The Postal Service Is Essential to Democracy --- better stated: The Postal Service is essential for 50k union jobs expect obamapuppet to intercede
On May 15, 3:43 pm, Bruce Majors <[email protected]> wrote: > more flatulent sophistry from the quisling felchers of the tax predator > ruling class > > legalizing competition would create thousands of jobs for the urban > underclass, since any barely literate, ambulatory person can deliver mail > for far less than the over-paid idiots of the postal service > > > > On Sat, May 15, 2010 at 4:35 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > > The Postal Service Is Essential to Democracy -- It Should Be Re-Imagined, > > Not Shrunk By John Nichols, The Nation > > Posted on May 15, 2010, Printed on May 15, 2010 > >http://www.alternet.org/story/146884/ > > > Domestic policy debates of late have degenerated into an absurd argument > > about whether government can do anything right. Even Democrats can be heard > > mouthing the false premise that private markets are always the answer to the > > nation's public problems. But government does do things right; indeed, it > > does something right every day on a massive scale. The oldest of America's > > major public services--established by decree of the Continental Congress, > > brought into being by Benjamin Franklin and enumerated in the first article > > of the Constitution as a vital tool for binding together the new > > Republic--carries on in the twenty-first century as an essential and > > possibly transformative arm of the federal government, a service that has > > only begun to tap this agency's potential. > > > This is the proper starting point for progressives to enter the great > > debate about the future of the US Postal Service--and enter they must if > > there is to be any hope for maintaining it at a time when public services > > are under overwhelming political and economic assault. Because of declining > > mail volume and Congressional reforms that transformed the Postal Service > > from a taxpayer-supported institution into a "revenue neutral" agency that > > is expected to pay for itself, the Postal Service recorded a $3.8 billion > > loss in 2009 and is, according to an extreme but oft-quoted estimate, on > > track to accumulate a $238 billion deficit by 2020. The service has also > > been harmed by poor political and managerial choices--not to mention > > accounting errors that have socked it with pension liabilities that are as > > unsustainable as they are unreasonable. > > > *The Postal Service's economic turbulence has fostered the fantasy that it > > is no longer necessary in an age when "warp-speed Internet" is constantly > > juxtaposed against "snail mail." Yet the USPS is anything but "an > > anachronism" on "a slow march into oblivion." It is a national treasure that > > provides an immense and irreplaceable public service. The scope and > > character of that service will change in the twenty-first century--ideally > > to provide a broader range of information, vote-by-mail systems, community > > services and even banking options to hundreds of millions of Americans who > > continue to rely on their local post office as the nerve center of their > > neighborhood or small town. But before any of this can happen, we must > > recognize that the Postal Service can and must remain public if we are to > > maintain the essential infrastructures of democracy.* > > > *Americans do not often talk about the Postal Service as a crucial > > underpinning of the democratic infrastructure, but we should. At a time when > > 35 percent of all Americans and 50 percent of rural residents have no > > broadband Internet access at home, the Postal Service is universal. Its > > 596,000 career employees travel more than 4 million miles to deliver more > > than a half-billion pieces of mail each day. It goes to extraordinary ends > > to assure that no citizen or community is neglected; it contracts commercial > > planes to move parcels across the country in a matter of hours, yet it still > > sends bush planes into Idaho's River of No Return Wilderness Area and > > organizes mule trains to deliver mail, food and supplies to the Havasupai > > Indians on the floor of the Grand Canyon.* > > > *The Postal Service maintains a network of more than 35,000 retail > > outlets--the largest in the world, with more locations than McDonald's, > > Starbucks and Wal-Mart combined--which are visited by more than 7 million > > Americans each day. The postal workers they encounter in these offices and > > on their doorsteps are reflective of their communities, as the service has > > historically been and remains one of the surest sources of employment for > > African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinos, women and the poor. In short, > > the USPS forms a vital network of service, connection and community that > > provides the steadiest link between Americans and their government. As > > Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) chair Ruth Goldway puts it, the service > > is "part of the fabric of the nation."