Big Business Invades Your Mailbox

Note: I appeared on American Public Media's Marketplace today to talk about sharp increases in US postal rates that will have a serious impact on independent journals. Here's a transcript:

MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: On July 15 postal rates for magazines are slated to go up...dramatically. It's nothing new really…postal rates are always going up. But this is different. In the past, most postage hikes were applied more or less across all publications. This time, big magazine publishers will get a big discount, small fry won't. A coalition of small magazines from The National Review on the right to The Nation magazine on the left say that's not fair. Here's Editor and Publisher of The Nation: Katrina vanden Heuvel.

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: The radical restructuring that small publications face could end up silencing the diverse voices our Founding Fathers tried to foster when they created the national postal system.

Sure, like everyone else, we'd like to avoid a massive increase in costs. And it's not that we're afraid of intellectual competition; we welcome it.

But postal policy for the past 215 years has played a pivotal role in creating an extraordinarily free press. And we shouldn't let this magnificent tradition change.

In this latest postal rate hike, the US Postal Service itself had proposed a 12 percent increase that would have affected most magazines more or less equally.

Surprisingly, the Postal Regulatory Commission rejected that proposal and adopted a complicated alternative devised by the giant publisher Time Warner.

That proposal would give huge discounts to big magazines. But smaller magazines would have to swallow hikes of between 15 and 30 percent.

It looks like the Postal Service will adopt these rates without research into how it affects small and medium sized magazines, and without any meaningful public input.

For some small publications such huge and unexpected increases may prove fatal. New periodicals will find it very tough to enter the market. That means magazine publishing will get much less competitive.

Time Warner argues that this is simply sane pricing by the postal authorities to reward efficiency.

But wait a minute. The Postal Service is a monopoly. If magazines like ours that require the post office to distribute our wares dislike the onerous new rates, we have nowhere else to turn.

For decades, the Postal Service has always used its pricing mechanism to encourage smaller publications and competition.

From Madison and the Founders in the 1790s on, the idea was that low rates for small publications made it possible to have the rich, open, and diverse media a self-governing people required.

No less than that is at stake today. For every American.

For more information, go to The Nation.com or stoppostalratehikes .com

Comments (49)

1. True, but I think hundreds of thousands of Iraqis went "missing"...comments [during Saddam's Rummy endorsed regime]?

   Conshame=selective memory

   Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/13/2007 @ 1:47pm

   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

   Yes, JOHN MAASCH, I have a comment.

   You, and other bamboozled rightwing degenerates like yourself, fantasize that you are some kind of missionary of enlightenment. While Americans are getting their heads sawed off, planes are being hikacked into skyscrapers, Red China's economy and international recognition is ascending (in this case, with the aid of your slobbering ass kissing) ... and so on ... you continue braying with intensifying dullness about how much better things are with conservaLosers steering the ship, narcisistically enveloped in your own dirtied diaper of conservaLoserdom.

   Here, you bray about the hideous "achievements" of George W. Bush --- the Maximum Cheer Leader -- and his ghoulish cabal of creeps, losers, and thugs with respect to their creation, Americastan (formerly Iraq). In particular, you focus on disappearences. So, let's talk shit about disappearences:

   from HARPERS (www.harpers.org)

   "19,000 Iraqis Disappear Into U.S.-Run Prisons"

   BY Scott Horton PUBLISHED May 13, 2007

   Last summer, the Associated Press and New York Times each did stories on the detention facilities operated by the United States inside of Iraq. The conclusions of each investigation were roughly the same. At the time, they noted roughly 14,000 Iraqis were being held in a "legal vacuum." The detention facilities were chaotic, a large portion of the persons held were taken in on sweeps through their neighborhoods and were suspected and charged with nothing. No trials occur, but the detainees languish often for many months – in some cases for more than a year. "They may not be enemies when they enter these prisons," one Army officer told me, "but you can count on it that they are insurgent sympathizers by the time they leave." He was alluding not just to the treatment standards, which he called "nothing I would be proud of as an American," but the fact that the facilities are allowed to function as recruitment and training centers for the insurgents. Politically uninvolved Iraqis enter. But to find a way of surviving in the brutal gang reality of the prisons, they cast their lot with insurgent groups.

   The United States government views this as a "security detention" system that has nothing to do with justice. They are literally right about that. The system has no legal basis. When challenged for authority, spokesmen for U.S. Forces in Iraq constantly cite Security Council Resolution 1546. However, this resolution does not authorize the detentions. To the contrary, it, and the letter from Secretary of State Colin Powell which accompanied it, make clear that detentions must be made in accordance with the Iraqi Constitution and laws. And Iraqi law requires any detention to be justified before a magistrate in a matter of only a few days. One of the most striking features of the U.S. detention regime in Iraq is, however, its complete contempt for the requirements of Iraqi law.

