Yes and no. It's a monopoly that can't charge what it takes to stay afloat. Raising prices or changing delivery schedules requires an act of Congress! No member of Congress wants to have to answer for that, so the price of sending a letter hundreds - if not thousands - of miles, to be hand-delivered remains under one-half of one dollar $USD. THAT IS INSANE.

It's been argued, deftly, that even with a decline in volume for mass mailers, raising the price from $0.49 to $1 would not only put the USPTO all the way in the black but enable them to meet obligations for years to come.

But convince Congress that it's a good idea...

Wait a second. I thought they would be profitable if it weren't for the pension funding? If so, then $0.49 per stamp is high enough.

They can make a profit by paying their workers less. This is really about the USPS workers' union vs. Congress.

And your company could make more by paying you less. But that would be unfair, wouldn't it?

That's exactly what every profitable company does: pay their workers less than they otherwise could. The only alternative is to distribute all profit among employees. (And some people who believe that profiting from other people's work is immoral advocate just that.)

Not at all. In fact I would expect them to do so were it not for competitive offers from other employers.