* > > > *Unfortunately, the Postal Service is not profitable. That's a problem > > because, under the absurd constraints placed on it by successive legislative > > "reforms," the service must be "run like a business." And the businesspeople > > who run the USPS these days, though they may want to save the service, are > > so fixated on the bottom line that they cannot see the public good. So they > > have proposed a process of downsizing that could lead to the dismemberment > > of what should be understood as a core civic institution.* > > > If the wrecking crews are not stopped, they will tear a hole in the fabric > > of the nation, further isolating Americans from one another, deepening the > > decay of urban neighborhoods and remote villages, hiking unemployment in our > > hardest-pressed communities and accelerating the decline of newspapers and > > magazines, drying up content for the Internet and curtailing civic and > > political discourse. "We need the Postal Service," says Illinois Congressman > > Danny Davis, a member of the House subcommittee that oversees the nation's > > post offices. Of course the Postal Service is going to change, Davis > > acknowledges. But Americans should start with the understanding that the > > Postal Service is "indispensable"--not with a debate about how much will be > > cut. > > > Regrettably, the latter approach is the one being taken by Postmaster > > General John Potter and members of the Postal Board of Governors, who are > > floating proposals to eliminate six-day mail delivery, close thousands of > > post offices and cut 26,000 full-time and 13,000 part-time jobs through > > attrition and layoffs. Overreacting to changes in the way Americans > > communicate while underestimating ideas that could reposition post offices > > as touchstones for the information revolution and a more consumer-friendly > > financial-services landscape, Potter and his compatriots imagine that the > > only response to a rough stretch is to slash the USPS. The madness of the > > cuts is summed up by Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, who says, > > "The Postal Service cannot expect to gain more business, which it > > desperately needs, if it is reducing service." > > > Even the service's most determined defenders say that if the restructuring > > proposed by Potter goes through, the end result will not be the "leaner, > > more market responsive Postal Service" the postmaster general imagines. > > Rather, as American Postal Workers Union president William Burrus says, "It > > would be the beginning of the demise of the Postal Service." > > > But, of course, Americans will still need to communicate using paper and > > printed materials, and they will still need to ship all those parcels > > ordered over the Internet. The Postal Service's demise would not mean the > > end of those enterprises, just the end of postal workers' jobs and the > > service's commitment to communities that might not be the priorities of > > private companies like FedEx. Indeed, the downsizing of the Postal Service > > has often been discussed as the first step toward a huge bartering off of > > its responsibilities. Burrus has been saying for years that the service "has > > begun to travel resolutely down the road of privatization." And the > > *Washington > > Post* is editorializing, "Given the state of technology, privatization is > > probably the only long-term solution for the USPS." > > > *Thankfully, privatization has a powerful critic. In response to a > > question posed in February about selling the Postal Service to the highest > > bidder, President Obama said that privatization is a "bad idea most of the > > time" because "oftentimes what you see is companies want to buy those parts > > of a government-run op that are profitable, and they don't want to do > > anything else. So, for example, the US Postal Service; everybody would love > > to have that high-end part of the business that FedEx and UPS are already > > in--business to business, you make a lot of money. But do they want to > > deliver that postcard to a remote area somewhere in rural America that is a > > money loser? Well, the US post office provides universal service. Those > > companies would not want to provide universal service."* > > > Like many members of Congress, the president has sent signals suggesting a > > discomfort with cutting mail delivery down to five days. But he's been less > > engaged with the equally serious threat posed by proposals to increase stamp > > prices and rates for weekly newspapers and magazines, two moves that > > threaten to drive more paying customers away from a service that has seen > > annual mail deliveries drop from 208 billion pieces in 2000 to 177 billion > > pieces last year. > > > That drop in mail volume is often blamed for the Postal Service's fiscal > > troubles, but as economist Dean Baker notes, the service "has been scaling > > back its workforce more than proportionately to the decline in mail volume, > > increasing the productivity of its workforce. This is exactly how we would > > expect a private business to respond to the decrease in demand for its > > services." According to Baker, "The cause of the [current] shortfall has > > been the requirement > > ... > > read more »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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