How many real life people, really, are affected in a significant way by postal rate increases?

[Stinky The Clown]

How many people regularly use the mail in a way where this postal rate increase of 2¢ per first class letter is going to have an actual affect on them?

I suspect . . . . none. Even if they use 10 stamps a week, that's two bucks.

Why are postal rate increases always such "big news"? Does anyone even care?

[blondeatlast]

1. It only merits a mention because, um, well, give me a minute...

Considering I've used exactly 3 stamps this year, I'll just slap another one on; it's cheaper than the gas to go get the little 2 cent deelies.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Heh! We do that every rate increase! For the very same reason.

We now buy "forever" stamps which, so they say, never go out of date.

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. They need to bump it to $0.50 or $0.60 or whatever and be done with it for a few years.

The debate gets annoying - and i can only imagine how time consuming it is for the USPS to prepare the $0.02 case every year.

To answer your question, I do send out holiday cards, but other than that, MAYBE 6 stamps a year myself. More like 4?

[Stinky The Clown]

6. I was thinking the very same thing. Just go big and long and leave us alone for a while.

[madokie]

27. And let those assholes see they can get by with a big ass increase

I'll never think that is a good idea. Make 'em fight for every fucking cent is what I want to see, sorry.

[blondeatlast]

7. I like that idea. nt

[onehandle]

17. Agreed. nt

[EmeraldCityGrl]

3. Posting a letter is one of the last great deals around.

Besides, my postal carrier works hard and deserves good pay and bennies.

[Liberal_in_LA]

37. yep

[SunnySong]

5. Becasue it costs little people money... and by little people I mean large businesses.

Now no mail on Saturday on the other hand... :mad:

[Vinnie From Indy]

8. Jezzus H Christ on a cracker - the ignorance burns!

The fact is that postal rate increases have a dramatic and, in some cases, deadly impact on a host of businesses. It isn't so much that I give a shit about idiotic posts, it is the arrogance and proud stupidity that galls me.

I weep for America!

[Ruby the Liberal]

18. What businesses exactly rely so heavily on direct mail these days?

Seriously.

I moved 2 years ago and maybe the junk mail hasn't caught up with me, but I get like 6 items a WEEK via USPS and I am in my 40s with a ~780 credit score. I used to get flooded with credit/mortgage 'invitations'. Not even seeing those anymore.

Who is getting all of this critical mail and what does it consist of?

[kestrel91316]

24. Some of us actually have the nerve to mail our clients actual postcard reminders.

Like, um, THE ENTIRE VETERINARY PROFESSION........

[madokie]

28. But, but Veterinarians makes gobs of money, why should that bother you, you have lots of it

:sarcasm:
The postal clerks and carriers are making a good living now and this rate increase will only be gobbled up by the machine, meaning more beanies for the upper crust of 'm

[Vinnie From Indy]

36. Hi Ruby!

Well, for instance, there are many, many business to business publications and advertising companies that support literally hundreds of thousands of families in America. There are also struggling local businesses like restuarants and dry cleaners that will see their ad rates go up. There are also millions of Ebay and Amazon online sellers that will see their slim profit margins gobbled up in a rate increase. I could go on and on with the millions of REAL people that will have a difficult time with increased postage rates. I am not for or against the rate increases as I have not studied them or read any articles about their impact, but I can assure you a rate increase will have an effect.

[Ruby the Liberal]

38. Thanks for the bigger picture!

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

9. I was just at the PO today

at the Bulk Mail facility. Man! The PO moves a LOT of stuff. But I wish they could figure out what price would allow them to break even instead of this small bit by bit strategy.......

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. They cannot raise it beyond inflation

if congress don't give them permission.

Even getting permission is difficult at best.

And reality is they were not supposed to turn a profit. For god sakes people probably don't know that they are the ONLY service in the Constitution.

