Budget - While We Are Getting Rid Of Useless Stuff

[Business_Casual]

How about the Post Office? Is it really necessary to have a "sponsored" corporation to prop up 16th century technology - this is chrony capitalism at its most distilled and worst, forget GM and Goldman Sachs.

While were at it, let's make Amtrak run on a profit or drop the routes that aren't Boston - DC. Offer shares on a stock exchange and have a board of directors and see how long the passenger trains go to Cheyenne or Florida.

B_C

[Rmplstlskn]

Yeah, I know they are a bloated wing of the gov't, but all in all, I am happy with their service... I ship quite a bit for a non-business and they have never lost anything and it has always been delivered timely. And I LOVE their flat-rate boxes, especially the small one.

I can think of a bunch more places to re-coup $$$ than the USPS right now. But their day is coming...

Rmpl

[Business_Casual]

Yeah, I know they are a bloated wing of the gov't, but all in all, I am happy with their service... I ship quite a bit for a non-business and they have never lost anything and it has always been delivered timely. And I LOVE their flat-rate boxes, especially the small one.

Rmpl

Yeah, it's hard to believe they can offer that service while only losing $7 billion!

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/64781

Fedex had a $1.1B net profit.

Shrug.

B_C

[montanadave]

Let FedEx send somebody to every address in the country 6 days a week and we'll see how long their $1.1B holds out.

It's apples and oranges.

[Belmont31R]

Let FedEx send somebody to every address in the country 6 days a week and we'll see how long their $1.1B holds out.

It's apples and oranges.




95% of the mail I get is junk mail or bills that the companies could do paperless billing on.



No need to send a driver around to each house in the country six days a week for what is mostly junk.



Old, antiquated, and a waste of resources.

[Gentoo]

Easiest way for the post office to recoup some their budget shortfall is to charge those junk mail flyers first class postage instead of fourth class rate.

Easily 99% of my mail goes directly into the trashcan / shredder.

[Business_Casual]

Belmont nailed it.

For the one or two times a year you actually need to send a document you could use Fedex or UPS.

Now that faxed/electronic signatures are binding in all US jurisdictions though, why would you?

B_C

[Belmont31R]

Belmont nailed it.

For the one or two times a year you actually need to send a document you could use Fedex or UPS.

Now that faxed/electronic signatures are binding in all US jurisdictions though, why would you?

B_C



I pay all my bills online and do my taxes online too.


I haven't even had a checkbook in 4 years.


The only thing of value I get through the mail is MO's if I sell something here. Thats not very often though. Id be perfectly happy only getting mail if I actually had something I solicited. Not a half pound of paper everyday that goes directly into the trash. Think about the post riders. They only came if you had a real piece of mail. Imagine if in the 1800's you had post riders going to EVERY house to deliver a half pound of garbage everyday. Its so stupid.

[Belmont31R]

http://img864.imageshack.us/img864/2293/budgetpie.jpg

[chadbag]

The USPS is a problem but it is not part of the budget issue. They do not receive funding from the government.

[500grains]

So if the fed govt gets shut down, only "non-essential" workers are furloughed. The FBI, CIA, border patrol (to the extent that they do anything), Secret Service still work.

So why is the government taking away my hard earned money under the threat of imprisonment and using it to pay "non-essential" workers anyway?? Just can them all and repeal all of the programs that they administer.

Generally, government is very wasteful and does its job poorly. The majority of the time it does more harm than good (example NRLB, EEOC, BATFE). Another way to state this is that the federal government is the primary enemy of the American people, not Al Quaeda or Al Ghadaffi. The less government there is, the better off we will all be.

So close the government down. I like the idea.

[Dunderway]

So if the fed govt gets shut down, only "non-essential" workers are furloughed. The FBI, CIA, border patrol (to the extent that they do anything), Secret Service still work.

So why is the government taking away my hard earned money under the threat of imprisonment and using it to pay "non-essential" workers anyway?? Just can them all and repeal all of the programs that they administer.

