Something to consider: Critics of the USPS don't consider the differences in the services the USPS provides compared to FedEx and UPS. USPS picks up and delivers cards and letters for less than 50 cents each. Junk mail, delivered for even less, is a service to American businesses and in various ways generates jobs for American workers. Cards, letters, and junk mail are dropped into a box on the East Coast and delivered within days to a destination on the West Coast for less than 50 cents! A soda pop, a candy bar, a pack of gum, or a bag of chips costs at least two or three times as much. (Cost of cigarettes? Cost of a can of beer? I don't know, but more than 50 cents.) USPS provides pick-up and delivery service to the front doors (or close to) of all residents of the USA, no matter where they live, no matter what the weather. FedEx and UPS deliver only the "cream" off the top--packages, which are easier to sort and handle and more profitable than any other type of mail.