Postal rates to go up, again

First there is talk of dropping a day of mail service. Now the U.S. Postal Service is proposing to raise the price of a stamp to 46 cents from the current 44 cents, a 4.5% increase, and it has a big fight on its hands.

Mailers of all stripes are gearing up to fight the increase, which the USPS announced today. It last raised rates on first class postage May 11, 2009. The USPS blamed declining mail volume and cost increases as the reasons behind this latest proposed hike.

Mailers suggest the hike is 10 times the increase allowed by law.

"This proposed rate increase amounts to another tax imposed on Americans at a time when the economy can least afford it," said Tony Conway, Executive Director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers and a spokesperson for the Affordable Mail Alliance in a statement. "Consumers everywhere will pay more for the letters and packages they need to send; struggling businesses – large and small -- will suffer and even more jobs will be lost."