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February 8, 2013

Postal Service cuts hit most loyal customers

The Norman Transcript

NORMAN — Just weeks after raising the price of first-class postage, the U.S. Postal Service announced it will eliminate Saturday mail home delivery beginning in August. It’s a move that could still be averted if Congress steps in with some authority, but it appears the $2 billion in projected savings will override the inconvenience of service interruption for longtime loyal customers.

Residents and businesses that have come to depend on receiving what first class mail that is left are being asked to sacrifice to make up for the postal service’s lack of foresight in worker benefit liabilities and other financial areas.

The Postal Service has already closed many rural post offices in recent years, eliminating a large slice of community life in those small towns. This decision will also impact many newspapers that have come to rely on the mail for delivery.

Those newspapers also must deal with a Postal Service that gives preferred mailing rates to large, bulk mailers that then undercut newspapers with advertisers and their printed circulars.

We believe other options are available and ask that Congress and the Postal Service seek a more fair solution that doesn’t penalize some of the mail’s best, most loyal customers.

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