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Union vs Taxpayers moving to Congress

 
 


Posted by Christopher    United States   on 04/03/2011 at 03:05 AM   
 
  1. Now that I think about it, I will pick up the phone on April 4, and encourge my Congresscritter to CUT THE SPENDING!

    Posted by Christopher    United States   04/03/2011  at  02:30 AM  

  2. “The Postal Service provides high-quality service at the most affordable postage rates in the world without receiving a dime of taxpayer money.

    Chris ... I’ve just been educated.  Surely the PO can’t get all its monies from stamps.

    Some number of years ago you may recall, the service spent (we were told txpayer money) hundreds of thousands of dollars just to change the PO logo. Why? I guess someone had to justify his job. What was wrong with the old logo?
    THEN ... the fellow who was at the time top dog moved houses a matter of yards (ok, could have been a half mile) at a huge cost. I recall a bit of a flap over it at the time and the cost was outrageous, especially at a time when mail carriers were being asked to tighten their own belts.

    Over here in the nanny state, what once was truly a fantastic postal service has been whittled down again and again and we are looking at the possibility of the third increase in 12 months. Not only that, it looks like the govt. might remove whatever restrictions are in place to cap postal increases and leave it up strictly to the post office.  Which btw .. could be sold to either the Germans or the Spanish who have made bids in the past.
    Need to get Lyndon in on this cos he’s always up to date with info.

    Posted by peiper    United Kingdom   04/03/2011  at  07:39 AM  

  3. peiper, I can’t say anything about the logo. I hate the ‘new’ logo.

    Regardless, the spin is that the Postal Service doesn’t receive any taxpayer funds.

    That’s true! As far as it goes.

    But… as Obama would say (and when Obama speaks, there’s always a ‘but’)

    For my entire ‘career’ as a mailman, I was told that we didn’t ‘receive a dime of taxpayer money’. No mention of Government-subsidized loans.

    Okay, forget the fact that we are what the US government prosecuted Microsoft for being: a monopoly. You can make the case that the Government has the power, under Article One, Section Eight, to ‘establish post offices’.

    I don’t see how that Article requires a monopoly. It allows Congress to establish post offices. I don’t see how it establishes a monopoly.

    Here’s how the postal monopoly is enforced: Somebody sticks something in your mailbox. I find it before you do. I ‘confiscate’ it as ‘contraband’. I turn it in to my boss in the office. Whoever put that in your mailbox is not only subject to First Class postage, they are subject to a $300/per piece fine. So, if I bring back 50 local flyers in the mailboxes, that is a violation of the Private Express Statutes. 50x$300...you get the picture.

    It amazes me how often I’m asked how long this law has been in effect.

    ‘Since the 1880s’ is my answer.

    The legal theory, and again, I’m not a lawyer, is that while you own your mailbox, the Post Office owns the space inside.

    I’m not joking! Ask a lawyer! This has been law since the Private Express Statutes were passed.

    Posted by Christopher    United States   04/03/2011  at  08:24 AM  

  4. Not that it matters in the great scheme of things but I like the postal service I get from the Postal Service.I used to use UPS but I get better rates and options from ol usps.Hmm, what was my point going to be?
    Oh,right.
    If I had a mind altering machine to turn the troll in my district[Earl the Pearl Blumenaur] into at minimum a RINO I would lather him with words. But alas, he’s a card carrying marxist loon who frenches Nancy Pelosie’s balloon knot at every opportunity.
    Anyway, keep up the good fight Post Man.
    cool smile

    Posted by Rich K    United States   04/03/2011  at  08:31 AM  

  5. I dunno...methinks Rich K is making fun of me…

    Happy you are happy with our service Rich K. Let me give an example of really stupid stuff:

    A gentleman on my route died. He had 4 or 5 ‘friends’ living in his home at the time of his death.

    All of them have been evicted. I’ve yet to receive a COA (Change Of Address) from any of them.

    Here’s the fun part; for the last two weeks they’ve had a large envelop stuck up on the mailbox. They’ve written ‘Deceased’ on it. ‘Return to Sender’.

    I’m sure they think I, as a mailman, would return it to sender. No. It’s a UPS parcel. You know UPS, they are the ‘brownshirts’, drive those big brown vans. I can’t do a thing with it. Mind you I’ve picked up all of the ‘deceased’, ‘moved’ ‘evicted’ mail. But I can’t touch the UPS piece. They have to call UPS for that, or take it to a Post Office and pay postage.

    Posted by Christopher    United States   04/03/2011  at  08:53 AM  

  6. I am stymied at how the USPS can be a governmental agency and not getting a dime of taxpayer funds? Aren’t the buildings built via taxpayer monies? Aren’t you all paid via taxpayer monies? So explain exactly how USPS is a governmental agency that functions without taxpayer monies - and If it is true - can’t all the other failure (wait, shouldn’t that be a clue - the postal service has it’s bit of failures, just like every other Federal agency) Government agencies follow that path to ‘success’.

    Just asking.

    I’m so tired of writing Repeal (TWMBR) and Cut and Drill Here, Drill Now - they aren’t listening. The wonder vote of Nov 2010 is going to be lost to a gutless, spineless - go-along-to get-along GOP head that should have been killed off decades ago - so that we would not be here now.

    I no longer am sure of what the answer is. I will however send Issa a note to hang tough and not let the old boys network of RINOs beat him down.