   But beyond this, it's a formula for how to lose a civil war.

   Today, McClatchy reports on the situation and finds the conditions are essentially the same as found by the AP and New York Times in the fall, except that the number of persons under detention has now spiraled to nineteen thousand. But the McClatchy piece puts its focus on ten thousand Iraqis who have simply gone missing – as family and friends are unable to establish any connection with persons in detention, even to establish whether they are simply still alive.

   There's no accurate count of the missing since the war began. Iraqi human rights groups put the figure at 15,000 or more, while government officials say 40 to 60 people disappeared each day throughout the country for much of last year, a rate equal to at least 14,600 in one year...

   Interestingly, McClatchy is a large chain that includes such radical journals as the KANSAS CITY STAR and local papers in such hotspots of Marxist-Leninism as Bradenton, FL and Mississippi.

   JOHN MAASCH=no mind=apologist for the Maximum Cheer Leader and Americastan=mindless braying on cue in favor of any conservaLoser talking point that wafts by the window of his ideological deprivation cell

   Posted by Glenn Lemon at 05/14/2007 @ 09:39am

2. KVH: ...we'd like to avoid a massive increase in costs...the US Postal Service itself had proposed a 12 percent increase that would have affected most magazines more or less equally....adopted a complicated alternative devised by the giant publisher Time Warner....would give huge discounts to big magazines....

   Ms. KVH,

   But you know them unionized Postal employees need the money that should only be borne by Postal customers....I'm NOT bitching about the First Class increase of $0.02 and I am a much smaller cusotmer than The Nation! I won't even bitch if 1st Class Postage went to $0.45 since I can always pay most bills online! Doesn't The Nation have online distribution of its rag?

   You want equality of treatment amongst big & small publishers? Great concept, IF consistently touted! Why then, do you and your ilks hammer Big Biz, Walmart obviously comes to mind, even while they pay better than mom-and-pops in the same biz catagory? How about Big Earners vs. Small Earners? Affirmative Action?

   Posted by Happy at 05/14/2007 @ 10:18am

3. What the fuck?

   Our postal service monopoly adopts a fee structure concocted by Time Warner?

   With no research on its possible effects?

   Maintain that bent-over position, Lady Liberty.

   The frat boys in charge plan to stick it in there even deeper before they leave.

   Posted by drhammer at 05/14/2007 @ 10:18am

4. "Walmart obviously comes to mind, even while they pay better than mom-and-pops in the same biz catagory?"

   Posted by HAPPY 05/14/2007 @ 10:18am

   I'm sure you're prepared to back that one up, right?

   Posted by drhammer at 05/14/2007 @ 10:20am

5. Maybe Walmart should take over the Post Office...BTW, the Post Office is what you will get with the loons here clamouring for national health care...watch your future in action today...

   Posted by john maasch at 05/14/2007 @ 10:54am

6. Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/14/2007 @ 10:54am

   Let's see: The Post Office delivers billions of pieces of mail across 3k miles and four continental timezones, from densely populated cities to barely populated rural areas, no cherry picking of customers, generally decent rates, rapid service with few hiccups.

   That is a conservaLoser's idea of a failure, a sturdy public service infrastructure, one that is NOT part of the organized death and incarceration industry that enacts their dreams of The State. Mark that well.

   And their idea of success? Americans getting their heads sawed off, an Attorney General downgrading anti-terror before 9/11, Spectrum7 and Arbusto, improvised explosives halfway around the world blowing limbs off US adolescents in a place they should never fucking have been exposed in the first place ... and so on. These are the shining successes to "oooo" and "aaaahhhh" over for the brainwashed conservaLoser.

   Say it loud & proud, MAASCH: "Allah Akbar", 'cuase it is the rallying call of people like you who are drawn like flies to ca-ca toward seeing America bleed and who resentfully despise success.

   Posted by Glenn Lemon at 05/14/2007 @ 11:10am

7. I'm sure you're prepared to back that one up, right?

   Posted by DRHAMMER 05/14/2007 @ 10:20am

   DRHAMMER,

   From Slate: "In the Dec. 16 New York Review of Books, Simon Head, director of the Project on Technology and the Workplace at the Century Foundation, stated, "the average pay of a sales clerk at Wal-Mart was $8.50 an hour.........."

   Also, most Wal-Mart workers are full-time and receive benefits....no figures for a quick search! Let's be cheap and just say Wal-Mart's total is $10 per hour! Now, I personally don't believe your corner mom-and-pop convenience stores pay non-relative employees $10 an hour but I could be wrong! With limited time on this, a half-rebuttal!