[OhioChick]

10. Many elderly that I know use snail mail for bills, etc. and are on fixed incomes. n/t

[nevergiveup]

11. It is my understanding that priority mail small parcels rates are also going up.

As a small 3 employee retail/mail order company it will hurt. Shipping costs both from UPS and USPS have skyrocketed the last few years and it has been brutal for small companies like ours who do not ship the volume required by UPS and USPS to qualify for discounts. The small Ma and Pa companies are the ones who get killed when UPS or USPS rates are increased.

[Skip Intro]

12. My guess is very few to none. Close to the nominal opposition to 5 day delivery schedules.

They're going to five days and they should.

And no one will be impacted by that or the price increase in delivery charges to mail a letter.

Not to any serious degree.

[jtuck004]

13. It won't hurt anyone, except

the elderly on a fixed income who still mail their bills
people who don't have enough income or understanding to have a computer and the internet and a bank account
people who pay rent or a mortgage, because it will be one more in a long line of the costs of doing business
that will be passed along to them
people for whom it adds one more cost that are paying increased property taxes, increased sales tax, paying for
pensions that have been unfunded
Ayone who sends anything via lettered post, such as cd's, dvd's from ebay, etc, which will increase the cost
Even people who are unemployed - if they are sending out resumes this adds to the cost.

And two bucks a week is ~$100 a year. And that's some kids lunch money. Or the cost of a couple of prescription refills.

But other than that, no big deal ;)

[Travis_0004]

15. How do you get 2 bucks a week?

That would be 100 letters a week. I don't think many people on fixed incomes are sending 100 letters a week. I bet the number is closer to 10 a month or less.


Also, the postal service is loosing money, so to loose less, they need to increase funding. Don't you think it makes sense to get that funding from people who use their services? That seems the most logical way to me.

[jtuck004]

21. From the OP "Even if they use 10 stamps a week, that's two bucks."

The postal service is losing money, animal control is losing money, the county is losing money, the city is losing money, Joe Main Street Business is losing money - Every single one of those entities is losing money, and raising fees. And all of that takes money from people who earn it and give it to other people who earn it - but one comes from the profit of people's labor, the other from taxes on what the private citizen is paid.

You say it's fee for service. Figure in 31 million people (and growing) who are unemployed or underemployed - where does their portion come from? Everyone else's taxes. Yet they get multiple notices from the state, the city, their bills, etc. Every single one of the entities I mentioned above is asking for more (and if they have to pay more for postage, they may ask for even more). For example, our property taxes increased. Yet the values are down, the home next door foreclosed, there are 6 houses within a half mile that haven't sold in over 6 months. The county says our house is worth more - even though by any comparative real estate analysis it's worth less. Another - the school which is already pretty well funded now wants more money to create a program to spend on drop-outs who we are already providing classes for. I understand the need, but it is another cost. Another - the animal shelter increased their fees. Taxes were just added to candy and less expensive beer - not the good yuppie beers, but the stuff Joe six-pak (that is, my friends) drink. The - well, I could go on, but I won't.

My point is that it doesn't happen in a vacuum. It hurts people on a fixed income worse. And when more people are unemployed, and their expenses are higher, what then? When they raise prices, less people mail so that decreases the amount of mail their overhead can be spread across. It's a death spiral.

[Bobbieo]

14. I pay all of my bills by mail.

[onehandle]

16. First Class postage is one of the greatest bargains we have.

So it's going to be what... 46 cents? To send a physical object country wide. Often by next day.

It could be a buck and still be an incredible value.

[Politicalboi]

22. I've said the same thing

One dollar is not too much for the service it provides. A hand delivered piece of mail. With that increase, they could maybe work out a deal with small businesses and those on SSI.

[Art_from_Ark]

19. When I mailed my first letter, it cost 5 cents

A letter to an aunt, written in 1966. I think postal rate increases can be used as an easy-to-track indicator of the actual inflation rate.

[kestrel91316]

23. Teeny weeny businesses like mine that send out lots of reminder cards every month......

When they increase First Class, they increase everything else, too.

