In a distressing NY Times article the postmaster general warns that the US Postal Service is in such a dire situation that it may stop all deliveries by the beginning of next year!

While today's mail is seen as superfluous or even annoying in the form of junk mailings, it's hard to imagine a world with no mail.

The postmaster general has said congressional intervention is needed to save the Post Office from drowning in its own financial obligations and this, of course, opens the door for more posturing and high-handed rhetoric from the politicians.

We're not shocked by the news.The Post Office has been an insolvent institution for decades as is Amtrak and for that matter, almost every other government service including the IRS (debt crisis anyone?). But people seem to forget that government agencies are SUPPOSED to loose money. That's what government is designed to do: providing a public service for less money than a profitable business can provide while absorbing the loss for the greater good.

Commentators are quick to point out that email and electronic transactions have made the P.O. a vestige of a bygone era. However, we consider the news of an impending debacle to be devastating as the Postal Service is a vital part of our business. WAX ORCHARDS, like many of our small businesses allies uses flat rate shipping boxes from the PO like they're going out of style. And apparently they are.

However, we should recognize that this parcel delivery the US Postal Service provides is inexpensive, very effective and invaluable to e-commerce businesses. In a time when small businesses struggle to gain a foothold in the economy; when web 2.0, dependent on reduced shipping costs, is at last blooming into a viable business model and when there are countless alternative revenue streams open to the USPS, now is not the time to lead that pony out to pasture.