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Government Unemployment Watch: USPS To Close Up To 3,700 Post Offices

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/26/2011 09:54 -0400

The problem with bloated central planning is that when austerity hits, the bloat goes away, and millions of government employees suddenly find themselves trying to enter the private sector, realizing they have absolutely no real competitive and marketable skills (more or less like investment bankers and hedge fund managers). And while America has yet to even remotely sniff austerity, the unemployment rate is already set to spike, after the USPS just announced it was preparing to close 3,653 out of its 32,000 total post office sites. Per UPI: "The U.S. Postal Service is expected to announce a plan to close 3,653 post offices, mostly in small communities, in a cost-cutting measure, officials said. A USPS spokeswoman said the post offices were chosen because they get the "least amount of foot traffic and retail sales," The Wall Street Journal reported Monday." Trust the bureaucrats to try spinning this bad news as good: "They also were selected because there may be local businesses that could provide some postal services to the community, spokeswoman Sue Brennan said." Well by that logic there are private businesses that cover every aspect of the government's "job" much better, and much more efficiently, up to and including that of the Fed (sorry, that already is private). Does that mean we should outsource every aspect of the bloated centrally planned economy that America has become? Of course the answer is yes, but that just does not jive with the current iteration of kleptofascist socialism.

The list of the closures, amounting to about 11 percent of the USPS' post offices nationwide, will be made public Tuesday by Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe,

The Postal Regulatory Commission would have to approve the widespread closings, as the USPS prepares to file a request for a "national change of service," Brennan said.

Donahoe also will announce "a replacement strategy" involving third-party retailers, she said.

"If you're a community and there is a local convenience store, for example, we might be reaching out to these organizations to see if they would be interested in providing limited postal service for the community that might be affected," Brennan said.

So between corporate and now public sector layoffs, expect the unemployment rate to resume climbing steadily to double digits, hitting it some time in Q4, at which point QE3 will be inevitable, as Goldman predicted yesterday.

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Tue, 07/26/2011 - 11:05 | 1494423 SRV - ES339

http://youtu.be/NUjjFETMTxE

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 10:33 | 1494269 glenlloyd

Unfortunate for small communities that might lose a PO, and remember this will be coupled with the proposed reduced delivery schedule, what was it, three or four day a week delivery?

then again a badly run business deserves to fail. In this case if it had not been for tax payers the USPS would have died years ago.

I wonder, do they post the incomes of postal workers since it's a fed operation? I'd be interested in seeing just how skewed the incomes are for those precious employees.

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 10:36 | 1494282 Internet Tough Guy

Now libertarians can start up their own postal service free of government control. Oh wait, they already have, and it is called Fedex, and it costs $15 to send a piece of paper across the country.

That's freedom man.

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 11:11 | 1494463 SRV - ES339

http://youtu.be/NUjjFETMTxE

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 11:26 | 1494556 thedrickster

Yeah bro, right on.

But for the fact that you completely ignore the distinction between Express delivery and first class mail. I have little doubt that if FedEx coluld deliver a letter cross country to your mailbox over the course 5-10 business days that it would cost a fraction of $15. Would it cost $.42c? Probably not, as local mailers subsidize cross country mail under the USPS monopoly. Would the service be infintely better? Little doubt here. Would your mailbox be full of useless junk subsidized by the USPS's need to perpetuate itself? nope.

And with email anyone can send nearly any piece of paper cross country for $.000000000000000001 per page, first class mail would be extinct but for subsidy/monopoly.

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 23:30 | 1496786 thedrickster

Whomever junked this needs help.

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 10:37 | 1494288 apberusdisvet

I have no idea what a stamp costs. I pay all my bills through my bank at no cost for postage, envelopes, etc. I email, not write to my friends and relatives, and no longer send greetings cards for birthdays or holidays since it is far more appropriate (and personal) to email a thought or best wishes.

My example, in a nutshell, is why the USPS is an anachronism.

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 10:43 | 1494317 King Dong

Does that mean we should outsource every aspect of the bloated centrally planned economy that America has become? Of course the answer is yes, but that just does not jive with the current iteration of kleptofascist socialism.

