Government efficiency

What is it with these right-wing, anti-government people who continuously lambaste the U.S. Postal Service, and the Social Security and Medicare programs as total disasters? The postal service delivers more mail to more addresses in a larger geographic area than any other postal system in the world. In 2008, it processed 203 billion pieces of mail. That computes to 463,000 pieces of mail every minute and 28 million pieces per hour. Do the uninformed really think FedEx could do that?

The recent financial problems that the postal service has encountered is because Congress decided to privatize the postal system to obtain alleged “market efficiencies.” This required the postal service to immediately self-fund about $7 billion in retirement benefits. Social Security handled claims and benefits on behalf of about 52 million Americans in 2008. 



Similarly, Medicare processed hundreds of millions of claims on behalf of about 45 million individuals in 2008. These programs are absolutely huge, but they are astonishingly quick, accurate and efficient. I am a recipient of benefits under both of these programs, and they have been godsends. Perhaps the uninformed and the ignorant would like to create their own competing programs. Good luck with that.

Richard L. Warrick

Lawrence

Comments

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

They are off the charts as far as overhead.
Sure, anytime you have free reign of taxpayer money you can survive. This applies to the deadbeat companies that are coward welfare mongers. As for Fedex vs. UPS, again, more gang mentality. I send either one and could give 2 s***z about some club card for whiners.

[whispering_to_kc]

"Private corporations fund everything ... unless the taxpayers bail them out, of course."

The logic of this statement is way over my head.

I only use the USPS unless the box is too big for them and then it only goes Teamsters/UPS. The non-union lowlifes at FedEx get none of my business, ever.

[Pub 17]

Absolutely ludicrous. You really don't have the first idea what you're talking about, do you?

[Indy]

Private corporations fund everything - overhead, benefits, pension/retirement plans, salaries. It's called a bottom line, and private entities abide by it or they go out of business...unless the taxpayers bail them out, of course.

These aforementioned government programs can't stay in the black and it leads to deficit spending. That's why people are critical. It's not the work they do - it's that it can't operate without going into the red. Perhaps the letter writer or some like-minded individual could tell us why they think that's a good idea? Good luck with that.