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sox83cubs84
12-26-2013, 10:47 PM
Many of you are aware of this, but, if not:

As of 1/26/14, the first class letter price will increase to 49 cents. This is something to keep in mind for those of us who send out autograph requests to ballplayers. Of course, if you buy Forever stamps before then, you'll pay 46c each and be able to use the sme stamps for the 49c rate. For those of you who are old school like me and love using older, numerical rate stamps, it might be wise to start adding another 3 cents on your SASEs ASAP, to make sure they requests come back if the players are slow to respond.

Happy New Year!

Dave Miedema

Roady
12-27-2013, 12:10 PM
Got to keep paying their employees for life.
Never have figured out why the people who work for us in Government have better benefits than we do.

both-teams-played-hard
12-27-2013, 12:42 PM
Got to keep paying their employees for life.
Never have figured out why the people who work for us in Government have better benefits than we do.

I agree! If we pay benefits for the retired and injured Military and their families, we will never survive.

rufusandherschel
12-27-2013, 02:23 PM
As the quality of the USPS postal service diminishes, the cost of the service increases. :rolleyes:

Great service model !

both-teams-played-hard
12-27-2013, 02:42 PM
As the quality of the USPS postal service diminishes, the cost of the service increases. :rolleyes:

Great service model !

Exactly! Trust private companies like Fedex and UPS to deliver your packages on time. Just not during Christmas...

Roady
12-27-2013, 08:42 PM
I agree! If we pay benefits for the retired and injured Military and their families, we will never survive.

That is not what or who I meant. Obtuse much?
I want to pay our military. I don't want to pay some fat postal clerk for the rest of his life.

earlywynnfan
12-27-2013, 08:57 PM
That is not what or who I meant. Obtuse much?
I want to pay our military. I don't want to pay some fat postal clerk for the rest of his life.

Just curious, what do you do?
Besides paint everyone with the same brush, that is.
Can you draw me the line?
Military personnel: yes
PO workers: no
Teachers? Firemen? Police Officers? Congressmen? Whose benefits would Roady like to pay for?

Don't most private employees have some sort of benefit system in place through their employer? Well, check me if I'm wrong, but for public employees, WE are their employer, so yes, we are on hook for their benefits.

Roady
12-27-2013, 09:30 PM
Most Government employees or their fellow employees vote themselves the benefits they receive without much public, you know their employers, input.

You can always tell someone who works, or has a family member, for the Government. They don't believe you have the right to question their pay or benefits. Elitism at it's finest.

Roady
12-27-2013, 09:45 PM
And my job is none of your business unless I want it to be your business.

I worked for the Government as a solder and after my enlistment.
I know what type of people work for the Government. Most just start out as a job they are happy to have. But a few years into it they become jaded like the rest and think they are saviors of mankind and actually deserve even more than they are already taking.

Solders are the only Government employees I have any respect for.

Would I have more respect for the rest of them if they didn't whine like a bunch of babies and actually let the public vote on their raises and benefits? Yes, I would.
But to have every holiday off, great benefits, and get paid for the rest of your life after 20-30 years of work and still whine is beyond the pale.

Instead of being thankful most are spoiled brats.

earlywynnfan
12-27-2013, 09:58 PM
Instead of being thankful most are spoiled brats.

Don't forget, many become arrogant know-it-alls who use stereotypes as a weapon!

Roady
12-27-2013, 10:39 PM
Don't forget, many become arrogant know-it-alls who use stereotypes as a weapon!

OORAH

chisox1967
12-28-2013, 03:02 PM
The US Postal Service is a quasi government agency.

Wages, health care and pensions are not subsidized by US taxpayers. It is all funded by revenues received from postage and merchandise sales.

As a matter of fact, Congress requires the Postal Service to PreFund Retiree benefits 75 years out. Is there ANY business that could survice this mandate?

Instead of blaming government workers for perceived problems, why don't you just blame Congress & the President?

Roady
12-28-2013, 03:45 PM
it is legally defined as an “independent establishment of the executive branch.” As a quasi-government agency, it has many special privileges, including sovereign immunity, eminent domain powers, powers to negotiate postal treaties with foreign nations, and an exclusive legal right to deliver First-Class and Standard Mail.

ferro39
12-28-2013, 04:46 PM
i would have no issue with increases if the vast majority of clerks i deal with on a regular basis actually knew what the hell they were doing or took pride in their work. there is something inherently wrong with things if i know more than a USPS employee and believe me, it happens a lot.

many of them also dont seem to want to do their jobs. i'm at the post office 4-5x week and quite frequently i hear, "you know you can do this at home online." some clerks disappear in the back when they see me because, heaven's forbid, they have to enter a couple of international packages.

not to toot my own horn, but i should be someone these people want to help. i always have my labels filled in correctly and have the proper stickers and tracking #'s already attached. i come with everything sealed and know exactly what im doing in there.

ive been careful in choosing my words as i dont mean to label everyone @ USPS, but i do mean majority [in my experience]. it's really quite sad.

recently, i was at a PO. the line was out the door. one of the desk clerks rang in the back for help. the supervisor came out, saw the mob, muttered, "i have my own work to do," and scurried in the back again.

earlywynnfan
12-28-2013, 07:03 PM
The US Postal Service is a quasi government agency.

