Postal

Updated with comments from Harris and Bartlett. In a rare intra-delegation, across-the-aisle nudge, Sen.Barbara A. Mikulskion Tuesday called on the state's two Republican lawmakers in Washington to support a Senate version of an overhaul of theU.S. Postal Servicethat would save a pair of mail sorting facilities that just happen to be located in the lawmakers' districts. The move instantly put Republican Reps. Andy Harris and Roscoe Bartlett on defense, forcing them to either support the bipartisan Senate version of the postal legislation -- which is not popular with Republican House leaders -- or acknowledge that the Postal Service must be allowed to trim costs and close plants, even if the cuts are made in their own districts.

Your article on cost cutting at the Postal Service is an ominous indication of the progress of the far-right campaign to destroy the U.S. Post Office, which has served our nation since its beginning and is enshrined in Article I of our Constitution ("Postal Service cost-cutting may deliver blow to Easton," March 10). Contrary to the lies being propagated by those who would leave us at the mercy of FedEx and other private competitors, the USPS is not broke and has not used any taxpayer money since 1971.

The only way to reach Supai, Ariz. (population 208), is to hike or helicopter eight miles to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. TheU.S. Postal Servicedelivers mail and supplies there three days a week - by mule. Although the country's steepest canyon may be no match for the American mail carrier, our postal system does face a gaping threat from a huge hole of another kind: After several years of modest surpluses, the postal service lost $25.4 billion between 2007 and 2011, plunging $13 billion into debt.

Kathie Jones loses more than patience when the mail is late. She also loses customers. As the owner of a small business that prepares bulk mail for delivery by the U.S. Postal Service, Jones hears complaints every time a church newsletter or a political ad she sends arrives late — even if the delays are not her fault. If mail is lost, she has to start projects over, sometimes eating the cost. So Jones is understandably wary about a Postal Service proposal to close the last mail-sorting hub on the Eastern Shore, located a few hundred feet from the Easton Municipal Airport.

Ever since Congress stupidly decided to make the U.S. Postal Service a quasi-private entity, the organization has been going steadily downhill. The arrangement has grossly inflated the ranks of upper and mid-level management, people who have nothing to do with the post office's actual mission of delivering the mail. On top of that, some upper management idiots decided to spend millions of dollars on changing the design of the Postal Service's logo and are now engaged in a massive TV advertising campaign to get people to ship more packages by USPS.

Isn't it ironic that our government could afford to subsidize our involvement in Iraq to the tune of $12 billion per month, yet it cannot afford to subsidize the U.S. Postal Service, one of the best-operating federal agencies, at a fraction of that cost ("'Snail mail' could get slower under Postal Service plan," Dec. 6)? Donald T. Torres, Ellicott City

What sacrifice is Congress making in order to improve the U.S. Postal Service efficiency and reduce costs ("'Snail mail' could get slower under Post Service plan," Nov. 6)? All I see are sacrifices made to the consumer. Why not start by cutting out Congressional mailings? In 2007, the Congressional Research Service prepared a report for Congress advising representatives that the "franking" privilege had cost taxpayers $113.4 million in current dollars from 1988 to 2007. House members spent more than $45 million in 2009 on taxpayer-funded mass mailings.

'Tis the season for long lines at the post office. Already, things are off to a rocky start around our neighborhood.    At the Mount Washington post office last week, all three terminals had computer malfunctions. No one could use a credit card, because the computer system for credit card payment was beyond sluggish. It was not working. Two transactions were in progress awaiting the computers to sign off. Those of us in line waited and waited, until one woman offered cash for her transaction.

Most Americans are just an email, Tweet or Facebook update away from reaching someone else - or the entire world. And the trend is accelerating, as the number of email accounts alone is expected to grow by almost a billion worldwide from last year to 2014. Now, the U.S. Postal Service has practically conceded that it's being left in the digital dust. The Postal Service proposed Monday changing its first-class delivery standard so mail will arrive two to three days after it is shipped, rather than as early as overnight.

It's going to be more expensive to mail holiday greetings and birthday cards next year. But the U.S. Postal Service announced Tuesday that the price of a first-class stamp will increase to 45 cents starting on January 22, the first price increase in two years, according to Reuters. Prices for postcards will increase three pennies to 32 cents and letters to Canada and Mexico will increase to 85 cents. Sending a greeting to someone outside of North America increases to $1.05.