soundoff (212 Responses)

1. DD
   

   I don't feel at all sorry for the US Postal Service. My parents had postal workers for friends in the 70s, and man, the wages & benefits they got- which were to last for the rest of their lives- were absolutely the FATEST & BIGGEST I'd ever heard of!!! It was insane to give such for life (see: automakers) and obviously the same result, unwise & unsustainable.

   I'm not saying workers shouldn't be paid & treated great & get generous lifetime benefits. But make sure your company can actually DO it!!! Life is ALOT longer than you can imagine!!!

   September 15, 2011 at 1:44 pm | Report abuse |
   • Lee
     

     Your information about pay is not correct. My husband has worked for the post office for 26 years, I work full time and we have 3 teenagers. We live paycheck to paycheck.

     September 15, 2011 at 2:07 pm | Report abuse |
   • hylundr
     

     your information is by your own account 40 years old... perhaps you should start living in the present and increase you present time knowledge?

     September 15, 2011 at 2:13 pm | Report abuse |
   • Welcome to Reality
     

     Lee – If you and your spouse work fulltime, each, and you only have 3 teenagers, AND you are somehow living "paycheck to paycheck" – then you are doing it wrong. Do you own cable? How many cars do you own? How many cell phones do you own? How often do you eat out? Even McDonalds is more expensive than buying bulk and cooking at your own home. How often do you shop? Do you travel? I bet the answer to over half of these questions will give you the answer as to why you are "living paycheck to paycheck".

     September 15, 2011 at 2:19 pm | Report abuse |
   • Yesus
     

     The USPS does a great job – there would always be some disgruntled people throwing muck at the USPS.

     September 15, 2011 at 2:25 pm | Report abuse |
   • Lee
     

     Welcome to Reality – My finances are none of your business. Trust me, there are no frills in my life. My point to DD was – you can get by on a post office employee salary (and trust me we appreciate it), but you certainly aren't gonna get rich. It's a misconception that many people have. Just a dose of reality for ya!

     September 15, 2011 at 2:32 pm | Report abuse |
   • ic32teeth
     

     Mark my words the postal service will be obsolete within the next five years. Mail delivery will be ran by private companies like it is in most countries. This country needs to get out of the business of providing services to the masses. Other than defending the shores and keeping the interstates up and running for commerce our government has it's sticky fingers in to much stuff. Get rid of banking, train travel, delivering mail, providing energy and all the other misc crap they do our budget would be much leaner. Just the way I feel and vote!!!

     September 15, 2011 at 2:43 pm | Report abuse |
2. No Tea For Me
   

   More Americans out of work so that middle and high level managers can give themselves a raise. Every day, we take one step closer to the abyss. This Republic is positioned to fail in a very, very big way.

   September 15, 2011 at 1:48 pm | Report abuse |
3. Ragnar
   

   All postoffices in the Norwegian countryside have been closed and replaced with a Postoffice desk at a supermarket in each village. The local population was hesitant at first, but after a while you kind of get used to it. They offer the same services, are staffed by the the supermarket, and follows the supermarket opening hours, which means you can by stamps or pick up mail or packages late in the evening in may places. The same thing is happening to the banks. They barely give you any cash at the counter any more. They teach the elderly to use the ATM on the corner outside. (We stopped using checks more than 20 years ago). So I guess times are changing everywhere!

   September 15, 2011 at 1:48 pm | Report abuse |
4. Edie
   

   Now......I live in Brazil, IN............I would like to know why in the world the USPS would not close 4 other smaller post offices in dinky towns around us, Harmony, Knightsville, Carbon and Staunton Indiana??? We are the largest of these towns with a whopping 9,000 people. These others just have a couple hundred residents.

   September 15, 2011 at 1:54 pm | Report abuse |
5. Tea Party Express
   

   I hope the whole USPS goes under. It's been little more than "Advanced Unemployment" for the last 10 years. Quit wasting taxes on this old dinosaur and send all the lazy Union un-workers to the poverty line. They deserve it.

   September 15, 2011 at 1:55 pm | Report abuse |
   • No Tea For Me
     

     You are the face of the Tea Party: heartless, crude, and ignorant. The postal workers of the world appreciate your compassion, you pig!