[MadHound]

25. I imagine to a significant portion of people in this country, yes, it's news

Something like forty percent of the people in this country don't have regular access to a computer, thus email is out.

Phone rates can and are expensive, thus letters still play a part in the lives of these people. Hell, it still plays a role in my life, my Mom, being of an older generation is absolutely thrilled to get a paper and pen letter from me, so I write them often. Will two cent make a real big deal in my life, no, but still it's not a good thing.

For many businesses it isn't a good thing, especially small businesses who don't get the bulk discounts like the big corporations do. The folks trying to survive on ebay or some other internet business that ships through the mail. Hell, the last month I patronized at least ten of these businesses myself for various books, parts, etc. That's a cost that will be passed on to all of us, and I don't feel like paying another buck to get solenoids shipped to me:shrug:

So yeah, I can see why it's big news.

[SoCalDem]

26. Back when they raised it to 31 and then 33 and then 37 etc, they should have just gone to 50 cents

and gotten ahead of the curve, instead of always catching up..or trying to.

The sad thing is that now with email , "unlimited" long distance /skype-like calling, & online banking/bill-pay, about the only thing the postal service delivers these days is JUNK MAIL..

[sufrommich]

29. Anybody who sells on Ebay or anybody that sells over the

internet.

[rucky]

30. The real news is USPS is operating 4b in the hole

and cutting tens of thousands of jobs.

[Broke In Jersey]

31. too many cry babies complaining

the postal workers are union and deserve far more money and benefits than they currently have for the hard work they do! Stop being selfish over a few pennies!

[Stinky The Clown]

32. Lots of "F" in reading comprehension here. Lots of "A" for Jumping to Conclusions

The OP was about the noozmedia's hullabaloo that always accompanies a 1¢ or 2¢ increase in postal rates. It is, if you think about it, always accompanied by some snarky scripted banter between the anchors. It is the same story line as the moron at the post office at 11 PM every April 15, asking drive by tax return mailers why they're so late.

The word is "cliche"

The OP was neither for nor against the rate increase itself.

But, speaking of that, since you asked:

Why not get ahead of the curve and raise the rates not a few pennies, but maybe all the way to 50¢ or even 60¢ or 75¢?

The comment was about a first class stamp or a first class letter (no, that was said specifically; it was *implied*). If you ship stuff in other than an envelope, then the OP wasn't even about you, your outrage notwithstanding.

But again, back to the essence of the post: It was the reportage, not the fact.

Carry on.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

33. I sell on the Internet and although first class is only going up 2 cents,

other services such as first class packages, priority, international go up at higher rates. With this increase, I will be forced to raise mailing fees for my customers, and they might not wish to purchase so readily from me. It's been hard as it is with this economy. My sales are down about 50% from a year and a half ago.

[Greyhound]

34. One of the very few positive things that America is still #1 in, and we can't seem to wait to

fuck it up more than we have.

Congress began using the USPS as its own little slush fund and pork supply decades ago and it's only gotten worse. Now we are at a point where it really is almost as bad as the media tells us it is. Since Potter was installed by the Idiot Frat Boy (another disaster that Obama needlessly continued), a constantly greater proportion of revenues have been siphoned upward to the parasites that produce nothing, while more and more is taken from the workers that actually do the job.

I would bet money that almost any street carrier or clerk could improve performance and get the USPS in the black in a year simply by not having any agenda beyond running and improving the organization.

[jp11]

35. The only aspect I can see of it being 'big news' is to alert people that they can't use their old

stamps as they are, in most cases, anymore. This is important for people who pay their bills or otherwise need to make a deadline and do so with regular first class postage by dropping the letter off in a post office box, if you can find one. For those that mail their letters near the due date a returned letter can take 2-3days to get back to you marked insufficient postage, it has been several years since this happened to me but my PO took at least 2 days, arrived 2nd day, to get back to me. If you mailed a letter a few days before it was due that could mean the valid posted date, what some companies used to decide if your payment was on time, might not cut it because of the delay.

That is a 'theory' on why it is 'such big news'.