George Will is a Pulitzer Prize-winning political commentator who has penned some of the most beautiful prose ever written about baseball. But yesterday, in opining about the U.S. Postal Service, he whiffed when it came to basic fact checking.
After a fascinating history lesson about how Sunday mail delivery was discontinued a century ago, Will threw this clunker into his commentary for the The Washington Post:
"Surely the government could cede this function to the private sector, which probably could have a satisfactory substitute system functioning quicker than you can say 'FedEx,' 'UPS' and 'Wal-Mart.' The first two are good at delivering things; the third, supplemented by other ubiquitous retailers, could house post offices."
Question for Mr. Will: When was the last time you sent or received anything via FedEx or UPS that cost only 34 cents? Or even anywhere close to 34 cents? The average price USPS charged last fiscal year for First Class and other monopoly classes of mail was 34.1 cents.
More questions: When was the last time FedEx or UPS begged for the chance to take over the Postal Service's business? When was the last time you heard an executive from one of those companies say, "Gee, we'd really like to deliver mail to every address in the country, regardless of profitability and without price discrimination; we can't wait to drive snowmobiles in Alaska and to take mule trains into the Grand Canyon so that we can complete our appointed rounds"?
Yes, FedEx and UPS are "good at delivering things." So are moving companies and obstetricians. But none are set up to do what the Postal Service does on the scale that the Postal Service does it.
Both FedEx and UPS are happy to serve businesses five days a week (or to charge premiums for weekend delivery). But going to private homes is another matter. Their favorite method of getting low-value shipments to residences is to pay the Postal Service for making the actual deliveries.
Perhaps privatization of some or all U.S. postal services makes can or should lie in the future. But it won't simply be a matter of turning over mail delivery to the private sector, especially when no one in the private sector seems to be clamoring to take over the U.S. Postal Service and all the requirements and restrictions imposed on it.
25 comments:
44 cents
The answer isn't to privatize but to eliminate all that management downtime.
No, it is not 44 cents. He said,
"The average price USPS charged last fiscal year for First Class and other monopoly classes of mail was 34.1 cents."
I would still like to know how he got this answer.
Way to tell it like it is!
44 cents???
Read the rest of the paragraph.
Moron!
No, the AVERAGE price for first class mail when discounts for businesses who mail large quantities of FCM letters is factored in is 34 cents.
Think about it a little before responding. The article states the average, that would be postcards and disounted bulk first class as well as the 0.44 cent mail.
.44 before the discounts large mailers get
Privatization IS CODE for Profitization.
Meanwhile, Rome burns.
Never drew so much controversy since the "one bullet" theory-- Always notice Non-postal people giving uninformed info- and postal people always blaming the other side craft/vrs/management. The reality is the system has no real numbers- they create the numbers they want-using POSTAL MATH- who else runs a company issuing Budgets that can't mathematically be accomplished
OMG.!! anybody READ anything in the article other than 34 or 44!! Dumbasses. If I HAD A 44 I could straighten a lot of you out!! [moderator, please accept the wit on usage of 44] George is correct, if companies took over the 50 % of the high profit business, those execs and shareholders would make tons of money. When 50% of your brain is STULTIFIED [yours George] it's easy to ignore 100 million people who will lose their current service. I'm sure that won't bother you, and your, BIGTIME BIGBUCKS BUDDYS. Profits justify anything. I'm sure you use to be human, try to remember.
Thanks, dumbfish...way too much drama over whether it's 44 or 34 cents. Calm down people!! LOL
If post office will be privatized the postage will be jack up on all kind of mails. The only remedy there is to change the management and keep it as Federal kind of business. Mangement doesn't know how to save money. They just change the system to show but the change if more for the worst!!!! Post office won't be a post office when it gets privatize....
Dumbfish, once more you live up to your name! Do you ever think before you engage your fingers? Everything in this system of things is based on profits, and the old adage of "what is in it for me". The service that the PO provides has been great to this point, but you will find that just like everything else in life, time brings about change. What was needed even 5 years ago is no longer needed in it's original intent. Change is the only constant in life, get use to it!!! The time that you spend on the various sites, would be better served trying to figure out your next move. You might even be saying, "well your on here", well let me point out to you that like I mentioned in the other response to one of your previous rants. I am 2 years retired from the PO, and by the way, the PO was my second retirement. So I have nothing but time to amuse myself with responding to your rants. By the way, you can save me some time if you would be so kind as to tell me where I can find your next "DUMBFISH" rant.
I think George Will's suggestion for privitization is typical of the over simplification behind many calls for privitization -- the USPS and other government services. Sometimes it might make sense, but many times it simply doesn't. And while there is always room for improvement, I don't think the USPS gets enough credit for doing a pretty good job handling a massive, complex distribution program.
