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There are various advocates for allowing the USPS to return to the banking business. They would put the exploitative check cashing stores out of business. Elle

There are various advocates for allowing the USPS to return to the banking business. They would put the exploitative check cashing stores out of business. Ellen Brown's has written a copy pieces advocating for postal banking. What We Could Do with a Postal Savings Bank: Infrastructure that Doesn’t Cost Taxpayers a Dime - https://ellenbrown.com/2013/09/23/what-we-could-do-with-a-postal-savings-bank-infrastructure-that-doesnt-cost-taxpayers-a-dime/ https://ellenbrown.com/2013/09/23/what-we-could-do-with-a-po... (2013) This piece concludes by suggesting the postal service is being looted so its property portfolio can be sold off.

llsf 6y ago
In France, that is one way that the postal service survived. Actually, the banking service is also "universal" (every post office provide the service), allowing very remote places to have banking and postal service in one place. So even in remote places where it is not profitable for <bigBank> to open an office, there are always a post office around. The financial services are broad, bank account, checks, loans, credit cards, stocks/bonds, currency exchange, etc. Another service is notary (the postal office can certify some official papers), civil services (the postal office can process ID/passport renewal), and you can pay your taxes or fines too :) Combined with a solid IT infrastructure, a tiny post office can do a lot, with few employees. A lot more than just delivering spam or even parcel.
pantaloony 6y ago
Ah. The property angle suddenly lets all the pieces fall into place. Now it makes sense.
tdeck 6y ago
> C.B. Richard Ellis (CBRE), the company holding the exclusive contract to negotiate sales for the $85 billion postal real estate portfolio, has sold off 52 postal properties for at least $79 million less than their fair market value. Worse, the buyers included its own business partners and shareholders, including Goldman Sachs. CBRE is chaired by Richard C. Blum, the husband of US Senator Dianne Feinstein, a family Byrne says has a history of accessing public pension funds to make private investments The more I learn about Feinstein the more unhappy I become.
- derwiki 6y ago
  It’s probably not fair, but I give her a lot of credit for stepping up when Moscone and Milk were gunned down. Yea that was a long time ago and this is unrelated. Doesn’t excuse it; I just try to remember what she has done for SF as a whole.
  - NoNotTheDuo 6y ago
    She stepped right up and took the opportunity to fly a confederate flag THREE times - all to curry favor from the Democrats. Even worse, especially in the light of current events, is that she attempted prosecution of the black activists that kept taking the flags down! https://lawandcrime.com/politics/feinstein-once-pushed-for-the-prosecution-of-black-activists-to-keep-the-confederate-flag-flying-in-san-francisco/ https://lawandcrime.com/politics/feinstein-once-pushed-for-t...
    - wahern 6y ago
      The flag had been there for 14 years. The one witness account in the Snopes story says that the raising of the Confederate Stars and Bars was accidental, and occurred many weeks after Feinstein ordered the removal of the long-present Confederate battle flag upon a 3-day-long protest that ended with an official removal request which Feinstein immediately granted: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dianne-feinstein-confederate-flag/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dianne-feinstein-confedera... I don't think Feinstein is that politically craven. She has a spine, and a relatively rigid one at that. Rather, her poor judgment, such as it is, is all her own. The Koch brothers and other anti-government radicals bank on the political disaffection that such historical revisionism generates. If every politician is a stooge, then there's no virtue in politics or government. Feinstein is no stooge, and while I wouldn't vote for her in most years, IMO she deserves respect as a strong, steadfast, and effective leader who almost incidentally blew--and continues to blow--many stereotypes of women out of the water. (And you can be all of those things, BTW, while also having flaws and a history of mistakes.) She definitely doesn't deserve a cheap character assassination.
      - 6y ago
kristopolous 6y ago
Ellen Brown's work in writing about banking history, public banking, municipal banking, and banking reform is really worth looking into for people who are interested in the topic. Even libertarians and conservatives will I believe find something to agree with here as your city and state tax dollars probably go towards servicing private bank fees which could be eliminated by your city or state chartering their own bank and could be further reduced by them offering traditional "meat and potato" style loans to small main-street style businesses at reasonable rates. The city making a few honest dollars in an open capitalist marketplace to reduce the citizen's tax burden I think would be welcome by by ideological libertarians, conservatives, liberals, socialists, all the major branches. No coercion, no obligation, just more competition, this time to the benefit of easing your tax burden.