Tyler, Not the best comment you've ever made but this is generally the exception to the rule. Not worth the effort in pointing out why private hands are not any better than public ones in this regard.

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 11:13 | 1494482 SRV - ES339

http://youtu.be/NUjjFETMTxE

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 10:46 | 1494328 Jimmy Carter wa...

You wanted Big Gubmint cut, now here it comes! What's the matter? Some of your friends, family, you work for USPS? Talk about slimming down... the average Cuban lost 40lbs after the USSR stopped the subsidies.

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 10:48 | 1494343 Tunga

Who do you suppose is the Constitutionally mandated enforcement arm of the US Government needed to stop the corruption occurring via mail fraud? Think of the private collection agency called the IRS for a second. Now who would these criminals in DC like to have eliminated from the power structure first?

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 10:54 | 1494366 Reptil

From (extensive) experience I can tell you that USPS is good. And FedEx and UPS suck and are WAY too expensive (USA branch, Europe is fine).

So go figure..... Many small (electronic) businesses (pro gear) rely on cheap shipping. So do many individuals selling and buying secondhand goods.

Maybe someone can write an iPad app for this?

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 11:22 | 1494373 virgilcaine

i order items on amazon with free usps delivery & no ny tax (they have to get out of the car and place at the door) and leave the junkmail in the mailbox.

agree their priority shipping is a good deal (interaction with malcontent ps employee as bonus) . But thats about it.

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 11:30 | 1494576 gwar5

I have a friend who retired from the USPS, an EEO officer. He says the USPS is a whole government unto itself, wasting money. They have their own USPS staff psychiatrists, USPS staff lawyers, you name it. Of course, the EEO is the anti-discrimination police --- and there's armies of them.

They have entire relocation teams to buy real estate when they transfer people. The USPS bought my friend's house from him (top market price) in South San Francisco to move him just 25 miles south to San Jose. 3 years later they moved him right back! Bought both his homes at his top asking prices to facilitate his transfers.

He is now retired in a $1.25 million house (pre-crash price) in Redwood City, CA. He still can't believe the things they do. Plenty of USPS $$ has nothing to do with delivery of mail.

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 11:32 | 1494586 bankruptcylawyer

the usps exists mostly to subsidize junk and commercial mail.

if it isn't enough to get spam in your inbox, it must be more important to get spam in your mail box, at great cost financially and environmentally.

think about how much gasoline is going to be saved from not servicing 3000 post offices.

this is pretty enormous.

what i would like to see is the usps transitioning their business by ELIMINATING commercial mail, and jacking up the price on ordinary mail and packages. uh, amazon is going to be pissed. people might actually start buying too many ebooks and cut out their keystone margin on shipping (charging more than double the shipping price ) which is like 20% of their profit.

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 11:47 | 1494672 NotApplicable

Oh, and Lysander Spooner approves of this message.

http://www.lysanderspooner.org/STAMP3.htm

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 11:54 | 1494693 moonstears

Having used mail services in various countries, I can boldly state that for the money the USPS is the cheapest, most reliable nat'l mail service I've encountered. Have I had problems, yes, occasionally, but this layoff announcement is NOT good news. I've said for 3 years they needed to raise stamps to around .60 or so, and it'd still be cheap, for we, the consumer. Ask Italians how their mail service works(one of the worst I've encountered).

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 12:05 | 1494734 bill1102inf

Suuuuure, lets take 350,000 postal workers and terminate their jobs. Then replace with 350,000 min wage burger flipper rejects. That way, whoever owns the mail distribution and collection points can make millions or billions while everyone that works for them is dead poor, not even making a live able wage. Do you want to entrust the US mail system with people you see at drive through windows in order to enrich a few people? Because that will be the end result.

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 12:12 | 1494756 thedrickster

Amerika, the world's largest welfare program.

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 12:11 | 1494740 Zero Govt

"..kleptofascist socialism.." ...now that's a new discription, very accurate too, i like it

..or you can use 'parasite' for short which strips away all the idealistic and academic window dressing right down to the bone for this scum and our biggest socio-economic problem

Tue, 07/26/2011 - 13:25 | 1495062 linrom