I really don't have a problem with the price increase. What I have a problem with is the decline in service. I'm still one of those rare people who doesn't like to pay bills or transfer money electronically. (I would hope there are others who don't feel it's a secure way with all that information "out there" for people to steal). We had a regular deliverer at one time on my street. She was excellent. She was promoted to supervisor. Now we have "whoever we can spare" in other words someone different every day. We never have delivery before 4:45 in the afternoon because we are now at the end of the route of whoever's filling in and many of those carriers are both numerically and alphabetically challenged. This is a true story. A carrier delivered mail to us one day and then returned to take it back. We found out the mail, which was indeed addressed to us, was redelivered to our neighbor. If our neighbor hadn't been honest and brought back our mail the next day I would have been missing a couple of stock dividend checks. Then when you call the post office to inquire about the problem the attitude is "There's nothing we can do about it". Based on comments like that the postal service deserves to go out of business or be taken over privately by a company that cares about its customers.

The stamps are folk art weathervanes from the Shelburne Museum's collection in Vermont, and are quite beautiful.

I'm the Secretary for a number of NPO's that still require first class mail. I always bought forever stamps in advance so at least this month I will still use the old rate.

I won't pay my bills online either, I have heard stories from people I know that have had their accounts hacked, and automatic payments getting taken out on the wrong day resulting in overdrafts. Yes it costs 45 cents to mail a letter, but at least I know my mail is safe.

Hal, did you ever think about gettin a post office box for your mail if you want it earlier in the day? My house is at the end of a carriers route (about the 4th to last stop) and there were days near Christmas that he wouldn't get there until 5:00. I also feel good about my po box since it is in one of those small offices that doesn't deliver mail, and I am helping to keep it in business.

The Post Office epitomizes what is wrong with government-run agencies and businesses -- they do not have to worry about turning a profit so they are perfectly happy to keep increasing their prices and operate at a loss, which they have been doing for decades. Why should it be a problem? All you have to do is keep raising taxes! The article above hits the problem right on the head: the Postal Service has reached an "impasse" with it's labor unions. I read another article recently that reported the labor costs for the 3 largest delivery systems in this country -- 32% of FedEx's operating costs go to labor; for UPS the number is 53%; and for the Post Office -- 80 PERCENT of their budget goes to labor. That's what public sector unions will do for you and that's why public-sector workers make more than private-sector workers. It is also why this country is going broke. I can't wait for the US Postal Service to go out of business.