Posts
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Help Me Lower Our US Postal Service Subsidy Payments
The US Postal Service lost $1.1 Billion last quarter. When government agencies like the USPS are operating at a loss, they are being subsidized by our taxes. So, yes, we collectively spent $1.1 billion dollars last quarter to keep the PO afloat.
I'm ok with this. The post office provides a great service and was never intended to operate at a profit. (I am, however, quite uncomfortable with how much money they spend on advertising. Its the freaking post office, not UPS!!!)
In the article that initiates this post, it is pointed out that just over 50% of the mail moved through the USPS is direct mail marketing. What with everyone going to e-mails, online greeting cards, and online bill pay, turns out no one is using the mail except for companies that enjoy deforestation in order to tell you about the latest set of commemorative Elvis plates or to inform you that you are paying too much for auto insurance.
Believe it or not, there is still a large enough portion of taxpayers out there that don't really care about this giant subsidy (and missing forests) and decide to support these direct mailing campaigns by buying shit they didn't even know they needed prior to receiving an ad for it in their mailbox. At any rate: It is still worth the costs involved in a direct mail marketing campaign.
So. We are indirectly subsidizing, at a rate of $4.4 billion per year, the marketing efforts of credit card companies, life insurance companies, cable companies, etc. etc. etc.
Here's how we can reduce the amont of the subsidy we pay to the USPS
I have long been sick of receiving unsolicited mailings. If I wanted a credit card, I'd go get one. If I wanted a rate quote from Geico, I'd go get one. If I wanted to add to my collection of commemorative plates, well, I don't...
So, what I do is take the time to go through my junk mail and look for the postage prepaid return to sender envelopes. I then send my commemerative plate offers to the bank offering a Visa card and I send the terms and conditions of my Visa offer to the folks offering the commemorative plates. This basically doubles the cost of the mailing to me for the target company and forces them to throw in a larger share of the expenses of running a post office.
What I hadn't thought of until I read this article is that because the direct mailing company is paying more to the operations of the USPS, our taxes have been paying less.
(hole in my logic: if the USPS operates at a loss, does that mean that every piece of mail is a loss? Or is it mainly the mail going to places like Deadhorse, Alaska that cost more than they charge?)
Article: To Postal Workers, No Mail Is ‘Junk’ (Newsweek)
P.S. I ain't no revolutionary. This idea is very old. One place I saw it was in Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman. Though he recommended that we take these postage paid envelopes and attach them to masonry bricks. With this method, the direct mailing organization actually does pay to have that brick returned to their office.
Yes folks - Subsidizing Direct Mailing Campaigns...
THIS is whyipaytaxes.
I'm ok with this. The post office provides a great service and was never intended to operate at a profit. (I am, however, quite uncomfortable with how much money they spend on advertising. Its the freaking post office, not UPS!!!)
In the article that initiates this post, it is pointed out that just over 50% of the mail moved through the USPS is direct mail marketing. What with everyone going to e-mails, online greeting cards, and online bill pay, turns out no one is using the mail except for companies that enjoy deforestation in order to tell you about the latest set of commemorative Elvis plates or to inform you that you are paying too much for auto insurance.
Believe it or not, there is still a large enough portion of taxpayers out there that don't really care about this giant subsidy (and missing forests) and decide to support these direct mailing campaigns by buying shit they didn't even know they needed prior to receiving an ad for it in their mailbox. At any rate: It is still worth the costs involved in a direct mail marketing campaign.
So. We are indirectly subsidizing, at a rate of $4.4 billion per year, the marketing efforts of credit card companies, life insurance companies, cable companies, etc. etc. etc.
Here's how we can reduce the amont of the subsidy we pay to the USPS
I have long been sick of receiving unsolicited mailings. If I wanted a credit card, I'd go get one. If I wanted a rate quote from Geico, I'd go get one. If I wanted to add to my collection of commemorative plates, well, I don't...
So, what I do is take the time to go through my junk mail and look for the postage prepaid return to sender envelopes. I then send my commemerative plate offers to the bank offering a Visa card and I send the terms and conditions of my Visa offer to the folks offering the commemorative plates. This basically doubles the cost of the mailing to me for the target company and forces them to throw in a larger share of the expenses of running a post office.
What I hadn't thought of until I read this article is that because the direct mailing company is paying more to the operations of the USPS, our taxes have been paying less.
(hole in my logic: if the USPS operates at a loss, does that mean that every piece of mail is a loss? Or is it mainly the mail going to places like Deadhorse, Alaska that cost more than they charge?)
Article: To Postal Workers, No Mail Is ‘Junk’ (Newsweek)
P.S. I ain't no revolutionary. This idea is very old. One place I saw it was in Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman. Though he recommended that we take these postage paid envelopes and attach them to masonry bricks. With this method, the direct mailing organization actually does pay to have that brick returned to their office.
Yes folks - Subsidizing Direct Mailing Campaigns...
THIS is whyipaytaxes.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Wasted Gas - Saved Water
Doesn't really fit within the context of this, uhhh, blog I guess you could call it, but I found a statistic that blows my puny little mind.
Did you know that in Southern Iraq they are flaring over 700 million cubic feet of natural gas EVERY DAY???
