This is another recycled story from 2013, and yes, it is just as applicable today as it was seven years ago. In case you missed it, here it is. Please enjoy.
The Pony Express just after
Nancy Pelosi retired
The eastern American colonies had a mail system established by the Continental Congress in 1775 but, its ability to move mail was limited. It was in 1860 that an answer to the problem of sending communications across our country was solved with the birth of the Pony Express. This solution helped people correspond with one another, cross-country, prior to the invention of the telegraph. Although freight was readily moved east to west, those trips took a while and moving personal mail was less than timely.
Several businessmen joined forces and established the quick mail delivery system charging an astronomical $5 per half ounce of mail – the equivalent of $20 by today’s standards. It was a dangerous and elaborate maze of routes and riders that included William Cody, otherwise known as “Buffalo Bill.”
A series of corporate buy-outs and government contracts eventually morphed the Pony Express into the United States Postal Service (USPS). By nearly anyone’s standards, 238 years should be enough time to financially break even. But, nearly everyone would be wrong.
The good news today is the USPS lost $1,300,000,000 in the last quarter of 2012. That’s considered good news because it was far less than the $3,300,000,000 in the comparable quarter the previous fiscal year.
To offset these ‘lost’ dollars, the USPS decided to do what any competent business would – raise prices. The newest price increase was to stamps in the amount of who-knows-what. It really doesn’t matter to the USPS in as much as they have no competition, by law. They can – and do – charge whatever they want because they are a monopoly when it comes to letters.
Price increases are regular activities for the USPS with few Americans sure of what the current rate is or even was. I can tell you all that junk mail you receive each day costs the sender only pennies, and presorted mail costs seven cents to annoy its recipients.
The USPS now seems to feel that they need to cut back to save monies ill spent for the past decades. These cash-saving efforts include eliminating mail delivery on Saturday. They promise to keep parcel delivery for that day, for the time being. This is really good news for me as my mail carrier cannot get my mail to me Monday through Friday. He seems to be dyslexic, delivering my junk mail to all my neighbors who kindly bring it to me, expecting a beer as a reward, thereafter.
It must be borne in mind that in many places the USPS used to deliver mail twice daily until the 1960’s.
One should also consider that Fedex and UPS run head-to-head competition with the USPS for packages. This is allowed because they don’t compete with letters. USPS advertises “overnight delivery” of letters. This is just some sort of advertising scheme because their “overnight delivery” is not overnight; it could be two days or more but, what the heck. By the way, both Fedex and UPS are doing very well with their package delivery. The USPS, not so much.
This is a prime example of a government operation and its lack competence. People crying for more government involvement in every iota of life should think about the USPS morons who conjure up these hare-brained ideas before they so willingly turn over important, major segments of society to government dolts. I’m just saying…
