This postabout the Canada penny makes me wonder: Both the making of US pennies and the USPS situation are flagrant abuses of our tax dollars. The US is throwing millions of dollars away; yet, the US can’t do anything to save itself. Why can’t the US fix the errors of its ways?
I sometimes wonder if the powers that be even see it as a priority.
Randompattern, if only there were a “Like” button!
Inertia can be a powerful negative force.
The USPS situation is largely due to Congressional meddling at this point, and actually, it doesn’t a decent job for the price. But hey, don’t let the facts get in the way of ranting.
The US can’t fix a lot of what’s wrong due to people putting the rights of individuals ahead of the good of the whole society. When Americans become less selfish they’ll be able to make some headway on their communal problem.
I’m interested in hearing more about this meddling. Enlighten us with your wisdom!
Pennies may not make economic sense. But polls indicate the American people still want them. The government giving people what they want is not a waste of tax dollars.
What tax dollars are being flagrantly abused by “the USPS situation”?
The penny is a pretty trivial issue, to the point that it’s hard to see it as abusive at all, let alone flagrant. It’s silly to keep making it, and the arguments for why it’s useful are mathematically bankrupt, but it’s not really a huge issue either. There’s nothing that isn’t getting done because gosh, we just made too many pennies.
The size of the US economy is on the order of $16 trillion. Pissing away a million here or there is no big deal to us. Do you still stop to pick up pennies in the street?
Yes. It’s good luck. I don’t think anyone has picked them up for the financial benefits since about 1950.
Congress has mandated that the USPS fund its pension system for a greater number of years than required of any other business. This has turned it from a break-even enterprise to one drowning in red ink not because of business practices but due to requirements imposed by the government. Reverse the requirement to a more sane level and a lot of the USPS budget problems go away.
Also, every time the USPS has brought up the subject of ending mail delivery on Saturdays, much less reducing it more than that, Congress has shot it down.
Another lesser known problem with USPS pensions: The MILITARY pensions of any veterans that the USPS employs have to be paid entirely out of the USPS budgetand the USPS has to give hiring preference to veterans. Even if the veteran left the military before retirement age, the veteran gets credits towards a federal pension for the time served in the military and the USPS has to pay for them. Even if the veteran served before the USPS was formed, the USPS is responsible for their benefits. The USPS is one of three (I believe) federal agencies that has to pay for military pensions in this way.
I am not questioning that veterans deserve pensions or hiring preference. I am just pointing out that the cost of many military pensions are hidden in the USPS budget.
Yes, this IS hardly mentioned, and I did not know the specifics. I had heard no Federal employee is to double-dip (i.e., pull a double pension from the Fed Gov nor work for another Fed office while pulling a Fed pension), but the retired military can get around this by working for the USPS. I guess this is hidden by forcing thr USPS to pick up the tab.
P.S. What did you mean “before the USPS was formed”? I vaguely recall some reorganization back in the 1970s mayeb when zip codes started. Is that what you mean? Otherwise, the USPS goes waaaay back, Mr. Peabody! 
If you’re going to denounce something, you should at least learn the basics about it. The Post Office used to be part of the federal government. In 1971, it was recreated as a separate independent corporation. They phased out all taxpayer support and became self-supporting - there haven’t been any tax dollars “wasted” on the USPS in thirty years.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) was established on July 1, 1971 by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970. It replaced the now-defunct Post Office Department (POD). The USPS is “an independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States.” At that time, the Postmaster General ceased to be a member of the presidential cabinet and was no longer in the line of succession to the presidency. After that date, postal rates and regulations were no longer set by Congress, but by the USPS Board of Governors with the approval of the Postal Regulatory Commission.
This had nothing to do with ZIP Codes, which were put in place by the old Post Office Department in 1963.
Yes, it’s still legal tender, nearly valueless as it may be, but it eventually adds up…
I actually sort pennies into two separate jars, one for copper pennies (pre-1982) and zinc pennies ('83 onwards), I keep the coppers, and redeem the zinc ones in the free coin counter in my bank
Zinc pennies are truly worthless, coppers have an actual melt value (roughly 2 to 3 cents per penny), even though it’s illegal to melt US coinage, and I don’t melt them down, the copper in the coins has value beyond the face value of the coin
The USPS is actually one of the most cost effective and efficient organizations in the world, whether public or private. To the extent it has problems, they can largely be chalked up to political meddling.
Yeah. We live in a democracy. When our lawmakers stop caring about what their constituents want, then it’s time for us to punt their asses into the weeds.
Seriously. I’m all for eliminating the penny. These days, it’s a ridiculously tiny amount of money. But in practical terms, it’s way, way, waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down my list of things to do.
It’s a slippery slope. First you eliminate the penny, then before you know it, there goes the $1 bill.