DEAR EDITOR:

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has one job: deliver the mail. You write a letter, address it, and put a stamp on it that pays for the delivery service. It’s a lot more complicated than that, obviously, but when you get right down to it, that’s the only objective; deliver the mail in a timely fashion.

But the USPS has been operating in the red nearly every year this century, now to the tune of $9 billion a year. I used to be an avid stamp collector, and still get the “USA Philatelic” catalog of “stamps and stamp-inspired products.” With a whole lot of debt and unpaid retirement benefits, why does the USPS offer all these unnecessary items? I loved seeing the new issues of commemorative stamps when they were released, but, really? Sponge Bob? Bruce Lee? Art of the Skateboard? And field notebooks, vinyl stickers, tote bags and note cards, etc.?

All we need are the denomination stamps, 1 cent through $1, and higher. Now, with the “forever” stamps that automatically adjust their cost with every increase, all the rest are superfluous (more than is needed). In 1974 the first self-adhesive stamp was introduced, since humidity caused the glue to stick them together. As of 2002 nearly all stamps are now self-adhesive.

So, what does it cost to print all these stamps and products? I can’t seem to find out. The first US commemorative stamps (usually rectangular) were introduced in 1893, in honor of Christopher Columbus. I counted nearly 100 commemorative stamps in the current catalog! Plus the other “stamp-inspired products.”

Is it time to privatize the postal service, which was created by Benjamin Franklin in 1772? Many people want a Civil Service job, i.e. government job, with all the perks and benefits. And, especially, the Post Office. Where’s the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)? Are you still out there, Elon?

DONALD K. ALLEN

Youngstown