- nickff 6y ago
  Most libertarians (including myself) think it's a bad idea to have governments 'compete' with private companies for a variety of reasons, including: - It's unlikely that the government will regulate itself and its competitors fairly, and it's generally unlikely that the government will hold itself to account (as it often does for private entities). - The government is likely to set up barriers to entry, to prevent competition. This is the case for the postal service, which has a monopoly on first-class mail. - The government is likely to subsidize its 'option', either directly or indirectly, such as by having the government 'sole-source' services from its 'competitor'.
  - kristopolous 6y ago
    But that's crude. There's an arbitrary taxonomy of "government" and "not government" and "not government" is under any condition whatsoever, looked at only as good faith actors while "government" regardless of any context, evidence, or institutional oversight is only seen as bad faith actors. This isn't reality, it's just some artificial classification system placed upon society. It's a hypothetical thought experiment based on fictional categories. For example, The Irvine Group (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irvine_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irvine_Company) is a Private For Profit company that Governs the City of Irvine - the distinction between the two groups are totally imaginary and fictional. They only exist on a chalkboard. I'm talking about people who call themselves libertarian who do not participate in this classification dance There's a historical reality of actual real world public banks and there's been consistent and nearly universal support for their continuation across party lines. Theoretical thought experiments aren't needed - we can simply look at observed reality. Maybe you should actually read Mrs. Brown's material as I suggested before forming an opinion on her work. I dunno, just a suggestion.
riazrizvi 6y ago
I don't think the Federal Government has any mandate that allows it to start a for profit business, on some whimsical political wind. The USA is designed to allow people to make a living, and it has limitations that prevent it from getting in on someone's lucrative business. Laws supporting free+fair markets on the other hand, are meant to make it possible for private citizens to compete...
- jonahbenton 6y ago
  Nope. With respect, the US Government has myriad enterprises, under all kinds of legal authorities, accounted for in all kinds of ways. Two of hundreds of examples are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
  - riazrizvi 6y ago
    Hmm, I think the few [1] that we do have, have arisen in specific circumstances where there was a lack of private enterprise to address critical social need, or in support of failing private enterprise, to avert social crisis. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-owned_enterprises_of_the_United_States#List_of_federally_owned_enterprises https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-owned_enterprises_of_the...
- oh_sigh 6y ago
  This is just completely wrong, and I'm not sure why you think your beliefs about the federal government have any bearing on the reality of what the federal government can or can't do.
  - riazrizvi 6y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youngstown_Sheet_%26_Tube_Co._v._Sawyer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youngstown_Sheet_%26_Tube_Co._...
simonebrunozzi 6y ago
Poste Italiane, the Italian equivalent of the postal service, is now mostly a bank that happens to deliver mail as a side business. Hugely profitable, and a quasi-monopolistic market position. USPS becoming a bank could happen in the US and it would be great for the company, because the Antitrust system in the US is a joke and it would never stop it, IMHO.
seebetter 6y ago
Why can't a person open a bank account? I mean, I can't because I sold some bitcoin via Bank of America 4-years ago. Someone stole my info, I reported it as fraud and BoA reported me for fraud -- and all my bank accounts closed. And they refuse to fix it.
- abiogenesis 6y ago
  By the same logic post office could have blacklisted you too.
  - ballenf 6y ago
    But government action against an individual comes with at least some due process rights. At least, theoretically, which is better than contracts of adhesion everywhere else.
- tim333 6y ago
  Are you blocked from all US banks?

