Our nation’s founders understood that a universal, affordable, and yes, public postal system helps knit us together as a nation. The Netherlands, which privatized its postal service in … Why would ANYBODY want the Post Office to disappear? I say put the post office back into the presidents' cabinet … If it became privatized I think the cost of mailing a letter would soar. And since then, it’s been under attack by politicians who never met a public program they liked. Lovers of Our Founding Fathers and The Constitution have no reason not to love the post office too. (ernstseconomyforyou.blogspot.com, March 28) Postal Service often carries it the last mile? Do they WANT to pay more for the same thing? The US postal service (despite quibbles by some) is a “quasi-governmental" organization. In 2006, Congress required the Postal Service — known as USPS for short — to “pre-fund” 75 years of its retirees’ health benefits. Trump is threatening the USPS with privatization, but that's a terrible idea. The US postal service is "a lifeline" for many rural and Native communities. The Trump administration on Thursday called for the privatization of the U.S. No other private company or federal agency has to pre-fund retirement health care benefits. The 618,000 Postal Service workers also delivered nearly 66 billion pieces of first-class mail — that’s more than 100,000 pieces per carrier. It pays federal corporate income taxes on its earnings from competitive products, … Using the deficit created by this requirement as an excuse, the USPS board of governors is closing distribution centers, cutting worker hours, eliminating delivery routes, and slashing jobs. not enough veterans hired and too many losers working there. No other private company or federal agency has to pre-fund retirement health care benefits. Instead of shrinking the Postal Service, we should build on it. Not to mention, considering the USPS’s reputation for inefficiency and waste, it would take a great deal of effort for the private sector to do a worse job than the government has done. CEO who jumped the COVID vaccine line is out of a job, A stock market correction may be around the corner. I'm not sure how low cost banking saves a trillion dollars a year when the estimate was that pay day lenders cost Americans $89 billion a year. If they did, many corporations would run huge deficits or tumble into bankruptcy. If it became privatized I think the cost of mailing a letter would soar. Republicans want privatization, Trump wants to stick it to Amazon. The job loss alone is a travesty, but a bigger principle is at stake. Other than that the article is fairly well done. Those institutions are expected to make a profit. At its peak, 4 million Americans took advantage of these services, saving $36 billion in 2014 dollars. “At a time when America needs the Postal Service more than ever, the reason we are so needed is having a devastating effect on our business,” Brennan said in a statement.. “The Postal Service relies on the sale of postal products and services to fund our operations, and these sales are plummeting as a result of the pandemic. Another cost privatized postal services commonly slash in an effort to boost profit margins are jobs and wages. It would be a better return on investment than the subsidies that are given to the oil companies. In 1995 Germany privatized Deutsche Post. This op-ed was originally published by OtherWords. Image by flickr user seandreilinger, used under a Creative Commons license. Over the past five years, USPS has cut 94,000 positions. It can borrow up to $15 billion from the U.S. Treasury at low interest rates. Without these retiree health payments, USPS would actually turn a profit. Luckily for the critics, the post office serves almost no purpose in our digital age, making these concerns virtually unfounded. Yes, I think that if the USPS was privatized then it would be better off both financially and fiscally. The Post office still follows a 19th century model in a 21st century world. After all, private industry would want to make a profit. The Postal Service can reach all 150 million American households because it’s a public system that we’ve been investing in for over 200 years. Citizens worldwide have found that their mail service didn’t improve but the prices rose substantially. The Congress shall have Power to... establish Post Offices and post Roads. The government retained the “Post Office,” which operates a retail chain providing postal … Customers received 2-percent interest on their savings accounts, and the post office loaned their money to community banks, which then made loans to local businesses. 10 The privatized Royal Mail delivers letters and packages. And it didn’t end in a disaster. The post office has been woven into the fabric of American society since 1775, when the Second Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general. Congress sucks!!!!! The post office actually makes money every year but there's no company in the world that has the prepaid a pension and liabilities the way the post office do. This added $5.7 billion to its costs last year. The post office actually makes money every year but there's no company in the world that has the prepaid a pension and liabilities the way the post office do. Before 1971, it was a department of government, supported by taxes. This virtuous circle benefitted the entire community. It is exempt from state and local sales, income, and property taxes, and from parking tickets, vehicle fees, and other charges. This an archive site of the materials produced by the Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch) and is maintained by the Project On Government Oversight. Millions still rely on the post office to pay bills and do other essential transactions. Reprinted under a Creative Commons license. Privatization is a ploy to kill the constitutionally-mandated operation of reasonable-cost mail services, and replace it with expensive private services that would not be able to compete on a per-mailing basis with the government. The USPS could raise tens of billions of dollars each year by reinstating post office savings accounts and banking services, which it efficiently provided for 55 years in the first half of the 20th century. The president says Amazon is charged too little by the post office for delivery of its goods (a claim that is impossible to assess fully because the contract is private). Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell My Personal Information | Ad Choices  I echo Postal Pete: "Someone who actually gets it!" The Postal Service’s fleet of vehicles — the largest in the country — could be equipped to detect air pollutants and report potholes, water leaks, and other infrastructure repair needs. Without these retiree health payments, USPS would actually turn a profit. I'm not sure how low cost banking saves a trillion dollars a year when the estimate was that pay day lenders cost Americans $89 billion a year. The Post Office WORKS. Once the downsizing is complete the Post Office will be using what staff they have left more efficiently than they now do. The US postal service (despite quibbles by some) is a “quasi-governmental" organization. Did you know that when you ship a package through Federal Express, the U.S. The Dutch, Belgians, and Austrians have privatized their own postal services, with respective governments retaining some of the stock. And yes, most of the crafts shake their heads in bewilderment at the way management has bungled everything they touch! "People in the UK have seen the impacts of privatization and want it back into the hands of the public: 69 percent of people in the U.K. want the Royal Mail in public ownership," Sanders said. Once the downsizing is complete the Post Office will be using what staff they have left more efficiently than they now do. I ALWAYS use USPS. After all, private industry would want to make a profit. A USPS mail carrier wearing a mask delivers mail in Flushing, New York, on April 11. The unfortunate truth is that not only is the USPS fighting against the inane mandates of Congress, but also the ineptitude of unqualified top-level managers who are in way over their heads. Our Constitution tasked the federal government with creating a national postal system and told the Postmaster General to report to the president. And if it’s a long ways away from town out in rural America, it’s not profitable for them to go. America's founders recognized that commerce requires a common infrastructure. It was one of the original functions of Government, mentioned in the Constitution. Despite having lost the popular vote by a wide margin, Trump apparently feels he has a mandate to fundamentally reshape major American institutions- and the post office is one of his targets. Be better off both financially and fiscally corporations would run huge deficits or tumble into bankruptcy would with... 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