   Posted by Happy at 05/14/2007 @ 11:39am

8. "JOHN MAASCH=no mind=apologist for the Maximum Cheer Leader and Americastan=mindless braying on cue in favor of any conservaLoser talking point that wafts by the window of his ideological deprivation cell

   Posted by GLENN LEMON 05/14/2007 @ 09:39am '

   Glen=never reads the posts of those he slams=a little"slow"

   I think you will find it hard ressed to find many conservatives defending Bush, especially here, as I have said ad nauseum here, Bush is no conservative and we have no conservatives in govt today...you are just silly and I treat your posts as silly minblings with any real focal point.

   Posted by john maasch at 05/14/2007 @ 12:20pm

9. Glen,

   Praise the Post Office all you want..the stage coach worked real well too..in its time...the post office survives on junk mail...the shit you don't want or need(sound familiar? Like progressive programs?)...no one thought the public would be willing to spend $ 20 a letter either..or that UPS would only handle parcel post(no one wanted that business either, as the post office never put effort into it)....what do you think would be the situation today if the Post Office used their heads and beat Fedex and UPS to the punch when they had the monopoly on mail? No change for inovation there..good union jobs tho..right?

   I see you in the future driving an overpriced car, paying too much for your food, your products, your mail, your health care..all of these thing and more, but to you it will be fair..since no one else will have anything different...all unionised of course...with your little govt job(all private companys quit or left long ago as the nation spirals into and past France...the stagnant zone...as you alone kill off all entrepreneur spirit and drive...and all the capital left...for China..you are an idiot in theat sense...ever been tp China" Actually seen the pl;ace and the free enterprise taking root there? Guess what bthey are dumping? Govt road blocks..the very thing you live for...and what are the Chinese culivating? the entrepreneur spirit as they have seen it work over here...the very thing you don't understand or get in the least..you are a perfect govt hack..

   Keep posting as I am sure you laugh at my posts as hard as I laugh at yours...except I am on my weay to the bank and you the co-op..

   to quote Mask,

   hehe...

   Posted by john maasch at 05/14/2007 @ 12:33pm

10. Glen,

    With you in my sights...ALLLAH AKBAHR!!!!

    Hows that?

    Posted by john maasch at 05/14/2007 @ 12:34pm

11. If KVH doesn't like the Postal rates, then just raise the price on it's subscribers..just like Bill Clinton said..."another 25 cents on a pizza or Big Mac..so what?".... Same for the Nation...another 20cent raise in cost to the consumer? Big deal...it goes to support those union jobs that are so important...to the Nation...

    Posted by john maasch at 05/14/2007 @ 12:37pm

12. "b) how much cheaper would mail delivery be right now if all the paper spam - all that unsolicited junk mail clogging are boxes, was shut down?

    Posted by ZERO 05/14/2007 @ 11:54am "

    Who knows...shut that down and you are forced to lay off all those union postal workers, and we would have to pay all their health care, retirement, and wages even tho they no longer would work(see auto workers)..so the price would probably go up over time even as the amount of mail decreased...typical govy/union dominated shop...and the bills all paid by someone else who does want or need the service.

    Posted by john maasch at 05/14/2007 @ 12:40pm

13. Posted by HAPPY 05/14/2007 @ 10:18am

    Happy: A diversity of information and viewpoints is necessary for self-governance and democratic institutions. It is a simple fact, understood as far back as Madison and Jefferson, that postal rates negatively impact smaller publishers representing minority points of view. Preferential postal rates for periodicals are the government's way of encouraging diversity of viewpoints and opinion - democracy, in other words.

    Free markets in periodicals provide the same problem that majority rule presents in government. It tramples on minority viewpoints and leads to relative homoegenity. It undermines democracy, and we all have a minority point of view - on some topic.

    Posted by srjenkins at 05/14/2007 @ 12:46pm

14. For my friend Happy-

    Wal-Mart's part-time workforce is larger than the national retail average – currently accounting for roughly 20% of Wal-Mart's workforce. Furthermore, Wal-Mart executives have acknowledged that the retailer will shift to a heavier reliance on part-time workers. A recent JP Morgan report said Wal-Mart plans to increase the ratio of its 1.2 million-member U.S. hourly work force on part-time schedules to 40% from 20%. And, Citigroup analyst Deborah Weinswig predicted that Wal-Mart's proportion of full-time workers is declining. In a 60-page research report, she predicted that "Wal-Mart will reduce its ratio of full-time workers to 60 percent over the next year or two, with the remaining 40 percent slated for part-time status." [Wall Street Journal, 4/11/06; Associated Press, 5/3/06]

    Is there anyone out there who doesn't understand why an employer knocks employees back to part-time status?

