How would an idea hacker fix the USPS?(damonpace.posterous.com)
damonpace.posterous.com
How would an idea hacker fix the USPS?
http://damonpace.posterous.com/how-would-an-idea-hacker-fix-the-usps
http://damonpace.posterous.com/how-would-an-idea-hacker-fix-the-usps
1. "Change the address system" such that it's to a person instead of an address. Huh? I have several addresses for people to get ahold of me, and what happens when I'm on holiday and want people to send to my holiday address? The answer is in #2 ("Usernames and online account management") .. guess I can't get some mail sent to my bookkeeper, other mail sent to me via my sister, and have my wife send something to the hotel I'm staying at for a few days.
4. "Change home delivery frequency". The USPS has been wanting to do this for years. It requires Congress to agree. They haven't wanted to. Amazon is also against it.
It's almost as if Congress is against the USPS, given that for the last 25 years it's supposed to survive on its own revenue, yet Congress sets limits on what it can/cannot do, including the 2006 mandate from Congress that it (unlike every other government agency) must pre-pay retiree benefits.
That, along with the recession, are the major reasons for the acute USPS budget shortfalls.