The Stamp Act

15centstamp

A mere five months ago postal rates rose from 37 cents to 39 cents. Unsatisfied, the Post Office is seeking to raise them yet again — to 42 cents. Fearing reprisals from an angry mob of customers waving around packages they need to mail, the Post Office has hit upon a plan: Create a Forever Stamp that can be used "forever," no matter the current rate of postage.

"Here’s how it would work. If the 3-cent increase takes effect next year, the forever stamp would be made available for 42 cents, the same as other first-class stamps. If the first-class rate were to rise to 45 cents in a few years, the 42-cent forever stamp would still be honored for postage on letters. Once the new price took effect, forever stamps would then sell for 45 cents."

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I remember when first-class rates were 15 cents and, dagnabit, I’m not that old! Looks to me like I should consider Internet bill-paying after all.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

17 thoughts on “The Stamp Act”

  1. When you buy stamps you are paying for the right to have your letters or packages mailed. If they up their price after you have bought that right from them that is their problem not yours. So this only makes sense.
    Or is that cents…sorry.

  2. What! How dare they raise rates again so soon! I run the postage meter at my office, and I’m just starting to memorize the new rates. Grrr.

  3. Part of the problem (according to my dad the retired postal supervisor) is that when the post office is running in the red, it’s not considered to part of the federal budget.
    But when they are turning a profit, suddenly it is part of the budget and those profits go to fund other government programs.
    It’s kind of hard to keep rates down in a situation like that.
    –arthur

  4. Two postage stamp jokes:
    (1) Customer: How long will it take this letter to arrive?
    Clerk: What kind of stamps are you using?
    Customer: “Forever” stamps.
    Clerk: You said it.
    (2) Remember the nice 37 cent Egret stamps? I cheered up my local postal clerk after buying a book of them by telling him I would use them to send out “cannot attend” responses to RSVP’s:
    “I Egret to inform you….”
    —
    Personally, I still have a slew of the beautiful 37 cent Christmas stamps with the Madonna and Child painting by Lorenzo Monaco (a Camaldolese Benedictine monk, ca. 1370 – ca. 1425). I’ll just keep adding more little “add on” stamps.

  6. //I buy more 1 cent stamps than any other kind.//
    P.S. Think of all the money that is wasted by printing 1 cent stamps, which probably cost more than 1 cent apiece to print.

  7. I used my very last 34 cent blue Statue of Liberty stamp just last week. I don’t use stamps very often, and I bought a book of them 5 years ago 🙂
    Of course I had to pair it with a 5 cent stamp in order to send the bills.

  8. It rather annoying that if I want to get use the stamps I already have that I can’t just drop the letter in the box, but instead I have to scrounge for a couple of pennies (lest I use any other coins and leave with more of those annoying things) and go to the Post Office.

  10. I personally don’t mind paying more for stamps, as I’ve tried other nation’s postal services, as well as the various carrier services. The postal workers in my area are fantastic and it costs next to nothing to ship books by the USPS.

  11. A couple of thoughts:
    1) The proposed increase could not go into effect until May 2007. That’s a full year from now.
    2) Stockpiling “forever” stamps seems to be rather foolish. Why tie up your money now for a few cents savings down the road. The only time it would make sense would be to buy these stamps just before the next rate increase goes into effect. You can save some money without expending a lot a cash.

  12. I remember when you could send a first class letter for 3 cents. Also, gasoline was less than 20 cents a gallon. Yep…that kinda dates me, don’t it.

  15. I remember 4 cent stamps. Gasoline was 30 cents a gallon when I started driving.
    In Northern Virginia, the Scot stations sometimes carried it for 25 cents a gallon.

  16. I’m with Brian, Louis, Richard, Barbara, and Seamus.
    I’m just amazed at how young Michelle Arnold is. Such wisdom in one so young.

  17. I had to buy stamps in order to mail my taxes. I haven’t paid a bill non-electonically in years.

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