I'm amazed at all the hyperbolic rant and rave about USPS losing money! Even if we are given credit for the $5.5 billion Congress steals from us, the fact remains that many of the services we provide -- changes of address, hold mail, checking on old ladies,sometimes saving little old ladies lives, informing prosecutors offices all over the country whether Jane Doe in fact still lives at this or that address, managing edit books to insure all addresses are listed and in the right order (None of these services, by the way, are provided by any other carrier!)-- aren't really money makers. In fact, these valuable services which our country has come to expect from Rural and City Carriers cost a ton of money! So who cares if USPS breaks even or loses money. USPS has been rated again as the most trusted Federal Agency. So whether we make money, lose money, or break even, why are we contemplating dismantling the best agency in the US Government?
Privatization is not the answer, the answer is raising the prices to fit the needs of the postal service. I work for the GMF in Colorado, I wont say which branch so that I can avoid hazing by some of the crazy people who do work at my GMF. Solution number one, get rid of the people who are "unable" to preform their duties, or send them home when the work is finished. You have no idea how pissed off I get when I work on automation every day busting my ass , while Joe Schmoe in manual takes a 2 hour 15 minute break geting paid 27 dollars an hour, because there is no work in manual. The Union is hurting the post office as well in some ways, and I am thankful for what they do get right. However when union stewards run around looking for trouble so they can grieve against management something is wrong there. I have also been told that if something wrong happens to me " running automation by myself" some one can grieve it and they get paid off of the wrong doing against me. I believe that postage should be raised to 75 cents. Any one who thinks that is too expensive needs to reach in their pocket and find out how costly it is. 46 cents will not cut it. Also management gets overpaid, sad but true. 8 managers at my GMF have salaries totaling over a million dollars a year. IF there is 1 manager to every 10 employees like there is supposedly, then the postal service spends 5.5 billion dollars a year alone on management salary. Things can be done, but many inside the postal service are to greedy and too sucked into union bullshit to figure out that maybe they need to do something to get their shit together.
Thanks Bob, I too am soon to retire. do you play shuffle board? I admit a strong bias, favoring the hard working, good hearted, people I have spent 33 yrs. with. I see the qualities and efforts expended, now being put into a bag and soon to be tossed into the river. Once that happens, the grand and valuable tradition of the PO. is gone forever. I'm certain a brilliant fish could figure something out. But I reserve my right to beech and moan....And BOB I've had 33 yrs. of practice.... The way the general attitude of management is towards employees, disgust me. One small solution I offer, would be a positive and supportive, boss to worker atmosphere. Basic respect. I believe all work studies show respect, breeds competence, and higher productivity. So simple... Yet uncommon. The last 10 yrs. mng. has sunk to sub human levels. I am proud of my career, and will remain so. If you'll consider good workers deserve good pay I'll consider more cheese less wine!! [maybe!]
for us, the nearest Wal-Mart is a 45 minute drive on mountain roads. Does America value rural citizens anymore, enough to bind us together as a nation, as the Postal Service has? If the answer is "no, we no longer want to subsidize rural delivery and rural post offices, let them pay their own way," then one can easily respond, "well then, have your milk, your beef, your pork, your vegetables shipped from China, and if you have a medical emergency on a trip to the wilderness (heart attack, boating accident, hypothermia) deal with it your self, don't expect a local in that rural area to rescue you."
The Postal Service would show a profit if Congress hadn't demanded they fund 75 years of pension obligations in 10 years. No other organization in the WORLD must do that!
Funding future obligations at sound actuarial levels would turn the USPS to profitability.
And while Congress is at it they should make every CORPORATION fund their future obligations on sound actuarial calculations!
The average price includes second & third class materials like newspapers, magazines, catalogs and JUNK mail
The issue is that a private firm would have to meet the Universal Service Mandate. That means ever address in the US. Not just the easy ones that are clustered together.
Think of the AT&T and Verizon commercials, where they have the map. 95% of Americans still has a lot of the country underved. It would add 25% or more to the infrastructure to support this last 3%.
But, is it reasonable that rural people (who live rural by choice, not gnvernment edict) have to pay a fair cost for the service they expect? City people have to pay more for food to cover shipping from the rural areas to teh city. Isn't it the same the other way?
Run it like a business. Charge $1 a day to hold mail, $20 to forward mail for 6 months, $2 for address correction, an administrative charge for collecting postage due, minimum $100 a year for PO Box, $2 per page for FAX service, and $5 to Agencies request for address changes. USPS delivers mail, they don't have to provide all the other services free or for next to nothing. Privatize? Yea right. Without USPS even UPS and FedX would lose 20% of their business because we deliver their small packages and they would drop the service. Can't believe this country is run by such idiots. Vote them all out.
george will is a douche and he should remain silent lest he show his true level of douchitude.
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