Why We Should Give a Damn About Saving the USPS

[Galraedia]

"Print is dead." I hear it all the time. People love to say it. "No one reads magazines anymore."

Here's the thing, though: Print isn't dead—at least not yet. Digital is growing at an aggressive rate, but it hasn't obliterated print. In fact, according to a recent survey by AdWeek, 98.6 percent of all magazine consumption is still rooted in print. And with the majority of magazine readers reading print, then publishers still need to be concerned with mailing a print product—even if it feels like the U.S. Postal Service can't get it together.

It's not the USPS that failed us—it's Congress. The USPS can't make any major moves without its approval. We've all read the stories—the USPS isn't really broke; it's just been mandated by congress that it pre-fund future retiree health benefits, which costs the USPS over $5 billion per year. This is something no other federal agency is required to do; in fact, even few corporate plans are fully-prefunded. Esquire, Forbes and even my publication, The Nation have all covered it. And Senators Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Peter DeFazio (D-OR) are jointly sponsoring legislation which would reverse the mandate.

See, the discounted rates to mail magazines weren't created to support the Publishers Clearinghouses of the world. They were set up as a tactical way to honor the freedom of the press and to give a price break to media outlets educating the public. But let's be honest: The way Congress has screwed up its oversight of the USPS does not instill confidence in its commitment to a free press.

Read more: http://www.foliomag.com/2013/why-we-should-give-damn-about-saving-usps#.UdI7wr1N9vE

[Galraedia]

1. USPS:

[flamingdem]

2. My WPA Post Office was a victim to these politics

I cried because I was so pissed off

[think]

3. Good to see Sanders and Defazio entering legislation to reverse the 2006 mandate

It's a crying shame what is being done to the USPS. Hopefully people wake up to what transpired and congress will be forced to rectify this shameful & unethical mandate.

[Cha]

4. We better save the Post Office! Can't send packages

through the computer or my mail order netflix.

who doesn't like to get a birthday card?.. through the US Mail?

[burrowowl]

5. We sure as HELL should!

[Bannakaffalatta]

6. How many of its mandated functions

is the US government willing to abdicate?
Be more efficient to just privatize the whole country.
Though on the poor and weak, rural, unwhite, old, female, juvenile, damaged, veterans, evicted, unconventional, transgendered, teachers, union members, intellectuals, empaths, tree-huggers, dissenters and other nut-cases... but, hey, it's high time they take responsibility for themselves - 'coz their government sure won't take responsibility for itself.

[stuffmatters]

7. Seems both the ALEC Repugs & Corporate Dems are responsible

Diane Feinstein's husband is making millions in real estate commissions selling off our national treasure and cultural heritage these
WPA jewels represent. Darrell Issa led the Repub charge to institute this impossible pension prefunding requirment, clearly a deliberate death blow. USPS is a major employer of both minorities and Vets, has been an historical bridge to the middle class salaries.
Fed Ex and UPS are both in ALEC;. Finally, that big fat pension fund is growing, just waiting to get "Bained" when the USPS is taken over by...Fed Ex/UPS/Bain/ fill in the predatory blank.

The whole situation is obscene.

[robinlynne]

8. my tiny business, and many more will close if we lose the post office. We can't afford

to ship things without the post office.