I don’t know how I will manage. My junk mail will not make it to my house until Monday. The third class mail that has such a firm lobby on Washington must be so happy. Neither the Post Office, nor Congress, tampered with their little party. The primary reason the losses at the Postal Department have gone from $2.8 billion a year in Obama’s first term, to $15.9 billion last year, the cost to deliver cheap third-class mail, gets yet another pass. But, your stamp cost keeps going up. Along with your taxes to cover this disgrace. If Obama is looking after the middle class, where is he looking here. Is the middle class dependent on catalogs and obsolete magazines that give us news the Internet gave us 10 days ago. The outhouses that used the Sears catalogue are long gone.
None of the plans I have seen from the USPS to cut costs, plans that congress keeps killing, include socking it to those who ride on the money from first class mail users to send their junk. Closing post offices, yes, denied by Congress, cutting workers, yes, denied by congress, but never address the root cause of the big losses, junk mailers.
I have a plan. There are over 300 million Americans. Just tax everyone, whether they pay taxes now, or not, $50 a year for mail. Call it a mail tax. Let’s see how fast that gets the public’s attention. Let’s see how much we really want Saturday mail. Let’s see how those folks in rural American who say we can’t close their post office because they like to go there every day and talk to Madge, want to keep Madge.
You see over 50% of Americans don’t give a damn whether the Post Office loses $15 billion a year because they won’t see a tax increase over zero taxes. But, if the stupidity that is the USPS were to hit their wallets, they would suddenly care.
Let’s do the same with the DOE, call it an energy use tax. Let’s do the same with the Department of Education, the Commerce Department, etc.
Only when more Americans have to enjoy government inefficiency will the inefficiency be addressed. It has to be more direct than raising stamp prices. Unless stamp prices go to $5 a stamp, then see how long third-class mail keeps their free ride. It makes as much sense as minting pennies that cost more than a penny. You might even see the advertising budget for the post office slashed. You like those commercials you fund with your tax dollars? They sure are working as the post offices loses more every year they raise their ad budget.
