I think the best way to fix the post office is to let it DIE. Open up competition as someone else mentioned. The USPS is dying because it is an institution that enjoyed a monopoly for so long that when technology made them mostly irrelevant they couldn't even adapt themselves to the changing world around them in time to avert disaster. Not all "institutions" should be saved. Slavery is a good example. Feudalism, the monarchy, ...oh heck...I can think of a bunch of them! LOL

We use about 2-3 stamps per month when averaged out over the course of a year. Most of that is for greeting cards for birthdays, holidays, etc. Everything else we "mail" we ship UPS or FedEx because we already can't count on USPS to get the job done right, or because UPS/FedEx can do it cheaper. Personally, I'm a fan of the UPS Store business model. I walk in with a bunch of items and a list of addresses. I tell them where I want them sent and by what method from their "menu." They help me fill out the forms. They package everything if I want them to. If they do it, the contents are insured against damage during transit. If I do it, I have to pay extra for insurance. I swipe my credit/debit card, write a check, or pay cash and get a receipt with tracking #'s. Oh, need a money order? I can get one of those, too. I can also buy cards, stamps, wrapping paper, stationery, packing materials, and a host of other things while I'm there and make some photocopies. When traveling for extended periods, I can go rent a mailbox there at the same location. I list their street address as my "ship to" address and such so that nobody hits me with that "can't be a PO box" stuff. I can leave instructions to contact me if certain types of things arrive for me and they actually DO it. I can call in from the road and have them go through my mail with me on the phone, then tell them whether or not to forward stuff to me and give them the address I want it sent to this time. I can have faxes sent there/send faxes from there. I can keep track of and manage a lot of this stuff from my laptop and even mobile phone. And as a small business, I can even have all of my billing done on a 30-day credit account. They'll pick stuff up where I want them to and deliver it where I want them to. Or I can go pick it up at their nearest location. And I can ship anything from a postcard to an automobile. They even do APO/FPO...which FedEx does not. Special delivery instructions like "if I'm not home, leave it with the lady next door in the pink house?" Not at any price with the USPS!