    According to Wal-Mart, their average wage is $10.11. This amount is $2.25 per hour less than the average hourly wage for retail workers, which was $12.36 in 2005. In contrast, Costco pays its hourly workers $16.00 per hour. [http:///www.walmartfacts.com; Desert Sun (Palm Springs, California), 3/19/06; New York Times, 5/3/05]

    Other average wage figures I have found for non-supervisory retail personnel range as high as $15.50/hr.

    To defend their treatment of their workers, Wal-Mart releases the average hourly wage for full-time employees. However, they will not release their median wage which would provide a clearer sense of what its workers earn; they use misleading language to mask the fact that wages for management are significant higher, and therefore skew the "average" wage of "store associates; and they refuse to release wage levels for specific job functions. Furthermore, even at an average $10.11 per hour wage, a fulltime Wal-Mart employee working 34 hours per week will earn less than the poverty line for a family of four." [http://www.walmartfacts.com; 2006 HHS Poverty Guidelines, http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/06poverty.shtml]

    On the benefits side, 82% of Costco employees have health-insurance coverage, compared with less than half at Wal-Mart. And Costco workers pay just 8% of their health premiums, whereas Wal-Mart workers pay 33% of theirs. Ninety-one percent of Costco's employees are covered by retirement plans, with the company contributing an annual average of $1,330 per employee, while 64 percent of employees at Sam's Club are covered, with the company contributing an annual average of $747 per employee. [From "The High Cost of Low Wages", Harvard Business Review.]

    The percentage of associates covered by Wal-Mart health insurance in January 2006 was 46%. Sixty-seven percent of workers in large firms nationally receive their health benefits from their employer. [http://www.walmartfacts.com; Employer Health Benefits 2005 Annual Survey, The Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust]

    Now, the issue of comparing WalMart wages with those of the "Mom & Pop" retailers is a difficult one to track. It is not a secret that WalMart drives many of these small enterprises out of business, and has the effect of depressing average retail sector wages among the ones that survive.

    My apologies to all for my uncharacteristic amount of C&P.

    Posted by drhammer at 05/14/2007 @ 12:48pm

15. A subscriber to the Nation or National Review, ect...should understand that they pay the costs for what they are receiveing, including postage..pass it on...and stop asking for special rates...large users get better rates due to the scale and the lower cost to do the larger customers as the unit price is cheaper..economy of scale...if the Nation is afraid of a few cents on their postage, why are they not afrid to have major raises on taxes , products and gas for the special interests they support?

    Posted by john maasch at 05/14/2007 @ 12:55pm

16. Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/14/2007 @ 12:55pm

    The USPS is supposed to serve all Americans equally, as a democratic mechanism for the distribution of print communication.

    It is obviously not a for-profit enterprise.

    If Time-Warner has a gazillion times as many pieces to distribute as does The Nation Magazine, it will require a proportionately larger amount of infrastructure to deliver. (That includes a proportionately larger number number of the unionized postal employees you so readily disparage.)

    I get the sense that you fancy yourself as someone with business acumen.

    How much of a volume discount do you think is appropriate for an organization to offer when they're operating at a loss?

    I am prepared to follow any links that explain how "economies of scale" are relevant in this conversation.

    Posted by drhammer at 05/14/2007 @ 1:28pm

17. "...if the Nation is afraid of a few cents on their postage, why are they not afrid to have major raises on taxes , products and gas for the special interests they support?"

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/14/2007 @ 12:55pm

    Because, JM, they're too "progressive" to have their rates increased. (They borrowed that line from Paris "I'm too beautiful to go to jail" Hilton).

    Also, I wanted to respond back to you regarding my last question about your travels to the Southeast. I live in Metro Atlanta. Quick question, I understand from your blogging that your business consists of working with jewelery? Is that correct? Do you make it or sell to independent or commerical dealers (stores)? I'm always looking to add a nice piece to my collection. I'll read your response when I get home tonight.

    Posted by ACook at 05/14/2007 @ 1:36pm

18. "How much of a volume discount do you think is appropriate for an organization to offer when they're operating at a loss?"

    Posted by DRHAMMER 05/14/2007 @ 1:28pm

    DRHAMMER, if an organization is operating at a loss, then they should fire those responsible for the mess and hire an image consultant to get them back on their feet.

    Posted by ACook at 05/14/2007 @ 1:45pm

19. Posted by ACOOK 05/14/2007 @ 1:45pm

    I don't think that even Maasch would suggest accomplishing real reform with an image consultant.

    Nonetheless, you fail to address my question.