Generally, government is very wasteful and does its job poorly. The majority of the time it does more harm than good (example NRLB, EEOC, BATFE). Another way to state this is that the federal government is the primary enemy of the American people, not Al Quaeda or Al Ghadaffi. The less government there is, the better off we will all be.

So close the government down. I like the idea.

Please read through what is considered "essential" and "non-essential".

[randolph]

Easiest way for the post office to recoup some their budget shortfall is to charge those junk mail flyers first class postage instead of fourth class rate.

Easily 99% of my mail goes directly into the trashcan / shredder.

this is me :D
the only mail I get worth keeping is christmas cards :cray:

[variablebinary]

Let FedEx send somebody to every address in the country 6 days a week and we'll see how long their $1.1B holds out.

It's apples and oranges.


The USPS is something most take for granted like cops and firefighters.

Also, people should take a moment and learn about the The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, and how tax dollars play a role in the postal service...as in ZERO dollars.

[austinN4]

Also, people should take a moment and learn about the The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, and how tax dollars play a role in the postal service...as in ZERO dollars.
Is not the USPS a government sponsored enterprise similar to Fannie and Freddie in that the federal government has an implied guarantee of its finances?

[Business_Casual]

The USPS is something most take for granted like cops and firefighters.

Also, people should take a moment and learn about the The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, and how tax dollars play a role in the postal service...as in ZERO dollars.

Borrowing up to $15 billion from the treasury is zero? I find your math suspicious, sir! :cool:

B_C

[variablebinary]

Borrowing up to $15 billion from the treasury is zero? I find your math suspicious, sir! :cool:

B_C

How many organizations and governments globally borrow from the American treasury, if that is the standard we are going by.

[austinN4]

How many organizations and governments globally borrow from the American treasury, if that is the standard we are going by.
But if the USPS can't pay it back we are on the hook for it. Look at what happened with Fannie and Freddie.

[Business_Casual]

Ethanol subsidies - end the whole program.

B_C

[Belmont31R]

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe and two members of the USPS Board of Governors told a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that a 2006 postal reform law requiring the agency to make accelerated prepayments for retiree health benefits was the primary reason the service was deeply in the red and likely to hit its $15 billion debt ceiling later this year.



http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2011/04/usps-makes-case-for-debt-relief.html

[austinN4]

How about the Post Office? While were at it, let's make Amtrak run on a profit or drop the routes that aren't Boston - DC.


So why is the government taking away my hard earned money under the threat of imprisonment and using it to pay "non-essential" workers anyway?? Just can them all and repeal all of the programs that they administer.


Ethanol subsidies - end the whole program.
Count me in on all 4 of these!

[chadbag]

http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2011/04/usps-makes-case-for-debt-relief.html

Looks like more public employee union problems...

[austinN4]

Looks like more public employee union problems...
Why am I not surprised?

[Business_Casual]

I remember being at the Post Office a few months ago and the woman at the counter (where, during lunch hour when everyone was mailing Christmas gifts fully 2/3 of the windows were closed) was arguing with the clerk who said something along the lines of "I am a federal employee and if you insult me it is a felony." Anyone want to pay for that guy's retirement? I don't.

B_C

[chadbag]

I remember being at the Post Office a few months ago and the woman at the counter (where, during lunch hour when everyone was mailing Christmas gifts fully 2/3 of the windows were closed) was arguing with the clerk who said something along the lines of "I am a federal employee and if you insult me it is a felony." Anyone want to pay for that guy's retirement? I don't.

B_C

I've been in some PO where they have an attitude. But you find the same sort of thing in many private places as well.

Luckily my main PO I frequent is full of mostly nice people. The head postmistress lady can sometimes be uppity but most of the time she is in her office.

[Business_Casual]

I've been in some PO where they have an attitude. But you find the same sort of thing in many private places as well.

Luckily my main PO I frequent is full of mostly nice people. The head postmistress lady can sometimes be uppity but most of the time she is in her office.

Yeah private places can be bad, but they are subject to the pressures of the market place, whereas government monopolies are not. And can't create imaginary felonies either.

B_C

[BrianS]

Let FedEx send somebody to every address in the country 6 days a week and we'll see how long their $1.1B holds out.

