You have to be a real “old-timer” to remember when postmen came around to homes twice a day, morning and afternoon, to deliver first-class letters with one pink 2-cent stamp.
Then, because of higher costs, a purple 3-cent stamp was required. But that was a long time ago. There have been many more rate increases. And home delivery was cut to once a day. Now a 1-ounce letter delivery requires a 44-cent stamp.
But that’s far from covering home mail costs and the other big expenses of the Postal Service. The post office is running in the red. So Postal Service Vice President Stephen Kearney says the post office is facing the prospect of $7 billion in red ink a year if postal rates are not increased.
It is suggested that a first-class letter will require a 46-cent stamp — up 2 cents — effective Jan. 2.
But will that be enough to balance the postal budget? Unfortunately not!
While the proposed 2-cent stamp increase for first-class mail is expected to bring in an extra $2.5 billion, the Post Office still expects to face a $4.7 billion loss, even with delivery reduced to just five days a week.
We live in a time of immediate delivery of many messages by ubiquitous computer e-mail. That’s convenient, and is increasingly a means of communication, cutting the need for letters. Yet we still like to have the postman coming around almost every day. But that’s expensive. So postal rate increases and measures to economize are necessary.