WASHINGTON — The money-losing Postal Service guessed that TV cartoon character Homer Simpson and his family were twice as popular as Elvis Presley when it came to sales of commemorative stamps.

In a move that wasted $1.2 million in printing costs, the service produced 1 billion of “The Simpsons” stamps and sold 318 million.

The Postal Service inspector general in a report singled out the overproduction of stamps marking the cartoon's 20th anniversary as an example of failing to align production with demand.

“If the Postal Service can't address a simple matter such as determining how many commemorative stamps to produce, it shows they can't address the larger problems,” said Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste. “Unfortunately, even a small item can create larger problems.”

The Postal Service this month said it posted a loss of $5.2 billion in its third quarter and may lose $15 billion in the year ending Sept. 30. It has asked for Congress' help in cutting costs by eliminating a requirement to pre-pay for future retirees' health care and letting it stop Saturday mail delivery.

The service could save $2 million annually by ending overproduction of stamps that end up being destroyed when they don't sell, the inspector general said.

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