The Post Office Boondoggle...!

What is a boondoggle, you may ask...good question!

In this case, a boondoggle has to do with government spending for a crazy idea. We all know that the government spending can and has gotten way out of control over the years. Here's one more totally outlandish example for you.

Promoting Letter Writing

The US Postal Service (USPS) caught Proxmire’s eye when it spent $4 million on a 1975–76 ad campaign intended to motivate US citizens to write more letters. According to postal authorities, the USPS was losing money on every category of mail except first class, which alone earned 30 cents in profit and helped to pay “general overhead.

”The ad campaign was supposed to help the USPS determine whether such marketing could increase revenue, but Proxmire wasn’t buying the explanation. “There is a very great question,” he said, “of whether a government-subsidized agency should be in the game of trying to drum up more business for itself.”He issued the Golden Fleece Award to the USPS in July 1977.

In case you are wondering who exactly Proxmire is, he created the "Golden Fleece Awards" just for cases like this. Gotta give him credit for that!

Once more it's coffee out on the patio. Cold front hasn't gotten here yet!