• US Postal Service may default on a $5.5 billion trust fund payment Sept. 30th
    155 replies, posted
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;32141701]I just feel like asking this considering it's somewhat relevant... Do you guys think it could be possible to have it so that emails are charged like postal stamps? No, not like, "FIVE CENTS PER EMAIL >:(" more on the line five cents per ten emails. If done it could easily stop spam email, as well as help postal services.[/QUOTE] that wouldn't work it's not like email is centralized, it's just sending messages between servers
Depressing. Its not going to be just the US, I predict. If the US goes down, that will hurt trading to countries that relied heavily on us and will just crumble down from there. Bush seriously killed this planets already sad economy.
So a company which provides a valuable service to the country gets no government help, but scum like Goldman and Sachs get billions of dollars when they fuck up.
[QUOTE=Megafanx13;32137389]Whether you're Conservative or Progressive, surely you should agree that we should be funding the postal service.[/QUOTE] Not really. [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Letter_Mail_Company[/url] It is a legal monopoly, if anything, conservative or progressive you should wholeheartedly [i]disagree[/i] that we should have a legal monopoly and outlawed competition. Of course If it actually had competition without a socialized "free" method of sending mail, it'd go out of business immediately. That's why competition is illegal in the first place. [editline]e[/editline] Then again, truth be told the market is so dynamic it doesn't even matter. Email and other forms of communication came along, that's why they're suffering so desperately. [editline]e[/editline] [QUOTE=Megafanx13;32142955]It needs to get federal dollars is what it needs.[/QUOTE] Yeah, rewarding failure is such a great idea. Nothing can go wrong.
yeah, because there's absolutely no ramifications to letting the USPS collapse and there are certainly no external factors in it's financial issues, just everyone involved in the service si a failure!
[QUOTE=Lazor;32144795]yeah, because there's absolutely no ramifications to letting the USPS collapse and there are certainly no external factors in it's financial issues, just everyone involved in the service si a failure![/QUOTE] The ramifications would be legalizing competition in mail services and allow people to setup businesses which are more efficient. If there are temporary problems with getting mail delivered they could support the USPS with additional revenue until other services are ready to assume the responsibility, or do nothing, because it would be the government's own fault for prohibiting competition until now. For those who have jobs and will lose them, they can be hired by the private sector or find new jobs. Just saying "what about those poor monopolists!" when the industry is actively destroying resources, which hurts us all, isn't a very appealing argument. It's already been [b]proven[/b] that mail can be handled privately. There can be no doubts about it, because it's happened before.
[QUOTE=meatballfish;32136487]My mom works at the post-office. Has for her entire adult life. Praying to the GODS that her location doesn't get shut down. They used to bring in a hell of a lot of revenue, where there would be a line out the door, but lately it's been pretty empty. My dad drives semis for a private contractor, which basically get's mail from point A to point B. Looks like my entire family could be fucked. Well, the good thing is, is that they both have A LOT of seniority, so a hell of a lot of people will get fired before either of them do. My dad's in the top 10 drivers at his job, and my mom has over 20 years at hers.[/QUOTE] I guess you're out of luck because, I hate to break it to ya but god isnt real.
[QUOTE=hehe;32136504]Yea, no biggie, it's only like one of the most important organisations a country can have.[/QUOTE]If it was so important it would be state-run. Oh, wait. That's commu-sata-sociatheism. Not even the health sector is state-funded. I'm sorry America, your government doesn't give a shit about you. But that's only because you tell them not to with your educated voting.
[QUOTE=Megafanx13;32137389]Whether you're Conservative or Progressive, surely you should agree that we should be funding the postal service.[/QUOTE] okay heres my stance on this. i was listening to a radio show this morning. a person who has been working for the USPS for a long time called in. a few years ago the government demanded that the USPS reform their managment. Part of it was get rid of 20% of managment. Instead they cut 20% of the workforce and said "okay we did it" the gov said "20% of management". so what does the USPS do? cut 20% more of the weorkforce (!!!!!note percentage is most likely off by a bit, morelikely to be 10 or so % each time) the caller also said the USPS is completely mismanaged and, with him working at it still, he says they essentially ran it into the ground and it doesn't deserve to be bailed out. [editline]6th September 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=doonbugie2;32148709]I guess you're out of luck because, I hate to break it to ya but god isnt real.[/QUOTE] oh my god kid stop. seriously. no one cares whether god is real or not. this isn't even about religion.
We should definitely ignore the underlying issues and throw money at the problem, because that has fixed all of this country's problems in the past.
