Mixed mail

Nation's Business, Dec, 1997

Respondents to a recent Nation's Business poll are willing to accept some rate increases for the U.S. Postal Service--but not for the first-class stamp.

Readers who answered the Where I Stand poll in the October issue overwhelmingly opposed a 1-cent rate increase for first-class mail but supported small increases for Express Mail (next-day delivery) and Priority Mail (two to three days).

The Postal Service is seeking to raise the cost of the first-class stamp from 32 cents to 33 cents. The Postal Rate Commission, which makes recommendations to the Postal Service on proposals for rate increases, is expected to act by next spring.

In the poll, slight majorities of respondents indicated that they believed the Postal Service was delivering mail to them and others "in a timely fashion."

Three out of four respondents felt that the Postal Service was not doing an acceptable job of holding down its operating costs, and nearly two-thirds said that the Postal Service, now a government-sponsored corporation, should be fully privatized.

Here are the complete results of the poll:

Questions And Answers

Do you favor the proposed 1-cent increase in the first-class stamp, from 32 cents to 33 cents?

Yes                                      19%
No                                       81