Congress continues to fiddle while the United States Postal Service (USPS) burns. The union for postal employees is upset that the postmaster general wants to cut 35,000 jobs. Many Americans are upset that the USPS wants to close 3,700 post offices. The postmaster general warns that the USPS will lose up to $18 billion by 2015 if drastic action isn’t taken. So, I will offer some advice that should make everyone happy.
First, repeal all laws that limit, control, or prohibit the actions of private mail delivery companies, including the private express statutes and mailbox access restrictions.
Second, sell the postal service to the postal employees union. (I personally wouldn’t even care if it was given to them.) The union and postal bureaucrats believe that they can save the postal service. Let them prove it, but without the benefit of a government protected monopoly.
Under this plan, the union could decide whether to keep unprofitable post offices open and risk bankruptcy. The union could decide which is more important–keeping incompetent employees or making a profit.
Consumers would have more choices, better service, and lower prices in a competitive environment. Taxpayers won’t be on the hook for bailing out another pseudo-government agency.
Of course, Congress won’t follow my advice. They aren’t interested in protecting freedom. They are only interested in pandering to special interests and their constituents.
