Timothy Birdnow

Trump and the DOGE are looking into kicking the U.S. Postal Service to the curb, fully privatizing it and letting the notoriously incompetent organization sink or swim.

The USPS is a "quasi private" organization. Originally a cabinet-level government post, the Postmaster General was actually in line to become President (down the list at #8,behind the Attorney General) and it was run like an actual government agency. In 1971 it was "privatized" mainly because it made enough money on it's own to fund itself (although it can still draw from general revenue in the event of a shortfall) and to take the PM out of the chain of succession. But it wasn't a privatization at all; you still have to pass a civil service exam to get a job there, and employees enjoy the much better government pension over social security, and their own healthcare system, etc. Also, mail trucks remain one of the vehicles that can cut a funeral procession legally, and they can have you arrested if you use their mailboxes for personal correspondence without a stamp. It's run by a a board of directors who appoint the Postmaster General but the board is appointed by the President of the United States, not by any shareholders as only the U.S. government owns any shares. It is wholly owned by the Feds.

True privatization would mean a complete severing of the organization from government, and would require the sale of shares to investors and that means offering a return. It would be for profit.

It's a move that long ago should have happened. We now have multiple delivery organizations like Fedex or UPS that could do the job more cheaply and more efficiently.

Of course postal workers have long been a solid Democratic block because their jobs depend on government. That will change if the massive, unwieldy organization is privatized. And incompetent or crooked employees will not be protected by government rules any longer.

And that will have a profound impact on America's electoral prospects. In 2023 there were 525,469 career employees and another 115,000 in seasonal workers. If just a quarter of them stop voting Democrat that's a sizable pickup for the GOOP.

But that's not the primary reason to do it; the main reason is because it is an antiquated institution that no longer serves the public interest and can be cut lose. In 2023 the USPS had a net loss of $6.5 billion dollars. That was trumped this year with a loss of $9.5 billion. Guess where the money to cover that deficit came from? It wasn't from budget cuts.

The times have passed the Post Office by, and it's time to acknowledge this change.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 12:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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