    Posted by drhammer at 05/14/2007 @ 1:55pm

20. KVH,

    Some Observations & a request:

    Looks like this time "Big Business" means one of your own

    I wonder how much you would be complaining if THE NATION was big enough to qualify for any discount.

    The idea of giving discounts for volume is a typical method of doing business. Perhaps if the Nation had more readers...

    For you, Katrina, to speak of "competitiveness" after spending so much lierary time over the years pushing for Governmental control of Big Bad Business strikes me as ludicrous at best. Everyone knows where you stand economically, and its definitely not for competition.

    And my request:

    Katrina, please do not evoke the Founding Fathers while bellyaching about your magazines' fortunes: You know full well your concept of correct policies & economics, if ever implemented, would scrap almost everything the FF's tried to do. You have no business appealing to their philosophy.

    Chip

    Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 05/14/2007 @ 2:28pm

21. Sorry, thats "literary"

    Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 05/14/2007 @ 2:31pm

22. Nonetheless, you fail to address my question.

    Posted by DRHAMMER 05/14/2007 @ 1:55pm

    I will address it...

    If a business is operationg at a losss, then they have to increase productivity and/or cut costs..but they can't offer a service at a loss indefinatly unless they are a govt operation of some sorts..

    If the PO operates in a atmosphere where they are not expect to earn a profit and are not required to do so, then there is no incentive to insure either cost or productivty , ergo they will not be are affected...and you get the post office, who raises rates whenever they need it...

    In this case the PO is no longer a business but another govt work program.

    If, however, it is run as a business, then the place would run with an eye towards improving service,cutting costs, and growing market share...

    DR, I addressed the issue of cutting junk mail above, but yes, there is a high amount of structure required for mass delivery of Time Warner type projects, but if they lose money, then raise the rates or drop the acount...since most of mail is junk and we don't know if it is profitable or not...then my post to Zeros question is true...if they stop the junk, they would be forced to lay off or fire union workers, workers for the govt, n o les, and it will not fly..being paid for time showing up instead of improvments is not their model..

    The PO is a union govt shop...automatic raises occured with every contract regardless of the health of the over all company and if they are on solid finacial ground...it doesn't matter...price increases come regardless...if a private company ran the entire PO, and they had to deal with rural as well as city routes, I believe you would see changes..some good and some bad..but the place would be efficient....which today it isn't on any level..we mass ship our product in my business, boxes and letters, when on time matters...and the PO isn't even considered, for obvious reasons...except here.

    Posted by john maasch at 05/14/2007 @ 2:37pm

23. Damn, Maasch. Are you intentionally missing my point?

    Your libertarian bent is well established, and I understand that you (and a great many others) would prefer that the USPS were run like a private-sector business. That may or may not make it more efficient, but that's not the point here. It was not designed to be a for-profit enterprise, and it's clearly not. It was created as a democratic mechanism for the distribution of print communication. If the government offers favorable treatment to the largest of corporate media interests, and raises the cost for the smaller, more independent outlets, then our diversity of information is once again diminished, making the system less democratic.

    How is it relevent to force a commercial business template around an entity that was not intended to be a commercial business?

    Posted by drhammer at 05/14/2007 @ 3:20pm

24. By the way, "when on time matters", what do Fedex or UPS charge to deliver your letters?

    Posted by drhammer at 05/14/2007 @ 3:22pm

25. Katrina, please do not evoke the Founding Fathers while bellyaching about your magazines' fortunes: You know full well your concept of correct policies & economics, if ever implemented, would scrap almost everything the FF's tried to do. You have no business appealing to their philosophy. Posted by CHIP THORNTON

    Why is it so difficult for people to understand that the latter 18th century was a completely different world than the one we live on. The Industrial Revolution, the rise of whole industries and conglomerates was not forseen by the Founding Fathers. The Constitution was nothing more than an effort to create a united traded bloc--written by and for the wealthy, influential men of America; the Bill of Rights were only added as an after thought. The concentrations of wealth and power created by the Industrial Revolution changed everything. How can lone individuals compete with the resources of corporations? Fools often evoke the "Founding Fathers" when blathering on about "libertarian" beliefs, all the while ignoring the basic tenets of their philosophy: checks and balances on power. In the 1790's only governments wielded the power to oppress and abuse on a large scale. The Industrial Revolution changed all that.

    Posted by mtspence05 at 05/14/2007 @ 3:59pm

26. DR,

    "How is it relevent to force a commercial business template around an entity that was not intended to be a commercial business?

