Copyright 2000 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company
The Houston Chronicle
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June 05, 2000, Monday 3 STAR EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 18
LENGTH:
223 words
HEADLINE: HARDLY REFORM;
Plenty of good reasons to scuttle postal proposal
SOURCE: Staff
BODY:
The
proposed Postal Modernization Act (HR 22), which could do serious damage to the
idea of a postal service that provides affordable, universal mail delivery to
all Americans, appears to be temporarily stalled in Congress. But it remains a
viable bill, and that is disturbing. It should be scuttled.
A coalition
of organizations, including the Newspaper Association of America, opposes the
legislation for several good reasons:
It would disproportionately
increase the cost of first-class mail; favor large mailers over small ones;
grant the U.S. Postal Service uncontrolled authority to set discriminatory
prices for postal products; further encourage unfair competition by a government
agency with the private sector; and not provide effective oversight of Postal
Service rates and operations.
For example, a Postal Service study
projects a faster climb in first-class postage rates under HR 22 than under
existing law. Also, the Postal Rate Commission no longer would serve as the
public's watchdog against unfair and discriminatory postal rate
increases.
There are good reasons to reform the Postal
Service, especially in areas where it unfairly competes with the private sector,
but this legislation is a blatant attempt to make a government bureaucracy even
more insensitive to the public it is supposed to serve.
TYPE: Editorial Opinion
LOAD-DATE: June 6, 2000 