    Posted by wardmama4    United States   04/03/2011  at  09:16 AM  

  7. It Really gets depressing when you consider that the entire Republican Party is probably just a tool of the progressives, maintained by Soros money, whose purpose is to give us a sense of hope and distract us from our enslavement and destruction.  You can’t trust anyone on either side.  Ether side is an illusion.  They are all on the same side and it’s not our side.

    Posted by grayjohn    United States   04/03/2011  at  09:32 AM  

  8. I am stymied at how the USPS can be a governmental agency and not getting a dime of taxpayer funds? Aren’t the buildings built via taxpayer monies? Aren’t you all paid via taxpayer monies? So explain exactly how USPS is a governmental agency that functions without taxpayer monies - and If it is true - can’t all the other failure (wait, shouldn’t that be a clue - the postal service has it’s bit of failures, just like every other Federal agency) Government agencies follow that path to ‘success’.

    Here’s the nitty gritty wardmama. Allegedly, since the reorganization during the Nixon Administration (remember that? I don’t. I was too young) The post office employees went on strike. Nixon, bless his heart, sent in the National Guard to cover the mail. Yes, I applaud Nixon on several issues. He sucked on several more. He gave us OSHA, for example.

    Wardmama, what makes you think that we build post office buildings? I wish we did. I spent most of this last winter trying to keep the mail from the water that was pouring from the roof. We lease this building and the owner just wanted to know when we would get off his back. He’s got something like a 100 yr lease from the government, and he doesn’t want to put any money into the building. I’ve worked out of this same building since 1993. The air conditioning only works in the winter. The heating only works in the summer. And the roof only sheds rain when it’s not raining.

    Now, remember, the Postal Service was an Article One, Section Eight, responsibility of the Congress…

    Oh, I forgot, passing a budget is also a Congressional duty. Yet the Democrat Congress <strik>couldn’t</strike> wouldn’t pass a budget in an election year. Now the Demoncrats are trying to put the blame on us. (as in Republicans)

    As for the Post Office, well, we are a government monopoly. Who else can you rant/complain about?

    Riddle me this: why do I get excoriated when UPS delivers a package to a vacant building? You have no idea how often that happens.

    Posted by Christopher    United States   04/03/2011  at  10:15 AM  

  9. I was very sincere. I make my living selling parts all over this great country(till we fubar it anyway) and postage affects my net.
    As for perfect,ask God how that works cause no one else makes that grade. UPS and Fedex can lose shit just as easy as the Christopher crowd.
    Until the competition can invent robot delivery I think USPS will be hangin in there with the best and worst of em.
    It is funny how few folks know the P.O is a constitional requirement.
    cool grin

    Posted by Rich K    United States   04/03/2011  at  11:06 AM  

  10. BTW, Glad to see no one was curious as to ask me what a balloon knot is.I assume its obvious from the context.First time I heard it it took me a few ticks to get it,,,DUH!

    Posted by Rich K    United States   04/03/2011  at  11:08 AM  

  11. I was very sincere. I make my living selling parts all over this great country

    Rich, I don’t doubt you.

    One of the things our competitors always use is ‘yeah, you’re using first-class to subsidize the rest’…

    I can’t vouch for the truth of that prior to 1989, when I came in. I’m told that such hadn’t been true since the old Post Office Department days…

    Regardless, who cares? Businesses do that sort of ‘cost shifting’ constantly. The 1972 Reorganization Act, under Nixon, set the Post Office up as a quasi-government entity. There was no longer a Cabinet-level Postmaster, for example.

    Is it time to get rid of the Postal Service? With so many, including myself, in extremis, using online bill-pay?

    I doubt it. When technology breaks down, as in Japan recently, you need reliable mail service. I think that’s why ‘post offices’ is in Article One, Section Eight of the US Constitution.

    Don’t get me wrong--I’m not saying that postal services have to be government provided. Who will you turn to in a disaster like Japan. We expect, despite all evidence, the government to be there.

    I’ll tell you what...in an emergency, I’ll be there. I may not deliver the mail. I’ll probably be assisting in rescue efforts. I’ll pull your sorry ass out of the rubble. I’ll give you food and coffee. Then I’ll listen while you rant about how you didn’t get your check.

    You’re welcome.

    Posted by Christopher    United States   04/03/2011  at  11:45 AM  

  12. Thanks Christopher - that explains a local building of dubious origin that has become a ‘hub’ for my area - nasty looking thing - and old as the hills.

    I am impressed with my local people - ok, one or two inside the mailing part could use an attitude adjustment and always seem to work - when no one else is on duty (if you get my drift). I tend to use the Machine - I love it 24/7 - no one to deal with, but I do two odd mailings (overseas, book shipping) I need to do inside - which is when I have to deal with ‘them’.  But our delivery gal is nice and good and actually comes in the AM (thus if a wonderful check comes I can get it into the bank that day).

    So like most things - it is all in the way the local people deal with the flak (and money) from DC.

    Posted by wardmama4    United States   04/04/2011  at  07:17 AM  

  13. wardmama4, obviously I don’t know your local problems/history.

    I’m just saying what I’ve been dealing with since 1993.

    This building sucks. I’ve proposed we rent the now-vacant Ford dealership a half-block away. It has a dock for our mail trucks to deliver our mail. It has parking and window-dressing for customers. It even has gated/barbwire fencing in back for us to park our vans/cars/other vehicles.

    For some reason, as I said previously, our landlord wrangled a 100yr lease.

    Political? You Betcha!

    Bolton/Palin 2012

    My dream ticket…

    Posted by Christopher    United States   04/04/2011  at  08:21 AM  

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