The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse

The federal government isn’t the only public entity broaching its statutory debt limit. This Businessweek article published last week details the nearly insolvent state of the United States Postal Service.

At a time when post systems in other countries are thriving, we somehow find a way to mess it up. What a surprise:

Since 2007 the USPS has been unable to cover its annual budget, 80 percent of which goes to salaries and benefits. In contrast, 43 percent of FedEx’s (FDX) budget and 61 percent of United Parcel Service’s (UPS) pay go to employee-related expenses.

On top of that, 80 percent of the USPS’ 31,871 post offices lose money. Here’s an idea: privatize this government granted monopoly, close the money-losing post offices like any business would know to do, and stop delivering mail by pack mule to the Havasupai Indian reservation at the bottom of the Grand Canyon for crying out loud. Just another reason why America needs Ron Paul.

June 5 Moneybomb

Hi all,

Just a reminder to support the Ron Paul campaign with a donation on June 5. Let’s try to beat Romney’s $10.2 million raised on May 16.

Here’s a link to donate at Ron Paul’s campaign website.

Gallup Poll (5/26/2011)

New Gallup poll released today puts Ron Paul in 3rd for GOP race, behind Romney and Palin.  If Michele Bachmann doesn’t run, I think Paul should pick up a significant portion of her 5% total, putting him right up there with the other top candidates.  Still, lots of time left and a whole lot of work to do. Everyone out there, keep promoting Ron Paul and keep up the pressure on the rest of the field!

Icon Making: Building a Movement

“At first I was only thinking about the response from my clique of art school and skateboard friends. The fact that a larger segment of the public would not only notice, but investigate, the unexplained appearance of the stickers was something I had not contemplated. When I started to see reactions and consider the sociological forces at work surrounding the use of public space and the insertion of a very eye-catching but ambiguous image, I began to think there was the potential to create a phenomenon.“
-Shepard Fairey

From Steven Heller. “Interview with Shepard Fairey: Still Obeying After all These Years”

We all saw how this changed the entire landscape of the 2008 Presidential race.  Street artist Shepard Fairey distributed 300,000 stickers and 500,000 “HOPE” posters during the campaign.  Over a timeframe that could be measured in months, the public’s perception of Barack Obama developed from a vague sense of unfamiliarity to a degree of complete captivation.

How much of this shift could be attributed to the “HOPE” poster phenomenon is a good question.  Even following the town hall meetings, speeches, campaign ads, and everything else on the campaign trail, I would argue that many voters had only an abstract understanding of Barack Obama the candidate and what he stood for.

Further reading

+ Interactive chart showing public debt by country since 1992.

+ Expected inflation and the price of oil.

+ Is Goldman Sachs doomed?

+ Was LinkedIn scammed by Wall St.?

Pile of debt would stretch beyond stratosphere

The national debt has climbed to $14.3 trillion. In $1,000 bills, it would now be more than 900 miles tall.

Official launch … May 2011!

Hello all!

Today we at ListenToRonPaul.com are launching a site with the goal of creating widespread public interest in Ron Paul’s 2012 Presidential campaign. We’d like to build awareness around the “Listen to Ron Paul” slogan, and hope to reach new voters to spread Ron Paul’s campaign message. With the election cycle for the Republican presidential nomination officially underway, we strive to make unaware voters familiar with Ron Paul’s candidacy and message!

More to come soon, and thanks for looking!