USPS Office of Inspector General

If you pay any attention at all to legislative efforts to address the Postal Service’s financial crisis, you’ll soon hear the phrase, “budget score.” Someone will say that a bill has a high score or a low score. But what is a budget score? What is the score for?

The U.S. Postal Service launched its first mobile application for the iPhone in October 2009. On several occasions, the app was listed as one of the top 10 free business applications for the iPhone. Using this application, customers can find post offices, look up zip codes, calculate postage prices, and track packages. Nearly 985,000 customers have downloaded this application and more than 50,400 use it at least once a week.
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According to the Postal Service, greater use of electronic communication continues to drive customers away from using First-Class Mail®. Instead of buying stamps, many customers pay bills online, send ‘e-invitations’ to friends and family, and simply press “Send” when they want to communicate. These shifting customer habits will continue to speed the migration away from traditional First-Class Mail. According to the Postal Service, First-Class Mail has dropped 25 percent and single-piece First-Class Mail – letters bearing postal stamps – has declined 36 percent in the past 5 years.

In an effort to reduce costs, the U.S. Postal Service has proposed cutting delivery service to five days per week by eliminating Saturday delivery. For a moment, let’s ignore the argument over whether the delivery days should be cut to five to ask another question: is Saturday the right day to cut?

As America was expanding in the 1780s, the founding fathers realized that open access to secure and private communication among its dispersed citizens was critical to forming political groups and holding free elections without fear of retribution. The U.S. Constitution empowered Congress “to establish post offices and post roads,” the most common form of telecommunication (communication over a distance) in 1789. The founding fathers provided the necessary infrastructure to “bind” the growing nation together through communication and commerce. Thereby, the Post Office Department (now the U.