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Licking the Stamp of Big Government

Submitted by LowDownCentral on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 09:46
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Stamp of Big Government

by Rose Pedenko 

The Washington Post, bastion of journalistic excellence that it is, recently reported what most Americans already know – that the United States Postal Service is a failed government enterprise.  The Postal Service estimates $238 billion in losses in the next 10 years and a drop of 26 billion pieces of mail.  As most federal estimates go, that figure will likely increase exponentially under the ever coercive lawmakers, postal regulators and labor unions that want even more flexibility to compel Americans to absorb the cost of their inefficiency.  They seek impossible remedies in an effort to expand government control and ultimately stifle American incentive.  It’s as if the bureaucrats and liberal leaning media are tone-deaf to the mounting anger of the citizenry that want to reduce government spending--and want to reduce it now.

There was once a commonly held belief that delivering the U.S. mail was too big or impossible for private enterprise to handle efficiently.  It is clear that even the Postmaster General now acknowledges that the 13% drop in mail volume last year was a result of business migrating away to faster, cheaper and more dependable delivery via the internet or other more efficient, competitively-priced services.  That, of course, begs the question, why do we need the USPS?

Delivery services, like UPS and Fed-X, have been fully capable of handling comprehensive domestic distribution for years.  The fact they have been subject to corporation taxes, sales taxes, vehicle license taxes and other onerous regulations, means they have also effectively been subsidizing their biggest competitor--the U.S. Postal Service.  What a great country!!

The postal service lost $2.4 billion from April through June of 2009, bringing the year’s losses to $4.7 billion.  In spite of a bad economy, in the 4th quarter of 2009, UPS' domestic profits increased over 60% from the previously mentioned low point in the 2nd quarter.

Rather than Congress rationally evaluating the failures of this government entity to compete in the free marketplace, it has allowed Postmaster General John E. Potter to throw good money after no money by spending an additional $4.8 million for outside consultants to provide even more ideas to further rip-off American taxpayers.  At a time when other (better) products and services mean a drop in prices to Americans, as we have witnessed with cellular, cable and satellite services, the Post Office will increase prices that exceed the rate of inflation.

Another question that begs a rational answer is why we permit federal/public employees to unionize and further drive up costs to American taxpayers.  Labor unions not only complicate the agency’s path to a firm fiscal footing but will inevitably prevent it from ever achieving the kind of profits enjoyed by private enterprise.  The Post Office does not need to reshape how Americans send and receive their letters and packages--Americans are doing that themselves.  Perhaps this bad news from the post office will be accompanied by yet another attempt by government to regulate the chief competitor to the USPS--the internet.

Congress should be asking itself “what would happen if the Post Office failed?”  The answer, of course, is nothing.  Private enterprise is 100% capable of delivering all of the United States mail in a time and cost-effective manner.  But rather than stop the fiscal bleeding, our elected misrepresentatives will probably enact further mind-numbing legislation to prevent what should be the complete and utter demise of a badly run business.  Where else have we heard this lately?

Unlike consultants paid to blow smoke up the Postmaster General’s ass, I have no interest in the Post Office reducing its costs.  Americans should strongly encourage their “elected” officials to shut down the Post Office, eliminate the Postal Regulatory Commission, and while we are at it, the handful of other useless and inefficient agencies whose sole purpose is to swindle and steal from a citizenry that is quickly going postal.

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Let's start a company to compete with USPS!

Submitted by bob on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 16:01.

LowDownCentral,

I have a great business proposition for you.  Let's start a company that will guarantee delivery from any business or home to any other business or home anywhere in the United States!  Delivery should occur within a few days, regardless of distance.  We should go door to door 6 days a week.  Ready to invest your retirement?

Unlike UPS or Fedex, which would charge 15-20 dollars for this service. We'll only charge say 50 cents per letter.  Bulk rates will be even less. You in yet? 

On top of that, we need to rent hundreds of offices around the country so that people can drop off letters if they want.  Then we'll have to hire about 600,000 people to work in them to run our delivery routes. Piece of cake and all that for just 50 cents a letter. Not the 15-20 dollars per letter that Fedex charges.  Should I tell you where to send your kid's college fund yet?

But wait, let's also provide, free of charge, mail forwarding and holding services for the 320 million people that live in the U.S.  So if any one of them moves, the packages will automatically be sent to them.  We'll be rolling in the dough!

Charities and non-profits can get discounted delivery too!   Raid that piggie bank lowdowncentral this will be a gold mine!

Now we need trucks and planes to carry all this stuff. So we'll have to buy them, provide maintenance, put gas in the tanks etc. Now the USPS has 220,000 of them. Just delivery trucks. So let's say we get a good deal from ford and buy 200,000 trucks at $20,000 each. We'll need only 4,000,000,000 (that's billion) just for the trucks! Got that handy? Maybe check under the sofa?  

 

Oh there will be insurance costs, but remember we're charging about .50 cents per letter so this will be a no brainer.  The competition charges between 15 and 20 dollars! We'll blow them out of the water!

I figure our infrastructure will need to handle about 1 BILLION pieces of mail a day.

Now I know, starting a company that would be say 21st on the Fortune 500 list may seem like a daunting task. But I'ld like to nominate you to be CEO. Obviously since you're hanging out blogging the AWESOME web site, I think you probalby have what it takes to run a lemonade stand. So I bet you could do this job too!

Who's with me! Let's start today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apparently...

Submitted by RBIII on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 12:51.

...our resident Acid Tripper, Bob, doesn't know that the USPS is, by law, the only entity that can deliver regular mail (aka non-parcel / packages).

I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that a leftist isn't versed in the law.

actually my point is

Submitted by bob on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 15:07.

Thanks for the clearing everything up. I'm immediately going to run out and sue Federal Express and UPS for delivering packages, letters and other post from one door to another. They've been operating illegally for what a few decades now?  What USPS has a patent on door to door package and letter delivery or something?  The law would stop someone from recreating the infrastructure (offices, delivery vans, ware houses etc) required to start up a national delivery service?

Moron.

My point is this.

The infrastructure required to deliver almost a billion pieces of whatever you want to call it from point a to point b, anywhere in the U.S. (and FedEx and UPS do not deliver to every address by the way.), would be so costly to start up that no PRIVATE enterprise can do it.  So if you think that private enterprise can do it, then I'ld be happy to take an initial investment from you and help you write a business plan. We can go out shopping for venture capital etc to kick it off. 

And don't spout nonsense about FedEx and UPS doing it. They don't provide the same services at the same cost point as USPS.  If you don't believe me, stop using the mail and send all your xmas cards next year by fed ex. See how much that costs you.

So RBill or anyone else,  if you think that you can do better, start your own national delivery service. I challenge you to do and charge exactly what USPS does. So 50 cents or so a letter.  Not $14.95 or $20.95.  50 cents. From anywhere to anywhere.  It would be picked up from infront of your house and put in front of someone else's house.  Write the business plan. See what happens. If it's such a good idea, then you should have investors pounding down your door for a piece of the action. 

Or not because very few venture capitalists are as loony as you guys.

MY MY, a loony moron that supports a Billion $$ loser USPS

Submitted by 4speed on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 20:30.

Lots of facts, but no mention of a P & L Statement that would drive venture capital and Investor stock purchases.
If a business loses money year after year, it should go belly up. The USPS loses money, yet the politicians won't Shrink it or abandon the Unions.
I'm paying Taxes, add that to your USPS Postage stamp cost, moronic loon.
The USPS needs to Shrink their bad business model.