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WASHINGTON (AP) - The government body that oversees the U.S. Postal Service is approving a plan that gives one of the nation's largest direct marketers a postage discount on advertising flyers.
The three-year deal approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission is intended to boost use of the mail system by Valassis Communications Inc., which sends mass coupon mailings to homes under its RedPlum ad bundles.
The commission said the plan should add $4.7 million to $15.3 million to Postal Service coffers over the course of the deal.
Many of the nation's newspapers oppose the plan, which gives a rate cut to its biggest competitor. The Newspaper Association of America said that for a meager benefit, about $1 billion in annual newspaper industry ad revenue could be put at risk.
August 24, 2012 @ 12:40 pm
My “knee-jerk” reaction is: see how Government involvement in commerce distorts, disrupts and destroys private enterprise…? (Conversely, I’m thinking the Government kicking the essentially liberal newspaper media while it’s down is somehow very ironic!)
Yes, we’ve allowed government-controlled monopolies, but who’s smart enough to know when they extend beyond their originally intended reach?
August 24, 2012 @ 3:34 pm
MY knee jerk reaction? I used to save all that garbage to start the fireplace up, but still have an overabundance from last year. Now I’ll just save it & once a week cart it all in to the PO for them to dispose of for me…removing name & any other identifiers first, of course.
August 24, 2012 @ 3:17 pm
Perhaps, the Postal Service should charge more for direct mail. It would reduce the volume of mail they need to process, help cut their expenses and would get the trash out of our mailboxes. This seems like a typical government decision though. The Post Office is losing money so lets discount the rate for an organization who’s going to create more work for them. This type of logic only works in the government.
August 24, 2012 @ 8:28 pm
I wonder just how much they paid to get that ruling?
August 24, 2012 @ 10:22 pm
Once I have all my bills coming electronically, I’ll just stop emptying my mailbox and let the mailman figure out what to do with the trash he’s delivering.