How Big Is the Gubmint?

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Mon, 20 Nov 2006 11:58:04 GMT  <== Politics ==> 

GeorgiaSaint at The Sierra Times forums - 16 pages just to list the names of the federal government agencies. Their only purpose? Theft. [militant]

The USPIS has the power to enforce the law by conducting search and seizure raids on entities they suspect of sending non-urgent mail through overnight delivery competitors. For example: according to the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, a private think tank (http://aei.org) the USPIS raided Equifax offices to ascertain if the mail they were sending through Fedex was truly "extremely urgent." It was found that the mail was not, and Equifax was fined $30,000 to compensate the Postal Service for the postage that was lost to Fedex.

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Comments (3):

Lemme get this

Submitted by Phssthpok on Mon, 20 Nov 2006 22:38:25 GMT

Lemme get this straight....You're saying (well... the FedGov is at any rate)that we are REQUIRED BY LAW to use the USPS for non-urgent mail?

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Would it be possible to

Submitted by Unlikely_Hero on Wed, 29 Nov 2006 17:54:12 GMT

Would it be possible to provide a link on the AEI report on USPIS raiding Equifax as mentioned above? I searched around the AEI site and was unable to find it.
And to above poster, I wouldn't be surprised. The USPS was pushing for a tax on e-mail at one point because it "stole their business".
It's another example of incompetents complaining that they're losing business because they are *gasp!* incompetent and demanding that "daddy" if you will, come shut down the mean mean children down the street who are selling better lemonade cheaper.

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A quick search for "equifax" on the AEI site

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:27:00 GMT

A quick search for "equifax" on the AEI site finds this article, which says:

A substantial portion of USPS revenue comes from monopolized activities. In 2002, 57 percent of the Postal Service's revenues were from monopolized first-class mail, while almost 25 percent were from partially monopolized Standard Mail A (formerly third-class mail).

The monopoly is well enforced. The USPS can conduct searches and seizures if it suspects citizens of contravening its monopoly. For example, in 1993, armed postal inspectors entered the headquarters of Equifax Inc. in Atlanta. The postal inspectors demanded to know if all the mail sent by Equifax through Federal Express was indeed "extremely urgent," as mandated by the Postal Service's criteria for suspension of the Private Express Statutes. Equifax paid the Postal Service a fine of $30,000. The Postal Service reportedly collected $521,000 for similar fines from twenty-one mailers between 1991 and 1994.

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