Since the plan to stop Saturday delivery only applies to first class mail, isn't it going to cost more to add another sort to allow the rest of the "stuff" to be sent to the carriers for delivery? And if you are going to be on the route anyway, what's the difference? Or is this just another example of bureaucratic double-speak?

Electronic communications is rapidly replacing physical mail. This makes sense and the only people complaining will be mail carriers and their union.

I know I will get booed for even mentioning it, but mail is a Government service in every other country in the world. Why are we the only one that is stupid enough to try to make it a profitable proposition in the first place? It was at one time a part of the government services (Ben Franklin was the first Post master General). Now it exists as a psuedo government/ private entity that has to get approvals from congress to do things, but is still expected to show a profit. Since when did anything that requires Congressional approval ever show a profit? Lets face it folks 5 days a week delivery is just the start of the end. It will save them 2 billion .. but they lost 14 billion last year alone. We either pull it back in as a Government service or write it off completely.

Yes, this all sounds good to many people to cut to a 5 day delivery! Yes, I am a substitute mail carrier on saturday's. It has been my employment for the past 6 and a half years. It has allowed me to help my husband to provide for our children to buy groceries, clothing, medicines, copay's at the doctor, Christmas, birthdays and such as we have need. My America, i was proud to serve you! Businesses, i delivered your bulk mailings on saturday's to help you advertise! I realize you may eventually have to use the internet to advertize your business. This cost may be much higher than mail delivery. Many more families will suffer! A tremendous loss to many!

Makes sense i guess to end saturday delivery but postal service is a tax funded service its suppose to lose money not gain a profit.

.....now lets eliminate obamas job and we will be set.

(1) The US postal service is not taxpayer funded. The federal government has oversight, but the post office must pay its own way.
(2) The answer might be to completely shut down all post office locations and let the post office concentrate on delivering mail only. Rent out the post office locations to private companies and let them also offer banking services, sell food, whatever, in addition to handling retail post office functions of whcih they would get a cut.

The Federal Govt is the solely responsible for being in this situation. The USPS is handcuffed to policy and procedure that does not allow them to compete. Yes we are deep into an age of electronics that we use to substitute mail delivery services, but in other areas (delivery generated by e-commerce) is at record volumes. The buildings, vehicles, optical sorting systems, and delivery carriers are all profitable. Clerks make virtually nothing in terms of revenue because of what I said before.

FYI the union at USPS isn't what most think it is. The only say so they have is for grievances as they are all government employees technically.

Trust me on this guys, my dad is within a few months of retirement as a delivery carrier.

In the Post Offices defense: they had a surplus & it was taken by the Government. Then, they were required to prefund retirees their retirement 75 years ahead of time. I'm told no other business does that. They get revenue by selling stamps, certified letters, Express mailings, registered mail, signature mailings: like medicines, etc., boxes, envelopes, priority mail, parcels, etc.. So, i don't understand why some in the public gets upset that a letter costs .47 cents. The public does have the option to use internet billing. However, postal people are working people with families to support! America, please remember, jobs are difficult to find as it is! Do you want more Americans out of work? Do you want them in the unemployment & food stamp lines? Does the public want a choice or do they want to have all their chickens in one basket? What will the public do if the internet is taken over by terrorists? If the power goes out, doesn't the internet go out? Technology is great, but the old ways are time tested! I like having a letter to hold in my hand, to keep forever. Computers are great, but my eyes get tired after reading on it a while.

I applaud the postmaster for taking this step. A bit of an inconvenience, but absolutely necessary to take action. I wish the government would learn from it instead of fight it - if you are bleeding money you MUST CHANGE SOMETHING. Fortunately, the Postal Service found a loophole that would allow this change.

What may come as a surprise to some (including me up until a few days ago) is that Congress has to approve much of what the Postal Service can do. The postmasters general begged Congress for years to approve streamlining & updating its service - they know they need to change, yet our government refused to allow it preferring spending our tax dollars to help cover the $15.9 BILLION deficit last year! Before I hear about how the Postal Service is not funded by tax dollars - I understand that; however, I spotted an article stating that they exhausted a $15 BILLION line of credit from the US Treasury, so gov't IS loaning them money without allowing them to fix their system so that they can pay it back. Sadly, this is acceptable to the government.

Many of us have experienced (or been forced to implement) drastic cuts both at work & home.. it's about time for government as well as organizations & business backed by gov't funding to follow suit.

* For the record, I LOVE our local rural post office & the folks who work there. I hate the fact that people will lose income, but if that additional income is coming from other's tax dollars it's hard to justify it.

Our bankrupt postal service in action:

WASHINGTON —
The United States Postal Service says it is losing billions of dollars and planning to end most Saturday delivery of your mail.

But Channel 2's Scott MacFarlane has learned the agency is spending $2 million to send its top executives to a pricey conference in San Francisco.

MacFarlane has obtained the agenda for the conference which calls for not only workshops and meetings, but also a golf outing, a dance party and a dinner event.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/postal-service-spending-millions-send-execs-confer/nWR6Y/

Why not cut Monday service instead? Most holidays fall on Mondays and then all government and banking institutions are closed anyway. Saturday service is a necessity for those who work M-F and have something that must be signed for at the post office.