    Posted by DRHAMMER 05/14/2007 @ 3:20pm

    I understand this...so the deeper point is the PO is the model for exactly what the Nation and many here are hoping the govt will do to most private business...make them "more Democratic"...well, you have you example in the PO so they, including KVH, should not complain about the rates...as far as cutting, ban cutting rates and watch your PO lose even more money...

    anyway,...Fedex can offer rates as low as $8.00 a box for volume for overnight...and huge savings on 2 day...we use UPS and letters and boxes...I will find out exactly what they charge..and let you know if I am able.

    But I do understand your point earlier...and I know the PO is designed as a democratic system...which is why it is having trouble...its very natuire doesn't work when faced with competition from many sides....so it plods along consuming cash.. ....

    Kinda like the congress, when tasked to design a horse they present us with a camel...

    Posted by john maasch at 05/14/2007 @ 4:08pm

27. Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/14/2007 @ 2:37pm

    The problem is your business metaphor. Everything should not be run like a business, and profit is not the only legitimate organizing principle.

    Example: Policing, judicial systems and prisons are organized around the idea of justice. Let's do the reductio ad absurdum approach and imagine these institutions were organized on the profit motive shall we?

    You pay police protection money. No money, no protection - police might actually morph to perpetuate crime to increase their profits.

    Judge and jury are paid for their services and those that can pay a sufficient amount are declared innocent. Those that can't are assumed to be guilty and go to prison. Best profit scenario is extracting the most money from everyone and sending the poor to jail as an example to others to pay up.

    Prisons take prisoners - but there is no profit to be had...unless, they sell cheap prisoner labor, don't bother maintaining facilities, find ways to eliminate unprofitable prisoners (assuming they can be made profitable at all), etc.

    Is this a world you want to live in?

    Now, you can argue that the post office is more like a business. But the point that is being made is that the post office has a role to play in our democracy that is part of its organizing principle that is not part of the organizing principles of FedEx or UPS - nor should they be.

    Your mistake is to think FedEx, UPS and the Post Office are identical entities. They are not, and the reasons FedEx and UPS even have a business is because they fill in the gaps of the Post Office with additional, profitable services. Similarly, security services like Securitas make a profit be providing services that the police department doesn't.

    Just as it is absurd to argue that police departments should be run like Securitas, it is absurd to argue that the Post Office needs to be like FedEx. Doing so simply shows you don't understand the difference between the two and that FedEx and Securitas cannot perform the role of their government counterparts.

    Posted by srjenkins at 05/14/2007 @ 4:23pm

28. SR,

    I agree with most of your post and do understand the differences..

    My little question regarding the PO is something to consider...had the PO paid a little attention to its own mission, then they could have prevented a FEDEX or UPS to even enter the market...or at least, not let them enter and cherry pick the routes...the point is the Post Office never even thinks about improving services or productivity PRESISELY because it doesn't care about either..it cares about fairness, I guess..and even screws this up by offering staggered rates...as far as over nite letters..they came in years after the market was taken from them and offer a me too service..poorly at that also.

    Posted by john maasch at 05/14/2007 @ 4:31pm

29. And had the PO offerd the type of options that UPS and FEDEX do, then imagine the amount of "extra dollars" they would have for all those endless union contracts...............and our letters might be stamped for 10 cents...

    Posted by john maasch at 05/14/2007 @ 4:33pm

30. "Prisons take prisoners - but there is no profit to be had...unless, they sell cheap prisoner labor, don't bother maintaining facilities, find ways to eliminate unprofitable prisoners (assuming they can be made profitable at all), etc."

    Now this could be a solurce of labor...

    How about putting the prisoners in the fields picking our foods, pay them a little less than the illegal immigrants....this would end illegal immigration, and allow the prisoners to make restitution to their victims..and then earn towards their incarceration.

    Posted by john maasch at 05/14/2007 @ 4:36pm

31. If you make prisons profitable you give the government a motive for locking people up. (Check into the war on drugs and the ability of the government to confiscate anything and everything. It is a source of a lot of money and a great deal of abuse). I realize this is hard for someone of limited cognitive abilities such as you to comprehend, but not everything is supposed to make a profit. Injecting the profit motive into some government functions such as prisons invites abuse.

    "And had the PO offerd the type of options that UPS and FEDEX do, then imagine the amount of "extra dollars" they would have for all those endless union contracts..."

    Always whining about unions.

    Posted by mtspence05 at 05/14/2007 @ 4:47pm

32. My apologies to all for my uncharacteristic amount of C&P.

    Posted by DRHAMMER 05/14/2007 @ 12:48pm

    So that your C&P is put to good use.....

    As a veteran investor (but never owned Wal-Mart stocks directly), it has been very educational to follow its growth--much like of Dell Computers in the high-tech sector. First out-of-the-blocks with revolutionary biz models and grow astronomically to displace the old, inefficient `guards' like Gibsons', K-Mart, Sears, IBM, Sinclair, etc....

