[view:slideshow=panel_pane_1] The Wall Street Journal has a report today about how the Postal Service is in the process of selling off its historic post offices. Maybe someone at the Journal has been reading "Save the Post Office." We've been bemoaning the sale of these historic post offices for months now, and there have been stories in the Guardian in the … Read More
Who gets hurt when the post office closes?
One of the main problems with closing thousands of post offices is that the cost and pain are not evenly distributed among the population of the country. Some people get hurt more than others. As with most government cutbacks, it’s the poor who get hurt the most. They’re the ones who live in low-income urban neighborhoods and hardscrabble rural areas … Read More
What’s wrong with the Postal Service? How about what’s wrong with the media?
Trying to correct all the bogus postal stories being put out by the media and think-tanks is like playing a game of Whack-a-Mole, and it’s impossible to come out ahead. One day it’s the Congressional Research Service publishing a flawed report on the post office, then it’s the New York Times, and who can keep up with the Washington Post? … Read More
Without rhyme or reason: The PRC turns down the Akron appeal
Earlier this week the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) turned down an appeal that would have required the Postal Service to reconsider its decision to close the Goodyear Heights post office in East Akron, Ohio. It was a decision without rhyme or reason, and it does not bode well for future appeals. The PRC seems just as determined to affirm closing … Read More
The Social and Economic Value of Postal Services
In February of 2010, the Urban Institute completed a study entitled “A Framework for Considering the Social Value of Postal Services” that had been commissioned by the Postal Regulatory Commission. When it presented its findings, the Urban Institute recommended additional research to quantify the benefits it had identified, and the PRC proceeded to commission three contractors to do six studies … Read More
The PRC publishes research on the social & economic value of postal services
FROM THE PRC WEBSITE: Postal Regulatory Commission Publishes Contractor Research Exploring Aspects of Social and Economic Benefits of Postal Services In February 2010, the Urban Institute completed its study, “A Framework for Considering the Social Value of Postal Services” commissioned by the Postal Regulatory Commission.1 The study identified dozens of ancillary benefits from postal services that result in improvement in … Read More
Mix-Up at the Times: Editorial Ends Up as Front-Page Lead
Leave it to the New York Times to ignore the story on the post office for months, and then to put out a front-page piece that gets most of the story wrong. Actually, the piece is fine, but it’s in the wrong part of the paper — it belongs on the Op-Ed page. It’s not news. It’s rife with opinion, slant, and … Read More
Post Office for Dummies
It’s going to be a busy week in our nation’s capital. On Tuesday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Joseph Lieberman, will hold an emergency hearing to prevent a USPS shutdown. NAPUS says “this is the first time in recent memory that the full Committee, rather than its Postal Subcommittee, will convene a postal hearing.” Then … Read More
The Postal Service Does Itself No Favors
It was a bad day for the post office. On Tuesday (Aug. 30), the Postal Regulatory Commission denied an appeal to save the post office in Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. If ever there were a post office that deserved a second chance, this was it, and the PRC’s ruling is very disappointing. Until it closed in May, Gwynedd had had a post … Read More
The Hits Just Keep On Coming: A List of Lists
The Postal Service has been producing lists of post offices it wants to close since early 2009, and there have been so many, it’s almost impossible to keep them straight. Even the experts can get them mixed up. For example, earlier this month, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) published a report for Congress about post office closings called “The U.S. … Read More
