-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Postal Governors Approve Higher Rates AP Tuesday, May 08, 2001 Email this Article WASHINGTON — Most postage rates are going up on July 1 — but not the basic 34-cent price of mailing a letter. Four months after raising the cost of a first-class stamp to 34 cents, postal officials decided Tuesday to increase most other rates as the post office struggles with rising costs and shrinking income. Although stamp prices increased one cent in January, the full set of increases proposed by the post office was cut back by the independent Postal Rate Commission, a step that reduced postal income by an estimated $900 million. In Tuesday's action the postal governing board overrode the commission, a step it can take only by unanimous vote. Postal Board Chairman Robert F. Rider said the governors acted reluctantly, but felt obligated "to assure the financial integrity of the nation's postal system." Richard F. Strasser, postal chief financial officer, said the agency faces losses of between $1.6 billion and $2.4 billion this year and the added income is essential. He noted that as recently as February the loss had been estimated at $3 billion, but the agency has cut spending sharply by freezing hiring and some 800 building projects and by increasing productivity. While the 34-cent rate for the first ounce of first-class mail will remain the same, the cost for each additional ounce will climb from 21 cents to 23 cents. And the price of sending a post card will jump a penny to 21 cents. Strasser said the new rates will raise the cost of sending a piece of advertising mail by one-half to three-quarters of a cent and for the typical magazine it will add one-half cent to the postage. The increase drew prompt criticism from the Magazine Publishers Association. "Enough is enough. This 'raise the rates' mentality must be stopped," said Nina Link, MPA president. Under the law, rate requests have to be reviewed by the independent Rate Commission before taking effect, a process that takes nearly a year while the commission holds hearings. The commission can reduce the postal service's request, which it did last year. The postal governors can overrule the commission and impose the prices they originally asked for by an unanimous vote, which they did Tuesday. That happened once before, in 1981, when the rate went to 20 cents. Postal officials also have suggested cutting mail deliveries to five days a week instead of the current six, a proposal that drew a storm of criticism in Congress and elsewhere. While the post office no longer receives tax money for its operations, it remains a part of the government subject to supervision. For the past several years postal leaders have sought changes in the law to give them more flexibility in changing rates and services so they can better cope with rising costs and changes in competition. Postmaster General William Henderson commented Tuesday that the necessity to overrule the rate commission stresses the need for changes in the laws governing the post office to give the agency more flexibility in meeting financial challenges. Long negotiations and hearings produced a postal change bill that officials felt would solve many of their problems last year, but the measure never came up for a vote and died with the end of the last Congress. The post office had a $199 million loss last fiscal year, after five years in the black during which it was able to reduce, but not eliminate, accumulated losses from earlier years. Under the law, the agency is required to break even over time. Meanwhile, the postal governors are searching for a replacement for Henderson, who is leaving at the end of May. Speculation has focused on Deputy Postmaster General John Nolan, but others reportedly are also under consideration. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER =========CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. =======================================================================Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> =======================================================================To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