    However, the dynamism of the US economy is such that, in time, new competitors enter the fray (Costco), old ones adjust (Target) or the market adjusts (fed up w/Wal-Mart's service or treatment of employees) so that the Wal-Marts and Dells becomes the `Old Guard'.

    This now-familiar pattern is repeated throughout all industry sectors. Look at the US auto sector with the Japanese studying up while catching up and doing most everything BETTER!

    In reality, Wal-Mart has my pity! I am not sure what it can do to please its long-suffering shareholders! One of its competitive early advantage of logistics, is now marginal and without growth, its early capital cost advantage is now a negative.....

    The Left seems to have penchant for attacking wounded old dogs....like Obama hammering US automakers, in Detroit no less...and of course, Wal-Mart. In this economy, anyone with a decent work history, can pick up and leave! I don't believe any auto workers or Wal-Mart hourlies, are being forced to work in balls & chains!

    Posted by Happy at 05/14/2007 @ 4:57pm

33. The Left seems to have penchant for attacking wounded old dogs....like Obama hammering US automakers, in Detroit no less...and of course, Wal-Mart. In this economy, anyone with a decent work history, can pick up and leave! I don't believe any auto workers or Wal-Mart hourlies, are being forced to work in balls & chains!

    Posted by HAPPY

    Fools like you just don't get it. A working class guy is just gonna quit a job that he's devoted ten, fifteen years of his life to? sell his house, move to another city? That may be great for you, but for a lot of people it's not. You, the old lying bald coward and others don't seem capable of seeing things in any perspective other than your own narrow, myopic view.

    Posted by mtspence05 at 05/14/2007 @ 5:09pm

34. Posted by MTSPENCE05 05/14/2007 @ 5:09pm

    Goodby!

    Posted by Happy at 05/14/2007 @ 5:12pm

35. Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/14/2007 @ 4:31pm

    I think your criticism of government can be applied to any large organization. I worked in a job for several years doing research in a large professional services company serving Fortune 500 companies, large government organizations, and so forth. Many of the criticisms you have of government could just as easily be applied to them - organizational inertia, avoidance of risk taking, missed opportunities in their industry/service, etc.

    One advantage that business has is that there typically a focus on value that does not exist in a government setting. But then again, businesses typically have a myopic focus on the short term and tend to think of people as fungible parts - some don't even understand how intangible value applies to their organization and how things such as employee turnover impact it.

    In short, I start to get a little uneasy when business becomes our mental model for evaluating everything. There are many things businesses cannot do well - such as my justice example above - that often gets lost in the discussion. I also think it is a little unfair to judge the Post Office by companies that are providing additional services and aren't encumbered with the Post Office's mission. I'm not sure how great FedEx or UPS's services would be if they were delivering lettered mail for everyone in the U.S.

    Posted by srjenkins at 05/14/2007 @ 6:08pm

36. "I think your criticism of government can be applied to any large organization. "

    Absolutely true, and the problem is the biggest employer is now the govt..and with it inherent wastefullness unprecendednted in our history...endless demands for more funding despite unproductive programs..and I still can't figure out why they need a union...it isn't like there is any competition...I believe there are things the govt deos that private can do better, not just cheaper..

    "There are many things businesses cannot do well - such as my justice example above - that often gets lost in the discussion."

    Very true ..the examples you cited are obvious,therefore never proght up and I for one, would never trust justice to dealt out by any corporation..I am faulted here for completely relying on the business model for everything and I never believed it a good model for everything..but the problem from my point of view is that most here want the govt model...which has a poor history of its own..a business doesn't work it fails, in gov if something doesn't work, it gets more funding..

    Posted by john maasch at 05/14/2007 @ 9:02pm

37. to quote Mask,

    hehe...

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/14/2007 @ 12:33pm

    hey where was sweetness today? Our resident stay at home mom wasn't pretending to have a job or something was she?

    Posted by Will C. at 05/14/2007 @ 10:43pm

38. Bookmark this article. It's Katrina Vanden Heuvel arguing for a lower tax. Hell has frozen over.

    Posted by utcareful at 05/15/2007 @ 02:50am

39. Posted by WILL C. 05/14/2007 @ 10:43pm

    Just taking some time off, WILL....like YOU do when there's a Hillary article that's less than supportive of her "consistant support of the Liberal Agenda".

    Posted by Mask at 05/15/2007 @ 09:36am

40. Posted by UTCAREFUL 05/15/2007 @ 02:50am

    Yep, and read this line...

    "It looks like the Postal Service will adopt these rates without research into how it affects small and medium sized magazines, and without any meaningful public input."

