The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Opinion

February 11, 2013

Other Views: Decision hits hard

Just a week after raising the price of first-class postage, the U.S. Postal Service announced it will eliminate Saturday mail delivery in August.

It’s a move that could still be averted if Congress steps in with some authority, but it appears the $2 billion in projected savings will override the inconvenience of service interruption for longtime loyal customers.

Residents and businesses that have come to depend on receiving what first-class mail that is left are being asked to sacrifice to make up for the Postal Service’s lack of foresight in worker benefit liabilities and other financial areas.

The Postal Service has already closed many rural post offices in recent years, eliminating a large slice of community life in those small towns. This decision will also affect many newspapers that have come to rely on the mail for delivery.

Those newspapers also must deal with a Postal Service that gives preferred mailing rates to large, bulk mailers that then undercut newspapers with advertisers and their printed circulars.

We believe other options are available and ask that Congress and the Postal Service seek a  solution that doesn’t penalize some of the mail’s best, most loyal customers.

 — The Norman Transcript, Norman, Okla.



 

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