U.S. to Close Thousands of Post Offices

It was attacked by Sen. John McCain as a "model of inefficiency". Now, the U.S. Postal Service wants to close as many as 2,000 post offices beginning in March, amid increased competion from Web bill paying, email and text messages, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Postal Service is also seeking a change in U.S. laws to allow it to close the worst of the 16,000 post offices operating in a deficit—half the total post offices in the country. The postal service has cut staff by a third since 1999, and it lost a record $8.5 billion in 2010. Closures will hit rural and small suburban areas particularly hard.