The cost of doing business is going up today. The U.S. Postal Service is imposing a second set of rate increases this year, as of July 1. The cost of sending postcards, newspapers and magazines is going up.

While the 34-cent rate for the first ounce of first-class mail remains the same, the cost for each additional ounce will climb from 21 cents to 23 cents.

The price of sending a postcard will rise a penny to 21 cents. Other increased rates include an across-the-board 0.2 cent per piece boost for all first-class bulk mail.

The new rates will raise the cost of sending a piece of advertising mail by one-half to three-quarters of a cent and for the typical magazine it will add one-half cent to the postage.

The governing board for the postal service overruled the independent Postal Rate Commission in increasing rates for the second time this year. First-class mail went up in January.

It’s obvious the postal service is in a dire situation despite a freeze on construction projects and hiring.

Congress and business leaders are complaining with good reason and demanding a major overhaul of the service.

Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, said Congress must review 30-year-old Postal Service laws and “nothing should be off the table, including the future of the postal monopoly itself.”

That might be a little drastic, but we agree that something needs to be done to narrow the focus of the postal service, so that it is not competing ineffectively with private businesses.

If not, the costs of inefficiency will continue to be passed on to consumers, who are already overtaxed and overburdened.