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Posted: 05.08.2003
We deliver for you
One of the most controversial blog entries I've ever made (a year ago to the very month) involved the US Postal Service. Somehow my entry got posted to a USPS employee message board, and I was bombarded by e-mails from angry mail carriers. Todd and I started to wonder if anything marked fragile would ever arrive at our house intact again. After going round-and-round in dozens of e-mails and my comments, I posed the question:

If something is leaking money, do you keep tossing it extra change -- or do you step back and figure out where the leak is coming from and fix the problem? [link]

I then went on to add in another entry:

You want to raise the cost of a stamp by 25˘ even -- fine. Hell, I wouldn't mind paying 75˘ to mail a letter, truth be told. It is not just about an extra 3˘ to me. But how can you expect me - or anyone - to not demand you be accountable for the money, and also for you to make it known just exactly what these "improvements" are that the extra money will be spent on? [link]

Well imagine my "surprise" today when I find this over at Mikey's:

Whistle-blowers -- including many who still work there -- say the Inspector General saved taxpayers only 50 cents for every dollar it spent. The office identified $56 million in wasteful spending in 2001 -- but spending $117 million dollars to do so...

..."If everybody else in the postal service wasted money the way she [Postal Inspector General Karla Corcoran] wasted money, it seems to me like instead of 37 cent stamps you'd have 74 cent stamps," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. [link]


Where there's smoke, there's usually fire. And I'm stopping short of saying "I told you so"...but... Yeah, I think I'll just stop while I'm ahead.



Hey boy take a look at me...let me dirty up your mind...



In your original post on the subject, you linked to an MSNBC article that no longer exists on whet `Priority Mail' isn't. CBS News still has that article, or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/07/eveningnews/main552837.shtml

¤ ¤ credit: Luis | 05.08.03 at 05:51 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Crap, wrong link. I meant this one:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/29/national/main510460.shtml

¤ ¤ credit: Luis | 05.08.03 at 05:53 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Too bad I didn't come to your "blog world" sooner. I've been posing these questions for years now. Glad to see I was somewhat vindicated.

*hug* Robyn

¤ ¤ credit: Mike | 05.08.03 at 05:54 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Thank you, Luis! One of the main quotes from the old MSNBC.com article was:

"The U.S. Postal Service says the rate increases are necessary to offset the recession’s toll and the cost of responding to the anthrax attacks."

¤ ¤ credit: robyn | 05.08.03 at 06:19 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Kind of funny that Charles Grassley (from my state) is talking about waste. He's the same guy that brought to light the waste in the DOD budget back in the 80's. Remember the guy talking about the $400 hammers? That was Grassley. (Well, maybe you don't Robyn. You ARE quite young, you know!)

¤ ¤ credit: BillH | 05.08.03 at 10:19 PM | link--this ¤ ¤

Bill, I'm younger than some of you folk and I remember that. hehe. I even remember a Beetle Bailey comic strip that made light of it...Beetle asks why government hammers cost so much more, and Sarge demonstrates how "regular" hammers don't hit as hard (he barely taps the nail) and take longer to drive nails in while the government issue hammers (pounds nails into board in one stroke) are more efficient and stronger.

That kind of thing cracks me up while pissing me off at the same time...

¤ ¤ credit: Mike | 05.09.03 at 12:41 AM | link--this ¤ ¤

Can you hammer a six-inch spike through a board with your penis?

Not right now.

A girl's gotta have her standards...

¤ ¤ credit: robyn | 05.09.03 at 01:02 PM | link--this ¤ ¤




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