     September 15, 2011 at 2:00 pm | Report abuse |
   • Welcome to Reality
     

     Actually, he is giving you the cold hard truth. In time, even with the changes the USPS is proposing, it will not be profitable. They need to realize that the unions cannot keep their inflated benefits and pensions at the expense of the tax payers.

     September 15, 2011 at 2:22 pm | Report abuse |
   • Charlie
     

     your ignorance fits your party. Taxes don't fund the postal service.

     September 15, 2011 at 2:23 pm | Report abuse |
   • Tea Party=Wanna Be Republican
     

     Not one tax penny has helped the USPS. Go buy a clue and come back..........

     September 15, 2011 at 2:28 pm | Report abuse |
   • No Tea For Me
     

     @WelcomeToReality The USPS is not funded by taxpayer dollars. It is fully funded through the sale of postage and services. Welcome to the REAL reality!

     September 15, 2011 at 2:28 pm | Report abuse |
   • Oops!
     

     You know as well as I do that the moment this bloke is affected personally he'll be the first one to start screaming, "How come I can't mail a letter!!!? it's Obama's fault; he let this happen on his watch."

     September 15, 2011 at 2:29 pm | Report abuse |
   • Larry of Massachusetts
     

     Union no fire contracts and unsustainable benefits need to be curtailed. It is time the unions of this country join the real "rank and file" and pony up for health care – and start and iRA and plan on social security.

     September 15, 2011 at 2:40 pm | Report abuse |
   • Bajamis
     

     Yeah, because ending the post office and knocking that many more people to the unemployment line is going to do wonders for the economy. You "Flea Party Express" are an idiot. My wife is a UNION carrier and works hard to earn her money. Wages are good (not great). Benefits are comparable to many private run businesses. Your tax money does not go to fund the Post Office. It is strictly run from the sales of stamps and services. Not even UPS or FedEx deliver door to door the way the USPS does and you can bet that their rates would skyrocket if the USPS fails. In fact, many times UPS/FedEx drop the packages off to USPS to deliver. USPS needs to trim the fat from the top down. Too much unworking management, not unworking Union members.

     September 15, 2011 at 2:53 pm | Report abuse |
   • ic32teeth
     

     I agree... The new postal delivery service will be like a newspaper route... Private companies will hire people for half the price and still get the mail delivered just like your newspaper has been for the last 30 years. I moved several times all through the US and everywhere I go I have always had nice dedicated newspaper delivery people that got the job done even on holidays!!! Unlike all the federal holidays that the post office doesn't deliver. Half the mail I get is junk anyways so who cares about USPS.

     September 15, 2011 at 2:59 pm | Report abuse |
6. Holly
   

   Can you imagine what this will do to the Ebay industry? Bye, bye Ebay!!

   September 15, 2011 at 1:55 pm | Report abuse |
   • Joeymom
     

     I send all my ebay sales via UPS. Ebay will be fine.

     September 15, 2011 at 2:02 pm | Report abuse |
7. Ohfudge!
   

   If the Post Office is losing business because of Email...why not start their own email service? Have a low monthly fee that includes discounts on in Post Office mail items for shipping. Might be a good thing!

   September 15, 2011 at 1:55 pm | Report abuse |
   • WHATTTT
     

     Why would anyone pay for email when they could get it for free on several different providers?

     September 15, 2011 at 2:29 pm | Report abuse |
8. gussmith
   

   Poorly written as the intent of the article is clear but the writing is ambiguous. The heading is ..."the new face of the U.S. Post Office" then stated is:
   The full list below in alphabetical order by state. But the list, I think, is of the closings, the new post office without the list!

   September 15, 2011 at 1:59 pm | Report abuse |
9. Realtalker1
   

   The post office certainly should close some of the smaller locations. But I must say, the facilities in my state that they are considering closing are swamped. I think USPS management is incompetant. That is one of the big problems. Some of the post offices they are wanting to shut down here are so busy their employees are asked to work days off and much overtime to handle all of the volume. I don't see why they are being considered for closure when clearly they aren't hurting for business. Another thing killing the USPS is the fact that congress has mandated that they fund all employees retirement 70 years in advance. They have almost enough money in reserve for this fund to put them in the black. And if congress would do away with the mandate then the USPS would likely be able to stay in the black with few cuts.