Wages, health care and pensions are not subsidized by US taxpayers. It is all funded by revenues received from postage and merchandise sales.

As a matter of fact, Congress requires the Postal Service to PreFund Retiree benefits 75 years out. Is there ANY business that could survice this mandate?

Instead of blaming government workers for perceived problems, why don't you just blame Congress & the President?

So you're trying to say that Roady isn't responsible for paying these people for life?? Son-of-a-bitch!!! Well, at least he can complain about them being fat.

Roady
12-28-2013, 08:16 PM
So you're trying to say that Roady isn't responsible for paying these people for life?? Son-of-a-bitch!!! Well, at least he can complain about them being fat.

Guess you missed the part about having a monopoly on first class mail.
As a taxpayer you have to use their service if you want to mail something first class.
You probably don't know either that USPS has borrowed $15 billion from the tax payers and they pay it back by raising rates on the taxpayers who they borrow the money from. How convenient.

This was published by the Congressional Research Service.
Read up.
https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43162.pdf


The article below I believe it is right on the money.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-13/guest-post-great-postal-fraud

The Great Postal Fraud

Submitted by Jim Quinn of The Burning Platform

The Great Postal Fraud

“One of the things the government can’t do is run anything. The only things our government runs are the post office and the railroads, and both of them are bankrupt.” – Lee Iaccoca



You may have heard that the U.S. Post Office lost $16 BILLION last year. You may also have heard that Congress snuck a requirement into a bill that had nothing to do with the Post Office, mandating that they must deliver on Saturdays, even though eliminating Saturday delivery would save the Post Office $2 BILLION per year. Congress evidently can’t read a financial statement or interpret a chart. I’m sure the trends detailed on this chart will reverse themselves shortly.



While reading an editorial today supporting the Post Office in its efforts to save money by eliminating Saturday delivery I saw another MASSIVE LIE perpetuated by the MSM and the government.

Here is the Orwellian statement:

“The U.S. Postal Service is an independent governmental agency that doesn’t take taxpayer funds.”

This is complete and utter bullshit. This statement also described Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac until 2008. They were just little old independent government agencies helping out the housing market – until the shit hit the fan!!! Then they became albatrosses around the necks of the American taxpayer. You own them now. They have lost $200 billion of your tax dollars, and will lose billions more before all is said and done.

You can access the U.S. Post Office financial statements online. Here is their December 2012 report:

http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/financials/financial-conditions-results-reports/fy2013-q1.pdf

The honesty of the people writing this report is refreshing. They essentially admit they are BANKRUPT and unable to meet their financial obligations. In other words, a truly INDEPENDENT entity admitting they can no longer operate. How is this for honesty:

“The Postal Service continues to suffer from a severe lack of liquidity. The Postal Service held total cash of $2.9 billion and $2.3 billion as of December 31, and September 30, 2012, respectively, and had no remaining borrowing capacity on its $15 billion debt facility (See Note 3, Debt, for additional information). The increase in cash balances for the quarter is largely attributable to the seasonal impact of holiday mailings, along with additional revenue resulting from this year’s political campaign and elections. Cash balances generally decline during the remainder of the fiscal year, as revenue is not as strong in the remaining quarters. By the end of this fiscal year, the Postal Service projects it will have a liquidity balance that will be less than its average weekly expenses of $1.3 billion. This low level of available cash means that the Postal Service will be unable to make the $5.6 billion legally-mandated prefunding of retiree health benefits due by September 30, 2013. Further, this level of cash could be insufficient to support operations in the event of another significant downturn in the U.S. economy.

Through the three months ended December 31, 2012, the Postal Service has suffered 5 quarters of consecutive net losses and net losses in 14 of the last 16 quarters. The net loss of $1.3 billion for the first quarter of the year included $1.4 billion of expense accrued for the legally-mandated prefunding payment for retiree health benefits. The requirement of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, Public Law 109-435 (P.L. 109-435) to prefund its retiree health benefit obligations, a requirement not shared by other federal agencies or private sector businesses, plus the precipitous drop in mail volume caused by changes in consumers’ uses of mail, have been the two major factors contributing to Postal Service losses since the recession ended in 2009. Without structural change to the Postal Service’s business model, it will continue to be negatively impacted by these factors and, absent legislative change, it anticipates continuing quarterly losses for the remainder of 2013.”

