

and if you are very sure none of that is something you need you can stop standard, but maybe not the ads that come with first class postage. Newspapers are second class but not the ad circulars and penny-savers.
Ask your postmaster. I never thought notifying all the private mailers for all the effort would solve the problem. There is a box master though and that is the USPS, but they can't do guessing games on filtering the mail. Identifying an entire class to block has to be the way though first class delivery is their only monopolized mandate by law.

[MADem]

7. I only buy those forever stamps. Then it doesn't matter what the price is. nt

[harmonicon]

21. I completely agree.

Instead of this little incremental jumps, it would be better if they just put things up by five or ten cents every five or ten years, instead of these jumps.

[dixiegrrrrl]

30. If you buy the "forever" stamps, they are good for all time.

I bought a bunch of the Forever stamp books back when stamps were 42 cents, still using them.

[PSPS]

2. Fine by me. It's still cheap at twice the price.

[SharonAnn]

26. Absolutely. It's still cheap. Imagine if all we had was UPS or FedEx to mail a letter.

That would be expensive!

[Ineeda]

3. Buy 'forever' stamps.

I don't mind the actual cost of a first class stamp - 43 cents, 44 cents, fifty cents - whatever. It's still a good deal. What I don't like is buying the 'make-up' stamps for a penny or two each. It never comes out even (kind of like ten hotdogs and eight buns!) The 'forever' stamps are good for a one-ounce first class piece of mail, not matter the going rate.

[freshwest]

4. Stupid to keep the rates low with a deficit. Of course the GOP wants the Post Office gone.

[Smilo]

16. You have hit the nail on the head there.

[mwooldri]

6. We need: Separation between Post Office and Congress.

The Postal Service should be able to run and regulate itself. Set its own prices. Manage its own pension program.

I'm still on the fence as to whether the Postal Service should have exclusive access to individual mailboxes.

[alp227]

8. But how will it still be a public service if not regulated by Congress? I don't get it.

[Ash_F]

9. Right, we should concentrate on electing better congressmen. /nt

[mwooldri]

35. I'm glad you get it.

Since Congress is doing a lousy job, why not let USPS run itself? Your congressional representative is not the best person to oversee its operations. Must keep the USPS publicly owned though.

[mwooldri]

34. Easy. It becomes a government owned company. 100%.

Congress wouldn't have any real say so with Usps. The executive office would do the intervention if needed. The only difference is that the postal service would not be a government agency as it is today but a company owned by the people, for the people. Usps management get to call all the shots, not Congress. Why can't the postal service offer a wider range of services, eg banking, run a retail outlet, relocate offices to better places, partner with states to provide services like car tag renewals, maybe even some social security services (basically form filling, copy of social security card application)... A post office can do much more than just deliver mail and these additional businesses may generate new revenue and profits. Just give the postal service the freedom!

[alp227]

36. How will we the people regulate USPS without congressional authority?

[valerief]

10. Fuckin' union-busting Congress whores. nt

[Politicalboi]

11. It should be a dollar

Hand delivered mail should cost more. And let the junk mailers pay more too. I hate junk mail.

[bemildred]

24. +1. And cheap at that price. nt

[ehrnst]

12. Worth it when you think about what you get for those pennies. (nt)

[fozzieferocious]

13. Privatize it!

Then we can pay $2 to mail a letter across town! Gotta pay them shareholders!

Just kidding!

Fucking fascist Republicans.

[lib2DaBone]

14. God Bless the Post office.. workers and Union...

I am glad they are there on Saturday... Holding my packages and registered mail.. helping me out. And I TOLD them so.

Cheap at Twice the price.

Screw the politicians and bless the workers!

[lib2DaBone]

15. Going up a friggin PENNY. and people will bitch...?

How about home insurance that is going up 40%?

How about Health Insurance that is going up 60% in ONE YEAR?

How about inflation that is running rampant since QE-4 Ever?

Do Not repeat phrases and memes from Fox News.. they are continually WRONG.

[gauguin57]

17. I still like to send greeting cards. Not greeting e-mails, not greeting Tweets...

... Greeting CARDS.

I figure that, by banking online, I use fewer stamps for paying bills, so I can still afford to buy stamps to send greeting cards to people. No matter how much they charge.

[Sancho]

19. I'd be glad to pay more for a stamp to save the Post Office!!

and I HATE the GOP for trying to kill our government successes...

[madrchsod]

20. wow! what a crock of shit...

the post office is solvent .

another bullshit story from the ap.

[MessiahRp]

22. They could raise it to $1.00 and it would still be reasonable.

Consider the cost of small packages through UPS/Fed Ex and realize that once we start having to use them, every piece of mail will have to use those rates as a starting point.

Plus I like that the USPS employs so many workers. I'd rather my money go to that and keep USPS afloat than to the oil companies, or endless wars or other corporate welfare.

[torotoro]

23. PERMANENT STAMPS! End of Story

Why don't people just buy Permanent Stamps? They cost the same as regular stamps but they dont change in value any time in the future..so you can use the stamp 10 years from now on a letter and not have to worry about adding extra stamps to make up for the lost cost that would happen with regular stamps.

I am Canadian so may you guys dont have this option???

[Sgent]

25. We do -- they're called forever stamps

but its relatively recent.

[ailsagirl]

39. They're called "Forever" stamps in the US

And, yes, they're always good regardless of what the current postal fee

[olddad56]

29. with online bill pay and email, this increase will set me back about a dime next year.

[juajen]

31. I will support the post office as much as I can.

Think I will start buying more stamps when the price goes up. I also support a 5 cent raise. It is deplorable for has been done to our wonderful Post Office.

[eringer]

33. Compared to Canada, its still a underpriced

Canada is going to 63 cents for first class domestic mail in January 2013.
http://www.adminware.ca/checklist/chk_rate.htm#2010

[Whatisgoingon]

37. How many letters/bills do you mail every month??

I probably mail 6-8 bills/cards per month. So, when the price goes up 1 cent every couple of years, big whoopdedoo!! 6 or 8 cents more per month??? Compared to everything else??? I worked for the USPS for over 30 years, and I could not believe how many people drove their cars to the post office, to buy 1 stamp at a time - yet, when the postage went up 1 cent, they were the first people to complain. I stay in contact with local post offices, and yes - there are still many people who drive their cars to the post office to buy 1 stamp, and then bitch about the price of postage. ????

[Posteritatis]

40. Yeah, it boggles me how people who aren't junk mailers get so outraged over this. (nt)

[ailsagirl]

38. Happy to pay that

I happen to like the USPS, unlike the rethugs

[Lucy Fer]

41. Not bad

Few people mail letters anyway these days