At hearing on future of Postal Service, no dearth of despondency

Members of a Committee on Oversight and Government Reform panel explored novel ways the Postal Service might pull itself from deep debt -- selling birthday cards, for instance -- but what they heard was apprehension about the future and dismal reports about the past. The title of the session, "More Than Stamps: Adapting the Postal Service to a Changing World," conveyed the possibility that if only the neighborhood post office could sell more than its traditional range of goods and services, it might be able to catch up with a world that seems to have left it behind. Meanwhile, one way to save the Postal Service big bucks -- delivering mail five days a week instead of six -- was largely ignored. The panel had discussed it before and probably will need to again, because the avenues they explored Thursday don't seem to go very far.