The politicians that are mismanaging this country use governmental accounting fraud to cover-up the fact that the obligations of this bloated pig of an operation are going to be paid by YOU, the taxpayers of the United States. Today, none of the past, current, or future liabilities of this INDEPENDENT GOVERNMENT AGENCY are reflected in the Federal budget projections or the National Debt calculation.

Do YOU want to know how much YOU really owe? Brace yourself.

In the past six years they have lost $41 BILLION and they have a cumulative deficit of $36 billion. How many INDEPENDENT organizations can run up deficits of $36 billion without going out of business? YOU are on the hook for these accumulated deficits, just like you were on the hook for all of the Fannie and Freddie backed toxic mortgages.
The Post Office will lose another $10 to $15 billion this fiscal year. You will be on the hook for that too.
They have $15 billion of debt on their balance sheet, with $9.5 billion payable in the next 9 months. How will this INDEPENDENT government agency that is losing $16 billion per year pay off $9.5 billion? They won’t. The government drones will pass a bill in the middle of the night extending the terms with no cash flow requirements or expectation of repayment. I wonder if I can get a loan like that?
The really interesting stuff is buried on page 42 of their report. I wonder why it is all the way back there? In addition to their $15 billion of debt, they have another $70.5 BILLION of unfunded future obligations. The two biggest are:
$33.9 Billion of payments for pension and health benefits for retirees, all due within the next 5 years. It’s not cheap providing gold plated benefits to government workers.
$25 billion for workers compensation and sick leave payments. Yikes!!! It must be all that stress, because the mail never stops. It keeps coming and coming. It’s almost enough to make someone go postal, or at least file a stress related workers comp claim.
This really sounds like a promising story. Mail volumes continue to plummet. Someone should tell Congress the internet age has arrived. The Post Office has thousands of money losing, unneeded outlets. It has 637,000 employees when it only needs 300,000. Over 70% of Americans favor ending Saturday delivery, so Congress passes a law making that impossible to implement, ensuring $2 billion more losses per year. That’s par for the course. Over 70% of Americans were against passing TARP too. And according to your leaders in Washington, and parroted by the MSM, you are not on the hook for their losses.

It’s beyond laughable, but so is most of what is going on in this tragedy of a country, disguised as a comedy. The truth is that you are on the hook for the $36 billion of accumulated deficits, the $85 billion of debt and contractual obligations, and the annual $16 billion losses they continue to pile up. But what’s $120 to $150 billion among friends? Bennie can print that out of thin air in a few days. Why run an operation efficiently at a surplus, when you can keep hundreds of thousands of union government drones employed (until they go on workers comp) by sticking it to the working American taxpayer. I sure hope I don’t get a visit from the Postmaster General because of this article.

chakes89
12-29-2013, 12:12 AM
So you're trying to say that Roady isn't responsible for paying these people for life?? Son-of-a-bitch!!! Well, at least he can complain about them being fat.

Your contributions to this topic have been fantastically insightful :rolleyes:

xpress34
12-29-2013, 06:05 PM
My personal opinion on this matter - at least for me - is that the USPS does a hell of a lot better job than UPS and FedEx. Every time someone has sent me something FedEx or UPS, it has been a night mare. And I am not exaggerating - I don't mean many time or some times, I mean EVERY time.

I ask them to require a signature - they leave it unsecure on my porch. I ask them to just leave it, they make me drive out and sign for it at their hub here in Denver.

That said, I believe the government forcing the USPS to pay FULL Employee Benefits 75 years ahead (as stated earlier - unheard of for ANY other business) was a means to try and hobble the USPS enough that they could privatize mail delivery and give it over to UPS and FedEx and close down the USPS.

Even though they are not funded by Tax Dollars (and the reports listed previously not withstanding), I'm sure some Politicos will eventually start using the USPS in the deficit reduction plans (like Social Security - which also is NOT 'tax funded' per say, but is PAID for directly by every working American)...

Sorry for the rant, but I'll support USPS over UPS and Fed Ex in my local market every day.

- Smitty

MSpecht
12-29-2013, 07:48 PM
Interesting and well-researched, but after Dave's first post pretty it got decidedly off-(sports) topic. Should probably go through individual posts and do some editing, but just going to lock it up before someone really crosses a line.

Mike