    Can you IMAGINE Katrina vanden Heuvel saying the same thing about a new tax or regulation from the Federal government and "how it affects small and medium sized BUSINESSES"?!?!?!

    Posted by Mask at 05/15/2007 @ 09:39am

41. I think we should start a national "Do Not Mail" campaign. Just like the "Do Not Call" program for telemarketers. I am sick and tired of all the crap I get in the mail not to mention the harm to the environment. What do you think the chances of success are? I can see Wilfred Brimley as the postmaster general questioning me in a dark room right now!

    Posted by abell12ct at 05/15/2007 @ 10:33am

42. I would like to know that how is it Time Warners came to write the postal regulations for the USPS. This is a complete and shameless sell out to big businesses at the expense of small businesses. There needs to be investigation of this issue.

    Posted by kevin99999 at 05/15/2007 @ 11:45am

43. Posted by ABELL12CT 05/15/2007 @ 10:33am

    Quite good actually, since this already exists. If you want to cut down on your direct mail by a significant amount, register for DMA's Mail Preference Service (MPS). Reputable direct marketing companies check against this list and remove matches because it helps them to reduce costs by not sending mail to people that aren't interested in what they are selling.

    https://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing

    Posted by srjenkins at 05/15/2007 @ 11:56am

44. "I would like to know that how is it Time Warners came to write the postal regulations for the USPS. "

    To help the unions?

    Posted by john maasch at 05/15/2007 @ 11:57am

45. Posted by WILL C. 05/14/2007 @ 10:43pm

    You're comment is sexist, in case you weren't aware.

    Posted by srjenkins at 05/15/2007 @ 11:57am

46. Posted by SRJENKINS 05/15/2007 @ 11:56am

    Thanks, this is helpful.

    John

    Posted by john maasch at 05/15/2007 @ 11:59am

47. Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/14/2007 @ 9:02pm

    ...a business doesn't work it fails...

    This may be true of small business. It's not true of big business.

    Guaranteed loans to Chrysler in the 1980s from the government come to mind. The automotive industry in general is a great example - and you'll need to talk about why unions are a problem for U.S. companies and not for Japanese ones, if you choose to blame unions. I personally think U.S. car companies are at least as complacent as the post office - and it is more about management and organizational culture than anything else.

    Insurance companies reaction after 9/11 - trying to off-load unprofitable insurance onto government - is another. I would also argue that the U.S. Army was better equiped to do their own logistics and performed better and at less cost than the private contractors that do many of those services now. I can think of many examples where government services are actually better than private ones.

    I do think that there is something to the thrust of your argument - there are many cases where government has been content doing things the same old way and provided bad service. But, this is also true of big business that operates on a large enough scale.

    The one "advanatge" big business has is they can do mass layoffs - which in many respects is much like the insurance companies going to government to cover unprofitable insurance. It basically externalizes the organizational and business problems and off loads it into society. Government doesn't have that option.

    Posted by srjenkins at 05/15/2007 @ 12:19pm

48. As long as we have the web, the concept of the Post Office is obsolete, except not everyone has access to the web. We may return to this same problem when special interests take over the web. The Nation may cut their costs by sending out issues every other month or quarterly, or just have special issues. Topics would be less timely and articles would have to be more general. For up to date articles they could start by Improving the web to be even more nimble. The United States Postal Service should take the "Service" out of their name or did they all ready do that? When we have the for hire guys making more than our generals, one wonders when the military is going to go the way of the Post Office?

    Posted by Leefeller at 05/15/2007 @ 12:27pm

49. "ranteed loans to Chrysler in the 1980s from the government come to mind. The automotive industry in general is a great example - and you'll need to talk about why unions are a problem for U.S. companies and not for Japanese ones, if you choose to blame unions. I personally think U.S. car companies are at least as complacent as the post office - and it is more about management and organizational culture than anything else. "

    Oh, I agree...I blame management in Detroit as much as unions...right now, uions are sitting in offices reading the paper and gett full money and bennys and not making cars..because they have an agreement..doe4sn't help the bottom line or their jobs...and the management can't seem to clean out an entire level of mid managers or design a car that sells...wanna sell SuvS...then have them get 50 miles a gallon and detroit will expolde in growth...my brothers Expedition...and I warned him, 8 cylindr 11 miles a gallon ...on the highway...my 8 cyclinder..20 per gallon...

    Your question should be asked of Detroit and not me..how does Japanese(or the Germans) get by with their unions in the South and Detroit can't...

    BTW, I was one of those who thought the govt should not have bailed out Chrysler..still don't..I disagree with the entire principle.

    Posted by john maasch at 05/15/2007 @ 1:26pm