Luckily, Shell will soon be harvesting it. I'm not a big fan of oil companies, but I'd rather see shell reap the profits from the use of that gas rather than just burning it for the sole purpose of destroying the environment...
Article: Iraq and Shell sign agreement on south Iraq gas (Al Bawaba)
Also, dude.
This ones just an update to an old story: Bush has approved the Great Lakes Compact. The governors of 8 states signed an agreement to not let anyone take water from the Great Lakes other than in small containers. I like that. It seems cool. However, it sure makes you picture the time in society where civilization is demanding that the Great Lakes region shares their great gift. Will our politicians sell us out? I bet they will!
Article: Great Lakes Compact OK'd to prevent water diversion (CNN)
Am I the only one who thinks you could make a decent living by buying yourself a water truck? Just go to some of the more secluded shores of the great lakes, fill 'er up, drive out to Vegas, and sell the load to a Casino...
Did you know that in Southern Iraq they are flaring over 700 million cubic feet of natural gas EVERY DAY???
Luckily, Shell will soon be harvesting it. I'm not a big fan of oil companies, but I'd rather see shell reap the profits from the use of that gas rather than just burning it for the sole purpose of destroying the environment...
Article: Iraq and Shell sign agreement on south Iraq gas (Al Bawaba)
Also, dude.
This ones just an update to an old story: Bush has approved the Great Lakes Compact. The governors of 8 states signed an agreement to not let anyone take water from the Great Lakes other than in small containers. I like that. It seems cool. However, it sure makes you picture the time in society where civilization is demanding that the Great Lakes region shares their great gift. Will our politicians sell us out? I bet they will!
Article: Great Lakes Compact OK'd to prevent water diversion (CNN)
Am I the only one who thinks you could make a decent living by buying yourself a water truck? Just go to some of the more secluded shores of the great lakes, fill 'er up, drive out to Vegas, and sell the load to a Casino...
Friday, October 3, 2008
Executive Orders
I haven't even had time to pore over this info, but its the kinda info I love to read. It gets you past all the media bias' and whatnot and lets you see the actual harm Bush has done to our fine country.
Disposition of Executive orders signed by President George W. Bush (From the National Archives at Archives.gov)
You can see what the Slate Editors think the top 10 of these EOs that need to be scrapped in a pretty major way. Ten to Toss (Slate)
I can't really close this post the way I normally do, as I haven't gone into a specific rant about how our government is blowing my cash. However, I am certain enough that anything bush does costs me money, so:
THIS is whyipaytaxes.
Disposition of Executive orders signed by President George W. Bush (From the National Archives at Archives.gov)
You can see what the Slate Editors think the top 10 of these EOs that need to be scrapped in a pretty major way. Ten to Toss (Slate)
I can't really close this post the way I normally do, as I haven't gone into a specific rant about how our government is blowing my cash. However, I am certain enough that anything bush does costs me money, so:
THIS is whyipaytaxes.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Couple of Great Graphics from BBC
These are a couple of great at-a-glance graphics I found on BBC. (Finance crisis: in graphics)
Yes folks. The large blue dots represent how much taxpayer money the US and British Governments are giving to bankers because the bankers fucked up and we don't want them to suddenly be as poor as the rest of us.
Speaking of people that don't deserve to be as poor as the rest of us, check out this article.
I had started a post a week or 2 ago in a weak attempt to showcase how much these geniuses get paid to bring the worlds economy to its knees. However, I didn't have the time to go scrounge up a bunch of info.
While I realize that these bailout plans aren't being given directly to the bank CEOs, however, ... ... well, here is an example:
Lehman Brothers paid Richard Fuld approximately $17,000 per hour (Based on earnings of more than $40 MILLION in 2007) to completely destroy Lehman Brothers. Had Lehman been bailed out, it would have taken more than $40M to clean up the mess. Therefore, it can be considered that a bailout would have helped to recover from his compensation package. THIS is my logic when I say that our government wants to use $700B of my taxes to pay this guy.
Seriously. Read the article. It is absolutely fucking mind blowing how much these cats were getting paid to destroy America's place in the world.
THIS is whyipaytaxes.
Yes folks. The large blue dots represent how much taxpayer money the US and British Governments are giving to bankers because the bankers fucked up and we don't want them to suddenly be as poor as the rest of us.Speaking of people that don't deserve to be as poor as the rest of us, check out this article.
I had started a post a week or 2 ago in a weak attempt to showcase how much these geniuses get paid to bring the worlds economy to its knees. However, I didn't have the time to go scrounge up a bunch of info.
While I realize that these bailout plans aren't being given directly to the bank CEOs, however, ... ... well, here is an example:
Lehman Brothers paid Richard Fuld approximately $17,000 per hour (Based on earnings of more than $40 MILLION in 2007) to completely destroy Lehman Brothers. Had Lehman been bailed out, it would have taken more than $40M to clean up the mess. Therefore, it can be considered that a bailout would have helped to recover from his compensation package. THIS is my logic when I say that our government wants to use $700B of my taxes to pay this guy.
Seriously. Read the article. It is absolutely fucking mind blowing how much these cats were getting paid to destroy America's place in the world.
THIS is whyipaytaxes.
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