OPINION: Postal Snafu
Friday, September 23, 2011 at 1:22PMEven when it’s quick, the postal service is now called snail mail because it cannot match the instant delivery of email, or of posting pictures and comments on Facebook.
Over the last four years, the volume of mail is down 20% and the postal service has lost $20-billion—$3-billion just in the last quarter. The cost of a stamp remains a bargain, but raising rates is restricted by politics.
With over 600-thousand workers, the postal service cannot deliver a profit—or even break even. It’s caught between labor union contracts that lock-in back-breaking costs, and federal laws that won’t allow small post offices to be closed, or Saturday delivery to be cut back.
Like so much else in Washington, the Postal Service demonstrates how when Congress sweeps problems under the rug, they only get worse.
From The Heritage Foundation, I’m Ernest Istook.
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