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What lies beneath.

The Stamp Collecting Report. I'm Lloyd de Vries.

Music: Beatles "8 Days A Week"
RUNS :02

The Postmaster General is asking Congress to let him cut mail delivery from 6 days a week 
to 5. That’s getting a lot of attention.

But there's much more to the story.

Most of the news reports talk about how Americans are mailing fewer letters and bills. But 
some mail volume is actually UP....including packages from online purchases. The U-S-P-S 
is still the best delivery option for many home addresses.

There was also a big run-up in gasoline prices last year. A penny a gallon means 8 million 
dollars for the Postal Service, with all its delivery vehicles. Yes, gas has come back 
down -- somewhat -- but the damage to the budget is done. Still, that's only about 600 
million dollars.

And it's certainly not the stamps. The number of issues has already been cut, and stamps 
are a tiny part of the budget anyway.

The REAL reason is that a few years ago, Congress forced the Postal Service to pre-fund 
retiree health benefits. Last year, that cost almost 7-and-a-half billion dollars. Without 
it, the Postal Service would have turned a PROFIT.

THAT'S what the Postmaster General really wants to get rid of.

But threatening to cut delivery gets much more attention.

I'm Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting, 
and, yes, postal services, visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

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