Rural Post Offices closing

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by Nor'Eastah

Right you are, NMLM!

I had been told this by our own local postmistress, but upon further investigation, I cannot find it, either. So I looked it up. The Universal Service Obligation is a policy of the postal service, a mandate, and goes hand-in-hand with the delivery monopoly. Apparently, the universal service costs could only be offset by the postal monopoly on first-class mail, which it obviously does not now have, what with email, fax, UPS and FedEx, text messaging, etc.

Perhaps that is why they are in such a pickle financially.

Yep, until electronic messaging became so pervasive, the Postal Service was one of the few government agencies that produced a 'profit'.

[399083453]

I wouldn't mind receiving my mail 3 times a week, I would be perfectly happy receiving my mail as little as 1 time a week.

Post office needs to do whatever it takes to be profitable. If that means cutting my mail, or closing my post office, so be it. We cant have jobs, just for the sake of having jobs.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

"Right you are, NMLM!"

Thanks. It is just one of those superstitions like the "separation of church and state". There is no such thing in our republic. In fact, Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free expression of religion. It's in the first Amendment. Did you know that the word "democracy" does not appear in our Constitution? It isn't there because our nation is not a democracy. We are a republic.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

"Right you are, NMLM!"

Thanks. It is just one of those superstitions like the "separation of church and state". There is no such thing in our republic. In fact, Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free expression of religion. It's in the first Amendment. Did you know that the word "democracy" does not appear in our Constitution? It isn't there because our nation is not a democracy. We are a republic.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

Article VI states "...No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

Thomas Jefferson, in 1802 wrote "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State".

Jefferson's words indicate that this separation was, in fact, intended.

(And as an aside, I would contend that the slogan on money is a violation, representing a de facto establishment of religious belief, sponsored and promoted by the government, which may be an affront to those of other faiths.)

[Nor'Eastah]

Hey -- this is turning into an interesting thread! Lots of good info on the Constitution, the postal service, Thomas Jefferson, and so forth! Too bad CD forum doesn't have a forum just on constitutional issues.

They do have one on politics; but that is a different matter entirely!

[Northern Maine Land Man]

The Pilgrims came here to obtain religious freedom. Half of my wife's family were passengers. The other side of her family owned the ship. Jefferson's wall prevents state established religion so that we are not forced to be Baptists or Muslims. It is for the People to choose their own religions, not the state. It's right there in black and white.

[mensaguy]

Originally Posted by Zymer

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

Article VI states "...No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

Thomas Jefferson, in 1802 wrote "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State".

Jefferson's words indicate that this separation was, in fact, intended.

(And as an aside, I would contend that the slogan on money is a violation, representing a de facto establishment of religious belief, sponsored and promoted by the government, which may be an affront to those of other faiths.)

This is all absolutely correct. No superstition anywhere in this post. In addition, court tests have repeatedly confirmed that the separation is a very wide separation. If I remember an old thread, Maine is one place where these separation is most widely recognized since Maine is one of the least religious states in the country.