I can't wait to see how the GOP sells the end of Saturday mail delivery

[derby378]

Their shadowy machinations during the Bush 43 years and onward have finally brought the US Postal Service to its knees. "Trojan horse" retirement packages, rising fuel costs boosted by rampant speculation, you name it.

Waiting on your tax refund check? If it hasn't come by Friday, you'll have to wait until Monday. Unless you can convice the Treasury Department to disguise it as a box from Coldwater Creek, that is - packages wil still be delivered on Saturday, but First Class Mail will not.

Let the spin begin.

[arcane1]

1. Is it an "Obama failure" or a "victory for smaller government"?

Tough call

[Arcanetrance]

2. They are good enough at the game of bullshit to spin it both ways

[ljm2002]

3. They'll use it to denigrate the government...

...as was the plan all along. They'll say it shows that the USPS can't get it right because it's an inefficient, wasteful government program. They'll argue that it should be fully privatized, that the government should not be in the business of delivering mail. Never mind that it is a self-sustaining organization already, that it does not use tax dollars in its operations, that it was hamstrung by a right-wing Congress. Who cares that the Constitution lays out the groundwork for the postal service. We're in a brave new world whose founding mother is Ayn Rand. (although it is important to ignore her positions on God and abortion...)

That's been the plan all along.

[Proud Public Servant]

10. Ironically, if they did privatize

The first areas to lose service, or have their service become unaffordable, would be the big empty rural Red spaces out West.

[derby378]

11. And the "Forever" stamp might carry the Monsanto logo

In which case it better stay self-adhesive, because I don't know of any DUer who would ever lick a Monsanto stamp.

[Proud Public Servant]

13. Forever stamps? Not bloody likely

What private enterprise is going to let consumers lock in lower prices forever?

[derby378]

16. Oopsie...

What am I thinking, trying to give the little guy a break? Silly me.

[Proud Public Servant]

4. Gotta be honest

I hate the bullshit pension law that brought this on the USPS, but I find it hard to imagine that anyone is going to miss Saturday mail all that much. And your example is kind of silly; if you're living your life in such a way that the 2-day delay of your once-a-year tax refund spells disaster, you've got bigger problems than the continuation of Saturday mail can fix.

[roxy1234]

15. I couldn't agree more

If Saturday service is what it takes to save the USPS then why not do it? Its not like that many people really really needs their mail 6 days a week. Americans would just have to learn to conduct their business that requires mailing in 5 days instead of 6 and I say "whats the big deal?"

[CalFresh]

5. Why wait for the mail when you can.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Safeguard-Your-Refund-–-Choose-Direct-Deposit


Safeguard Your Refund – Choose Direct Deposit
IRS Tax Tip 2012-24, February 6, 2012

Direct deposit is the fastest, safest way to receive your tax refund. When a taxpayer combines e-file and direct deposit, the IRS will likely issue your refund in as few as 10 days.

Here are four reasons more than 79 million taxpayers chose direct deposit in 2011:
Security Thousands of paper checks are returned to the IRS by the U.S. Post Office every year as undeliverable mail. Direct deposit eliminates the possibility of your refund check being lost, stolen or returned to the IRS as undeliverable.

Convenience The money goes directly into your bank account. You won’t have to make a special trip to the bank to deposit the money yourself.

Ease When you’re preparing your return; simply follow the instructions on your return or in the tax software. Make sure you enter the correct bank account and bank routing numbers.

[nobodyspecial]

6. "Waiting on your tax refund check?"

Who doesn't get direct deposit these days? I think this will work because most government benefits are now either direct deposit or automatically loaded on debit cards. I think this would have caused a hardship previously for people who needed their checks, but now it's mandatory to have some form of electronic delivery. It streamlines things and eliminates lost or stolen checks. I don't know what vital things people get in the mail these days.

[Hard Assets]

14. I filed early. Got my check this morning, via DD

I'm one happy taxpayer although I am getting less this year than last year...

[malthaussen]

7. As said upthread, "Privatization."

No-brainer.

-- Mal

[mailman82]

8. They will be happy!

This will put a good number of people out of work! I am a retired letter carrier,I would have loved to have Saturdays off! But I carried in a different era! I will still collect my pension until the Repugs go after it! Reagan tried!

[rdharma]

9. Republican BS Talking Points

You can get all the Republican BS talking points at this site: http://oversight.house.gov/
Be sure to read their talking points on "Fast and Furious" while you are there.

Let the spin begin..... you say? It began LONG AGO!

Darryl Issa...... he's graduated from stealing cars!

[Fight2Win]

12. we should stop waiting for them to lead with lies and get ahead of them with the truth

Congress caused this entire manufactured bullshit, and the corporate media is enabling it

First they passed the very unconstitutional Homeland Security bill forcing the postal service to waste time and money for pretend safety.

As Homeland Security forced all mail to go through a major city, postal workers now had to do double the work, waste all kinds of money on gas, benefiting the Koch brothers who managed to grow their wealth from 5 Billion to over 50 Billion speculating on oil.

Then they passed the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act
which required the postal service fund retirement accounts 75 years in advance.

"The PAEA stipulates that the USPS is to make payments of $5.4 - $5.8 billion into the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund, each year, from 2007 to 2016 in order to prefund 75 years of estimated costs."

WTF?!

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/09/28/330524/postal-non-crisis-post-office-save-itself/?mobile=nc