What'cha reading?

I kind of assume that everyone who stops by here reads most of the other local blogs linked to in the side bar, at least occasionally. I also figure that you're checking out the big national progressive sites that i don't bother linking to, as well.

So i don't usually link to stuff over there.

But if you missed this (via TPM) this morning, you're missing a pretty big story that's not getting much coverage.

In an unprecedented move, the agency that oversees postal rates in the United States has approved a plan that would unravel much of what the founders accomplished. Earlier this year, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) rejected a postal rate increase plan offered by the U.S. Postal Service. Instead they opted to implement a modified version of an extraordinarily complicated plan submitted by media giant Time Warner. (Click here to read the decision and click here for a timeline).

. . . snip . . .

This year's rate increase was somewhat inevitable, as the postal service struggles to meet its costs. The method of rate hikes was hotly contested. Postal rates for magazines are basically a zero-sum game. Lower rates for some magazines, and others must pick up the cost. The USPS offered a plan to the postal Commission that featured relatively equitable increases for all magazines. Most magazines were budgeting for a 10-12 percent increase. The Time Warner plan proposed higher costs for small publishers and discounts for big publishers. The Time Warner plan is so complex that many publications are still unclear what their rate hikes will be if implemented; those smaller publications that have been able to do the math are finding shocking increases on tap, as high as 25-30 percent.

Check it out. "Cause what you're reading could change drastically in the next 12 months.