I do believe a postal service is a fundamental aspect of a functional modern government so I have no problem with a publicly funded one, particularly to handle official letters and to reach areas that are not serviced by private carriers.
That being said, the USPS has been such a shitshow for years and it rewards incompetence. My family orders a ton of stuff and by far the most issues we've had have been with USPS whether they be delays or poorly handled letters and packages.
I actually think it is an example of the government doing something right. If you need to run a domestic delivery operation as a service to citizens, find a way to do it profitably.
As long as the government is not subsidizing their international operations, and they are competing on the open market, why should anyone care.
It's a little different. It'd be like if USPS were privatized and then created another subsidiary that operates in other countries.
I get your meaning though; if you can ensure nationwide coverage and cheap mail delivery then there's nothing wrong with a private, utility-like courier service, though UPS and FEDEX (and DHL, for that matter) might have something to say about it.
The Post Office is one of the few federal agencies explicitly created by the Constitution. Congress changed it to an quasi-private independent agency with the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970.
Their are a bunch of fucked up laws that protect certain industries. Fedex is considered an airlines (it started as Peoples Express airlines) and receives massive tax breaks and incentives over UPS that is considered a freight company.
You local cable company that provides phone service, is considered an entertainment company, and is not subject to all the telecom taxes that traditional phone carriers are subject to (and that is true even if they both provide the same VOIP service).
There is a whole lot of bullshit in federal law, these are just a few examples I am aware of.
Also weirdly protected by old-timey laws that shouldn't exist: the rail system
I do believe a postal service is a fundamental aspect of a functional modern government so I have no problem with a publicly funded one, particularly to handle official letters and to reach areas that are not serviced by private carriers.
That being said, the USPS has been such a shitshow for years and it rewards incompetence. My family orders a ton of stuff and by far the most issues we've had have been with USPS whether they be delays or poorly handled letters and packages.
DHL is Germany's version of the USPS, and they make a shit ton of money
I actually think it is an example of the government doing something right. If you need to run a domestic delivery operation as a service to citizens, find a way to do it profitably.
As long as the government is not subsidizing their international operations, and they are competing on the open market, why should anyone care.
It's a little different. It'd be like if USPS were privatized and then created another subsidiary that operates in other countries.
I get your meaning though; if you can ensure nationwide coverage and cheap mail delivery then there's nothing wrong with a private, utility-like courier service, though UPS and FEDEX (and DHL, for that matter) might have something to say about it.
The Post Office is one of the few federal agencies explicitly created by the Constitution. Congress changed it to an quasi-private independent agency with the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970.
Supposedly there's a loophole with the 1970 legislation that still allows you to send letters at the 2 cent rate https://www.kimberlyshawgraphics.com/blog/my-2-cents/
YES!!! My friend did this a couple years ago and it worked great.
Their are a bunch of fucked up laws that protect certain industries. Fedex is considered an airlines (it started as Peoples Express airlines) and receives massive tax breaks and incentives over UPS that is considered a freight company.
You local cable company that provides phone service, is considered an entertainment company, and is not subject to all the telecom taxes that traditional phone carriers are subject to (and that is true even if they both provide the same VOIP service).
There is a whole lot of bullshit in federal law, these are just a few examples I am aware of.
It's hard to know what to do with entities like this. I mean, who will invest in the infrastructure if they can't reap the profits?
Most of their income goes to fund their pension program