CONCORD, N.H. — Express service might be all you have time for at one New Hampshire post office.
The hours at the post office in Sugar Hill have recently been cut back to 30 minutes a day, down from a few hours. The post office is open from 10:15 to 10:45 each morning.
New Hampshire’s two U.S. senators have written a letter urging the U.S. Postal Service to hold a community meeting in the northern New Hampshire town so that residents, government officials and business owners can ask questions and offer their thoughts on the future of retail postal service there.
Serve the public for 30 minutes ……………………………… BUT how many HOURS is the Postal Employee getting paid for?
Exactly, when 30 minutes are up and there is still a line do they say “Sorry we are closed, try your luck again tomorrow”
Wait they might and still get paid anyways
A rural carrier will stop at the post office and serve the public for 30 minutes. He/she will then continue on with the mail route.
After 30 minutes the post office wouldn’t have a line.
Fortunately, when new mail arrives at the post office it miraculously sorts itself. No human intervention is required. The letters leap from the mail truck into the mail carriers’ bags and trucks.
I suspect you’re responding to Republican politicians’ efforts to demonize all public employees as overpaid and lazy. They’ve created a phony financial crisis in the postal system, with one objective: Privatize it, so their corporate friends can profit.
Liz, you have a vivid imagination…have you ever considered writing for TV drama?
It’s ewersmith who has the vivid imagination, as he/she assumes that if the post office window is open for 30 minutes, any postal service employee who is paid for more than 30 minutes is getting paid for doing nothing.
Can’t wait to see what happens at tax time.
How many people are served by that post office? If not many people were using that site for the few hours it was open, maybe thirty minutes is better than having the post office closed altogether.
Thats the best way I can think of to kill a business, good luck with that.
Jeeze. How about an hour? Wow. If the office is going to remain open, make it reasonable.
This is probably one of the many Post Office’s that should be closed. Congress won’t let the Postal Service close offices because the local politicians might loose some votes. The Postal Service is doing what it has too, to try and remain in business with out the help of Congress. Any private company would already be closed.
That is correct. In fact, it was written into the recent Post Office bail-out that the USPS could not proceed with its plan to close the losing post offices and cut back on employees and costs. In other word, the bill ensured that the Post Office would continue to lose money. By the way, the Democratically controlled Senate passed the bill with the ridiculous stipulations in it.
And the hard line lefties blame the Republicans. Typical.
“In 2006, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA). Under PAEA, USPS was forced to prefund its future health care benefit payments to retirees for the next 75 years in an astonishing ten-year time span — meaning that it had to put aside billions of dollars to pay for the health benefits of employees it hasn’t even hired yet, something “that no other government or private corporation is required to do… if PAEA was never enacted, USPS would actually be facing a $1.5 billion surplus today.”
“In order to remedy this problem, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) has introduced bipartisan legislation (which has 193 co-sponsors) that would allow the USPS to spend more of its own money to pay down its deficits, including $6.9 billion in pension overpayments or other overpayments that may total as much as $25 billion to $50 billion. These are Post Office funds, not taxpayer dollars.”
[http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/09/28/330524/postal-non-crisis-post-office-save-itself/]
A government-run post office is a vital American institution. Republicans plan to give it away to the highest bidder, replacing “public service” with “maximum profitability” in mailing priorities.
Interesting. But which party was in control of both houses of Congress in 2006?
Repubicans (until the November elections). Then, from January 3, 2007 to January 3, 2009, the Democratic Party controlled a majority in both chambers for the first time since the end of the 103rd Congress in 1995.
I stand corrected.
Now what about the recent USPS bailout from the Senate? Sounds like both parties share the blame for he situation in the postal service.
By the way, the USPS is an independent agency, and would be much better off if it would privatize.
I stand against giving corporations (any more) free rein over America.
So you would rather have the government run everything? That’s not the way America was created, nor will it work without a dictator or king.
The American people elect government officials. Despite major efforts by vast international corporations, we still have control over government agencies and functions.
Once everything is privatized (schools, the post office, prisons, fire departments, police departments, the military), we will no longer have control. Corporations will be free to do whatever they wish. This is the dream of Republican leaders. It is not my own dream. Is it yours?
It is not the dream of Republican leaders. You’ve fallen for the lies of the left. When you actually study the situation, there are a lot more Democrats that support and are supported by large corporations. Just look at the dealings between the Dems and GM, the Dems and GE, and the Dems and Google, just for starters. Then look at how much money these groups put into Obama’s coffers. If these dealings don’t change your mind, then nothing will.
Granted, the majority of politicians are supported by wealthy donors, both from individuals and corporations. And both parties have supported legislation that favors the wealthy and corporations over the average American. However, laying all the blame on the Republicans is just plain wrong.
But, have no fear. The Tea Party sent a lot of the establishment Republicans and Dems home in 2010, and we’re gonna’ send a bunch more home this November.
Ah, yes, the Tea Party. Bought and paid for by the billionaire Koch Brothers. Got to love that independent thinking.
Another left wing lie. By the way, the Koch Brothers donate and support a lot of causes, and they do it out in the open and legally. But, their total involvement is only one-eighth of the known monetary involvement of George Soros, and we all know the party that he supports.
So, it doesn’t bother you that billionaires like the Koches–who will never need a social safety net–are using you to demolish the social safety net, which YOU and your neighbors might one day need?
If they were doing that, I would mind. On the other hand, I am totally disgusted with the antics of George Soros and the money he is spending to buy elected officials, including the President, and turn this nation into a socialist third-world country. It’s Soros that you need to watch, not the Koch Brothers.
Please define “socialism” in specific terms, that you see happening in the US.
Taking from the haves and giving to the have-nots. Controlling major industries. Controlling or at least censoring the media. Unnecessary restrictions, regulations and controls on the population. Denying the Constitution and skirting it whenever necessary to push an agenda. Following the teachings of socialist professors and mentors.
Obama is attempting to do all of the above by following the teachings of his socialist and marxists professors and the beliefs of his father, close friends, and religious leaders.
But, you never commented on George Soros? Doesn’t he worry you one bit?
I disagree with each of your points. But I started work at 5:30 am and am exhausted, with several hours yet to go. Let’s agree to disagree, for the time being. I’m sure we’ll be able to continue our debate on other Comments pages!
Sounds like a plan. Debate with you later. Get some rest.