Originally Posted By wonderingalice <<The Bush twins need money for their student loans.>> Is that what they're calling "beer money" these days?
Originally Posted By smeeeko ^^hee hee.. Bush Twins student loans... they should do what all good citizens do, join the Army for a few years for the army college fund. If it's good for me, it should be good for a couple of girls that seem to be only in the news for drinking and getting in trouble (sounds like they got some time on their hands anyway). IMHO of course.. I would advise them to save their beer fund though, cause I had a shocker when I got out.. the government reimburses you for the college expenses monthly.. so you still have to save up your cash.. $3k doesn't cut it even at a Public school. =P ps: i thought the USPS paid for their employees & gas with that stamp.. silly me!
Originally Posted By wahooskipper My realtor..whom I bought a house from about 8 years ago, used the occasion to employ a shrewd marketing effort. He sent us 10 $.02 cent stamps with a Happy Holiday card. He went into great detail about how much it was costing society. They looked at the time spent going to the post office, standing in line, gas comsumption, etc. It did end up being in the billions of dollars. So, they were doing their little part in saving the world.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer And how much are the anti-free market real estate brokerage fees costing society, I wonder?
Originally Posted By TomSawyer It was a clever idea - but turning it into a political screed, as the realtor did, was a little much coming from an industry that won't allow independent brokers to charge what they want for a commission.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Not necessarily. I just want to know what Congress intends to do with the $3 billion that made this increase necessary.> That's the intriguing question to me, too. If they've earmarked it for the USPS itself - if they know that a few years down the road, there's going to be a massive modernization program that all post offices must take part in, or something like that, it's one thing. On the other hand, if Congress just figured out that we hadn't had an increase in postage costs for a few years, and everyone sort of expects them every few years, so therefore they could raise 3 billion dollars to devote (ultimately) to the general fund, that would be another. I'm all for paying down the deficit, but it would amount to a tax increase, essentially. At any rate (hey, pun!!), it would be nice to know what that 3 billion is earmarked for.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 I still find the stamps to be a good bargin and I never had any really problems with the Postal Service. Not to mention my new mail carrier looks like a swimsuit model.
Originally Posted By StillThePassHolder "My realtor..whom I bought a house from about 8 years ago, used the occasion to employ a shrewd marketing effort. He sent us 10 $.02 cent stamps with a Happy Holiday card." LOL. My realtor did the same thing. Must be some kind of land based conspiracy.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <Not to mention my new mail carrier looks like a swimsuit model.> Hooters delivers your mail too, huh?
Originally Posted By a goofy guy There is no place in this city to get 2 cent stamps...including at either post office.
Originally Posted By SuperDry The USPS is a semi-independent entity whose budget is completely separate from that of the federal government. They had been running with a large debt for a long time, and had almost caught up when 9/11 hit. Huge expenses were incurred as a result of the anthrax attacks through the mail, causing them to borrow more. I think it's wise that Congress decided that they should not only pay off their debt, but build up a reserve fund. This can help prevent needing them to borrow money the next time an unforseen situation happens. It's easy to make fun of, but I think we have the best postal system (and perhaps the cheapest too) of any country in the world. As a semi-governmental body, they do an outstanding job. Now, if you want an example of how NOT to do it, look at Amtrak.