   September 15, 2011 at 2:03 pm | Report abuse |
   • Concerned
     

     This is the best comment I've seen on here so far. Thank you for having a level head on your shoulders. My mother-in-law is a postal worker and I'm seriously concerned about her losing her job. Her location is on this list.

     September 15, 2011 at 2:07 pm | Report abuse |
   • Bajamis
     

     Well stated Realtalker. Well stated

     September 15, 2011 at 2:56 pm | Report abuse |
10. RC
    

    Shut them all down. The postal service needs to go back to its roots of one in each small town and two in larger cities. Charge $1 for a letter to be mailed and stop junk mail.

    September 15, 2011 at 2:06 pm | Report abuse |
11. who cares
    

    All they deliver is junk mail and catalogs, most people these days have auto pay for bills or pay bills on-line anyway. If they want to stay in business reach deep and buy out ups or fed-ex.

    September 15, 2011 at 2:27 pm | Report abuse |
12. fernace
    

    Yes, the post office is still necessary, but even moreso, did y'all read the part where 10's of thousands jobs will be cut! That is not the kind of news we need right now! This is a sign of the times & growing pains are part of any drastic change, but what are we gonna do with thousands more unemployed!? Obama is at least trying to shore up the flood with his Jobs Acts, but unemployment keeps bleeding through & the GOP-TP are still arrogantly only thinking of themselves & getting Obama out of office! They should be rolling up their sleeves, throw partisan politic to the curb for the moment & help us get our country back on its feet! This is an emergency, but since they're all still very comfortable they don't seem to understand what we're talking about!!

    September 15, 2011 at 2:31 pm | Report abuse |
13. No Tea For Me
    

    If the USPS goes under, several hundred thousand jobs in related industries will be lost as well. It is short-sighted indeed to advocate for its dissolution. Bulk mail processors, the paper industry, truck manufacturers, airlines - all will suffer collateral damage if the USPS fails, and that collateral damage will be manifested by a reduction in the work force.

    September 15, 2011 at 2:35 pm | Report abuse |
14. FYI
    

    The information I am going to tell you is true. First of all, the post office is not funded by your tax money. It is funded by stamp sales. If we privatize the post office, do you really think your mail will be safe being handled by grocery store clerks making just over minimum wage? Probably not...anyway...sure the mail volumn is down but we have cut considerable jobs through retirement and other means. But the true financial reason is the pre-funding of retirement plans for the next 75 years!! This was a demand from congress that is truly impossible!!! But we did it which put us further in debt. Then when it was discovered that we overfunded this plan, the big government took the billions of dollars and applied it to help their deficit. That is so corrupt and something they dont want you to know. You people have to fight for your post offices to stay in business. Don't let congress take control of everything!!! If all these jobs are lost it will affect more than you realize. Its not just a job, it will add to unemployment, the stock market, etc.

    September 15, 2011 at 2:35 pm | Report abuse |
    • Larry of Massachusetts
      

      Naive the billion dollar deficits are funded by taxpayer money - there aren;t enough stamps on the planet to save this monstrosity. The USPS has 250,000 union employees doing NOTHING but they cannot be fired due to the union contract.

      September 15, 2011 at 2:37 pm | Report abuse |
    • Bajamis
      

      @Larry. How can you lump all Union workers together as doing nothing. Come talk to my wife about doing nothing after she comes home from delivering after a snowstorm until well after dark, or driving around in 110 degree weather with no A/C. Don't group everyone. She chose this job and she enjoys it on most days. She works hard and helps provide for our family. FYI speaks the truth. Government is always taking money that doesn't belong to them and using it. The USPS could survive had it not been for greedy politicians. Blame them, not the USPS UNION WORKERS.

      September 15, 2011 at 3:06 pm | Report abuse |
15. Larry of Massachusetts
    

    The USPS needs to cut more. We have a post office in our village; we have a second one exact;ly 1/2 mile away – ludicrous duplication

    September 15, 2011 at 2:36 pm | Report abuse |
    • joanie
      

      not for long

      September 15, 2011 at 7:22 pm | Report abuse |