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And the federal government is supposed to bear the brunt of expense for these few state voting initiatives? Edit: Besides, the USPS is almost effectively a pr

And the federal government is supposed to bear the brunt of expense for these few state voting initiatives? Edit: Besides, the USPS is almost effectively a privatized organization, with their requirement to operate within a balanced budget.

Karunamon 6y ago
With a guaranteed monopoly. Just speaking from a purely capitalist point of view, these don’t lend themselves well to quality service. Is there any particular reason a law couldn’t be passed that just abolished the monopoly, giving private enterprise a try, but leaves everything else unchanged? (Let’s fix the stupid pension mandate while we’re at it)
- shadowgovt 6y ago
  Abolishing the monopoly on the post is a bit like the government "abolishing the monopoly" on national defense. It's a Constitutionally-required service the government must provide. The risk of privatizing it may very well be too high to justify the dollar savings. For example, the post has a mandate to deliver successfully (somehow) to every location people live in the country. What will private enterprise do if that's not revenue-positive?
  - Rebelgecko 6y ago
    Just because the Constitution says that Congress is allowed to create a post office doesn't mean they're required to. Enumerated powers aren't mandatory
    - shadowgovt 6y ago
      Sure. Congress isn't required to provide for the national defense. It's a short-lived government that fails to do so, however.
      - Rebelgecko 6y ago
        I'm not sure that that there's a correlation between privatization of the post office and the lifespan of a country. Countries like Japan and Denmark seem to be chugging away just fine since they stopped providing those services. Apologies for invoking Godwin's law, but Germany is another example of a country where state-owned postal services tend to be correlated with regime change. There was all sorts of drama starting around 1900 when the central government started bringing independent post offices from Kingdoms like Bavaria and Württemberg into the fold. Probably the most contentious of these takeovers was the Danzig Post Office. Many mailmen were tortured and eventually executed. Things have been much more stable in the decades since Germany privatized their postal system.
shadowgovt 6y ago
Privatized organizations don't, in general, operate on the two prongs of "cannot raise rates above inflation, regardless of costs" and "Must fund pensions past one full generation of conusmption." It's unclear that any organization, public or private, can remain financially solvent under such constraints.

Karunamon 6y ago

With a guaranteed monopoly. Just speaking from a purely capitalist point of view, these don’t lend themselves well to quality service. Is there any particular reason a law couldn’t be passed that just abolished the monopoly, giving private enterprise a try, but leaves everything else unchanged? (Let’s fix the stupid pension mandate while we’re at it)

shadowgovt 6y ago
Abolishing the monopoly on the post is a bit like the government "abolishing the monopoly" on national defense. It's a Constitutionally-required service the government must provide. The risk of privatizing it may very well be too high to justify the dollar savings. For example, the post has a mandate to deliver successfully (somehow) to every location people live in the country. What will private enterprise do if that's not revenue-positive?
- Rebelgecko 6y ago
  Just because the Constitution says that Congress is allowed to create a post office doesn't mean they're required to. Enumerated powers aren't mandatory
  - shadowgovt 6y ago
    Sure. Congress isn't required to provide for the national defense. It's a short-lived government that fails to do so, however.
    - Rebelgecko 6y ago
      I'm not sure that that there's a correlation between privatization of the post office and the lifespan of a country. Countries like Japan and Denmark seem to be chugging away just fine since they stopped providing those services. Apologies for invoking Godwin's law, but Germany is another example of a country where state-owned postal services tend to be correlated with regime change. There was all sorts of drama starting around 1900 when the central government started bringing independent post offices from Kingdoms like Bavaria and Württemberg into the fold. Probably the most contentious of these takeovers was the Danzig Post Office. Many mailmen were tortured and eventually executed. Things have been much more stable in the decades since Germany privatized their postal system.

shadowgovt 6y ago

Privatized organizations don't, in general, operate on the two prongs of "cannot raise rates above inflation, regardless of costs" and "Must fund pensions past one full generation of conusmption." It's unclear that any organization, public or private, can remain financially solvent under such constraints.