[QUOTE=gerbile5;32149927]okay heres my stance on this. i was listening to a radio show this morning. a person who has been working for the USPS for a long time called in. a few years ago the government demanded that the USPS reform their managment. Part of it was get rid of 20% of managment. Instead they cut 20% of the workforce and said "okay we did it" the gov said "20% of management". so what does the USPS do? cut 20% more of the weorkforce (!!!!!note percentage is most likely off by a bit, morelikely to be 10 or so % each time) the caller also said the USPS is completely mismanaged and, with him working at it still, he says they essentially ran it into the ground and it doesn't deserve to be bailed out.[/QUOTE] So you say it's mismanaged? Why not just, you know, replace the management?
[QUOTE=Megafanx13;32152629]So you say it's mismanaged? Why not just, you know, replace the management?[/QUOTE] When you're dealing with alien forces in the market like a bureaucratically controlled government sanctioned monopoly, you quickly discover through a quick reading of the history that the form of management doesn't matter. I'm sure monarchy was a valid system because good people ran it sometimes, too.
[QUOTE=s0beit;32155466]When you're dealing with alien forces in the market like a bureaucratically controlled government sanctioned monopoly, you quickly discover through a quick reading of the history that the form of management doesn't matter. I'm sure monarchy was a valid system because good people ran it sometimes, too.[/QUOTE] You don't think you're being a little too ideological in that argument? Think realistically here, the Democratic Senate isn't going to pass some radical "get rid of the DoE" bill, and it's really not a worthy endeavor. I do not want schools to become even more for-profit than they already are. That kind of thing is already at disgustingly high levels.
s0beit, idealogical? that never happens!
[QUOTE=Lazor;32156314]s0beit, idealogical? that never happens![/QUOTE] When a Socialist has to tell a Libertarian he's being too ideological, you know it's too much.
It says something about a country when they can't keep something as basic as the postal service operating.
[QUOTE=Megafanx13;32156424]When a Socialist has to tell a Libertarian he's being too ideological, you know it's too much.[/QUOTE] when have i ever said i'm a socialist
I say let it die. Its not a matter of being mismanaged or not running efficiently. It is a matter of a system that is out of date and becoming irreverent in the modern digital age. I would say start shutting it down create some sort of shutdown plan to pay what is due and stop pumping cash into the hole. Then allow private companies that seem to run fine by themselves (Fedex, UPS, etc.) to take over the market on first class mail which the USPS currently holds a government sanctioned monopoly on. I personally don't receive any mail other than pizza coupons and bundles of junk mail. I pay all my bills and stuff online.
[QUOTE=Lazor;32156468]when have i ever said i'm a socialist[/QUOTE] I'm referring to myself.
[QUOTE=Ottomann;32156630]It is a matter of a system that is out of date and becoming irreverent in the modern digital age.[/QUOTE] The postal service is not "out of date" It won't be out of date in 20 years It won't be out of date in 200 years Whether they'll be getting letters around with fusion-powered rockets or quantum teleportation or whatever, there will still be a postal service
[QUOTE=Zeke129;32156654]The postal service is not "out of date" It won't be out of date in 20 years It won't be out of date in 200 years Whether they'll be getting letters around with fusion-powered rockets or quantum teleportation or whatever, there will still be a postal service[/QUOTE] Without the postal service, how would you send items that aren't letters or images?
[QUOTE=Megafanx13;32156686]Without the postal service, how would you send items that aren't letters or images?[/QUOTE] Private sector! Because nothing says freedom like a $40 brokerage fee on a $2 item to get it across the border
[QUOTE=Zeke129;32156697]Private sector! Because nothing says freedom like a $40 brokerage fee on a $2 item to get it across the border[/QUOTE] And we can give it a really official sounding name, like Federal Express!
I love you statists of FP!
[QUOTE=Ottomann;32156784]I love you statists of FP![/QUOTE] Do elaborate on what you're implying here.
[QUOTE=Megafanx13;32156831]Do elaborate on what you're implying here.[/QUOTE] No. But I will say maybe we should get rid of the brokerage fee as well. It is hard for a free market to work when you don't have a truly free market.
[QUOTE=Ottomann;32156943]No. But I will say maybe we should get rid of the brokerage fee as well. It is hard for a free market to work when you don't have a truly free market.[/QUOTE] Sounds like globalization to me, you NWO commie.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;32156956]Sounds like globalization to me, you NWO commie.[/QUOTE] I call it letting free people interact on a voluntary basis.
[QUOTE=Ottomann;32156943]No. But I will say maybe we should get rid of the brokerage fee as well. It is hard for a free market to work when you don't have a truly free market.[/QUOTE] So you come out with some derogatory comment, and then don't even have the decency to explain it? [editline]6th September 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Ottomann;32156975]I call it letting free people interact on a voluntary basis.[/QUOTE] Essential services are essential for a reason. If it was alright for them to be voluntary, they wouldn't be essential now would they?
[QUOTE=Ottomann;32156975]I call it letting free people interact on a voluntary basis.[/QUOTE] Interesting attitude. It's the same one that's causing companies to outsource jobs because they'd rather pay slave wages overseas. A free global market won't work.
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