It's apples and oranges.

Uh... what? They would just charge whatever it truly costs to provide that service instead of hiding the costs inside the constant drain on the US treasury the USPS represents.

[ForTehNguyen]

debt jumped by $54B when they made the $38B cut

This govt is hopeless all this heated politics all this time only to save a measely $38B. Whats going to happen when they have to make $100s of billions in cuts?

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/debt-jumped-54-billion-8-days-preceding

[Belmont31R]

debt jumped by $54B when they made the $38B cut

This govt is hopeless all this heated politics all this time only to save a measely $38B. Whats going to happen when they have to make $100s of billions in cuts?

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/debt-jumped-54-billion-8-days-preceding





Eh just wait til the choir comes in and tells you all about what a great start it is.

[ucrt]

.

I'd be happy with postal delivery just 3-days a week. They could layoff half the delivery people and deliver on M, W, F or T, Th, Sa. You'd get your mail on one of those two schedules.

Drug test for Welfare, Civil Service, and public office.

Weigh-In for Welfare/Food stamps. I don't want you being obese while I'm feeding you.

That would be a CHANGE in the right direction!

But maybe it's just me...

.

[Business_Casual]

Is anyone else starting to get the feeling that Boehner got rick rolled by Obama? Why aren't there any more details about this deal yet?

B_C

[rickrock305]

Eh just wait til the choir comes in and tells you all about what a great start it is.



This $40 billion is an embarrassing amount. Its just ridiculous that we had this battle over cutting $40 billion when we're running trillion dollar deficits. $40 billion is nothing.

[chadbag]

This $40 billion is an embarrassing amount. Its just ridiculous that we had this battle over cutting $40 billion when we're running trillion dollar deficits. $40 billion is nothing.

I agree with you! (imagine that :p)

[500grains]

Unless the next Prez cuts spending by about 50%, we are headed for a major crash.

I am going to go read surviorblog now.

[TehLlama]

.

I'd be happy with postal delivery just 3-days a week. They could layoff half the delivery people and deliver on M, W, F or T, Th, Sa. You'd get your mail on one of those two schedules.

Drug test for Welfare, Civil Service, and public office.

This is the sort of thinking that will get you demonized among most liberal education institutions.

[variablebinary]

Unless the next Prez cuts spending by about 50%, we are headed for a major crash.



They will inflate the currency and pay off the debt.

If that doesn't work, you can pull a Euro type move with a North American currency, or global currency.

Anyone that thinks we can cut out way out of this without massive taxation and inflation is dreaming. It's just a matter of which president has the balls to make it happen.

[rickrock305]

Unless the next Prez cuts spending by about 50%, we are headed for a major crash.

I am going to go read surviorblog now.'

It will NEVER happen.



Anyone that thinks we can cut out way out of this without massive taxation and inflation is dreaming. It's just a matter of which president has the balls to make it happen.


Exactly. And the answer is none of them.

[ucrt]

This is the sort of thinking that will get you demonized among most liberal education institutions.

==============================

Don't you hate that... ;)

They do the same demonizing for owning an "assault rifle" or carrying a pocketknife or being a Christian or teaching your kids to be responsible or... blah...blah.... Oh well...

But maybe it's just me...

.

[Business_Casual]

Is anyone else starting to get the feeling that Boehner got rick rolled by Obama? Why aren't there any more details about this deal yet?

B_C

Wow, B_C, you are really smart - it is almost like you can see the future!

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/264599/strike-one-editors

B_C

[Irish]

Let FedEx send somebody to every address in the country 6 days a week and we'll see how long their $1.1B holds out.

It's apples and oranges.

Lysander Spooner proved the .Gov wrong (http://www.lysanderspooner.org/STAMP3.htm) until they stepped in and stomped out the competition.

[Business_Casual]

Let FedEx send somebody to every address in the country 6 days a week and we'll see how long their $1.1B holds out.

It's apples and oranges.

Oh yeah, by the way the USPS doesn't - a lot of rural customers have to pick up their mail at the office.

B_C