For broadcast on CBS Radio Network stations 
May 27-28, 2000:


Going Semi-Postal


The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.


A semi-postal is a stamp whose price is postage plus a 
contribution to charity. The only semi-postal stamp ever 
issued by the U-S is the one for Breast Cancer Research, 
issued two years ago, and going off sale this summer. It 
costs 40 cents, with 7 or 8 cents going to charity, and 
was ordered by Congress.


The twelve-and-a-half million dollars the stamp raised 
for research is encouraging many other Congressional 
demands for semi-postals. This past week, for example, 
Senators Kennedy and Hutchison pushed for a literacy 
program. Other pet projects include AIDS, Alzheimer's, 
domestic violence and unmarked railroad crossings. Now, 
who's going to vote against them?


A government report says the breast cancer stamp was a 
success. But the Postal Service chose not to deduct its 
costs for this stamp, and mounted a major push for it -- 
something it can't do for every stamp.


Collectors consider these stamps a tax on collectors. They 
also open the door for Congress to dictate U-S stamp 
subjects.


And that's stamp collecting this week. 

I'm Lloyd de Vries, CBS News.


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