llsf 6y ago

In France, that is one way that the postal service survived. Actually, the banking service is also "universal" (every post office provide the service), allowing very remote places to have banking and postal service in one place. So even in remote places where it is not profitable for <bigBank> to open an office, there are always a post office around. The financial services are broad, bank account, checks, loans, credit cards, stocks/bonds, currency exchange, etc. Another service is notary (the postal office can certify some official papers), civil services (the postal office can process ID/passport renewal), and you can pay your taxes or fines too :) Combined with a solid IT infrastructure, a tiny post office can do a lot, with few employees. A lot more than just delivering spam or even parcel.

pantaloony 6y ago

Ah. The property angle suddenly lets all the pieces fall into place. Now it makes sense.

tdeck 6y ago

> C.B. Richard Ellis (CBRE), the company holding the exclusive contract to negotiate sales for the $85 billion postal real estate portfolio, has sold off 52 postal properties for at least $79 million less than their fair market value. Worse, the buyers included its own business partners and shareholders, including Goldman Sachs. CBRE is chaired by Richard C. Blum, the husband of US Senator Dianne Feinstein, a family Byrne says has a history of accessing public pension funds to make private investments The more I learn about Feinstein the more unhappy I become.

derwiki 6y ago
It’s probably not fair, but I give her a lot of credit for stepping up when Moscone and Milk were gunned down. Yea that was a long time ago and this is unrelated. Doesn’t excuse it; I just try to remember what she has done for SF as a whole.
- NoNotTheDuo 6y ago
  She stepped right up and took the opportunity to fly a confederate flag THREE times - all to curry favor from the Democrats. Even worse, especially in the light of current events, is that she attempted prosecution of the black activists that kept taking the flags down! https://lawandcrime.com/politics/feinstein-once-pushed-for-the-prosecution-of-black-activists-to-keep-the-confederate-flag-flying-in-san-francisco/ https://lawandcrime.com/politics/feinstein-once-pushed-for-t...
  - wahern 6y ago
    The flag had been there for 14 years. The one witness account in the Snopes story says that the raising of the Confederate Stars and Bars was accidental, and occurred many weeks after Feinstein ordered the removal of the long-present Confederate battle flag upon a 3-day-long protest that ended with an official removal request which Feinstein immediately granted: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dianne-feinstein-confederate-flag/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dianne-feinstein-confedera... I don't think Feinstein is that politically craven. She has a spine, and a relatively rigid one at that. Rather, her poor judgment, such as it is, is all her own. The Koch brothers and other anti-government radicals bank on the political disaffection that such historical revisionism generates. If every politician is a stooge, then there's no virtue in politics or government. Feinstein is no stooge, and while I wouldn't vote for her in most years, IMO she deserves respect as a strong, steadfast, and effective leader who almost incidentally blew--and continues to blow--many stereotypes of women out of the water. (And you can be all of those things, BTW, while also having flaws and a history of mistakes.) She definitely doesn't deserve a cheap character assassination.
    - 6y ago

kristopolous 6y ago

Ellen Brown's work in writing about banking history, public banking, municipal banking, and banking reform is really worth looking into for people who are interested in the topic. Even libertarians and conservatives will I believe find something to agree with here as your city and state tax dollars probably go towards servicing private bank fees which could be eliminated by your city or state chartering their own bank and could be further reduced by them offering traditional "meat and potato" style loans to small main-street style businesses at reasonable rates. The city making a few honest dollars in an open capitalist marketplace to reduce the citizen's tax burden I think would be welcome by by ideological libertarians, conservatives, liberals, socialists, all the major branches. No coercion, no obligation, just more competition, this time to the benefit of easing your tax burden.

nickff 6y ago
Most libertarians (including myself) think it's a bad idea to have governments 'compete' with private companies for a variety of reasons, including: - It's unlikely that the government will regulate itself and its competitors fairly, and it's generally unlikely that the government will hold itself to account (as it often does for private entities). - The government is likely to set up barriers to entry, to prevent competition. This is the case for the postal service, which has a monopoly on first-class mail. - The government is likely to subsidize its 'option', either directly or indirectly, such as by having the government 'sole-source' services from its 'competitor'.
- kristopolous 6y ago
  But that's crude. There's an arbitrary taxonomy of "government" and "not government" and "not government" is under any condition whatsoever, looked at only as good faith actors while "government" regardless of any context, evidence, or institutional oversight is only seen as bad faith actors. This isn't reality, it's just some artificial classification system placed upon society. It's a hypothetical thought experiment based on fictional categories. For example, The Irvine Group (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irvine_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irvine_Company) is a Private For Profit company that Governs the City of Irvine - the distinction between the two groups are totally imaginary and fictional. They only exist on a chalkboard. I'm talking about people who call themselves libertarian who do not participate in this classification dance There's a historical reality of actual real world public banks and there's been consistent and nearly universal support for their continuation across party lines. Theoretical thought experiments aren't needed - we can simply look at observed reality. Maybe you should actually read Mrs. Brown's material as I suggested before forming an opinion on her work. I dunno, just a suggestion.

riazrizvi 6y ago

I don't think the Federal Government has any mandate that allows it to start a for profit business, on some whimsical political wind. The USA is designed to allow people to make a living, and it has limitations that prevent it from getting in on someone's lucrative business. Laws supporting free+fair markets on the other hand, are meant to make it possible for private citizens to compete...

jonahbenton 6y ago
Nope. With respect, the US Government has myriad enterprises, under all kinds of legal authorities, accounted for in all kinds of ways. Two of hundreds of examples are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
- riazrizvi 6y ago
  Hmm, I think the few [1] that we do have, have arisen in specific circumstances where there was a lack of private enterprise to address critical social need, or in support of failing private enterprise, to avert social crisis. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-owned_enterprises_of_the_United_States#List_of_federally_owned_enterprises https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-owned_enterprises_of_the...
oh_sigh 6y ago
This is just completely wrong, and I'm not sure why you think your beliefs about the federal government have any bearing on the reality of what the federal government can or can't do.
- riazrizvi 6y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youngstown_Sheet_%26_Tube_Co._v._Sawyer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youngstown_Sheet_%26_Tube_Co._...

simonebrunozzi 6y ago

Poste Italiane, the Italian equivalent of the postal service, is now mostly a bank that happens to deliver mail as a side business. Hugely profitable, and a quasi-monopolistic market position. USPS becoming a bank could happen in the US and it would be great for the company, because the Antitrust system in the US is a joke and it would never stop it, IMHO.

seebetter 6y ago

Why can't a person open a bank account? I mean, I can't because I sold some bitcoin via Bank of America 4-years ago. Someone stole my info, I reported it as fraud and BoA reported me for fraud -- and all my bank accounts closed. And they refuse to fix it.

abiogenesis 6y ago
By the same logic post office could have blacklisted you too.
- ballenf 6y ago
  But government action against an individual comes with at least some due process rights. At least, theoretically, which is better than contracts of adhesion everywhere else.
tim333 6y ago
Are you blocked from all US banks?