held hostage by POSTAGE

Effective January 8th our "postal rates and fees" were increased "by approximately 5.4 percent accross the board."

Inflation, right? WRONG. The postal service hiked the prices (1) because they can; and (2) because the federal government passed a law in 2003 that

requires the Postal Service to establish a $3.1 billion escrow account, with use of the funds to be determined by Congress at a later date.

Without this federal mandate, it would not have been necessary to raise rates in 2006.

This leaves me with some questions, which may sound contradictory at first, but, in fact reveal how bizarre our lives are.

First, how is that gas prices are affecting everyone else in the country, but the United States postal service does not feel the pinch?

Second, and more importantly, why in the hell is our government allowed to siphon money from us to put away for some undisclosed purpose at some undisclosed time?

The lesson to learn: our government CANNOT be trusted - even with our mail!