Oh, it's worse than that. The Postal Service is under deliberate attack. There's a school of thought in economics that asserts that providing a service at cost or below by the public sector which could be provided for a profit by the private sector distorts market dynamics, and that any such services should be privatized.
And hasn't privatization worked fine for health care? When I was young most hospitals were funded by churches and local governments, and their boards of directors were unpaid, contributing their service pro bono. Costs were such that most patients paid in cash and waited for reimbursement from insurance, if they had it. There was one "chief" in a hospital system--the Chief of Staff, or senior MD. The business manager (AKA Hospital Administrator) managed a lean clerical staff. Doctors and hospitals didn't sic lawyers or collection agencies on patients who couldn't pay; that would have been unprofessional.
Then came the 1980s and the great wave of hospital privatization. Now we have whole tribes of parasitic MBA Chiefs (CEO, CMO, CFO, CCO, CQO, and on and on), sucking millions out of every hospital system at the expense of the patient, and health care debt is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States, with the rate being high among those with health insurance.
Think today's postal rates are high? Just wait for what happens when the private sector takes over mail delivery!
And hasn't privatization worked fine for health care? When I was young most hospitals were funded by churches and local governments, and their boards of directors were unpaid, contributing their service pro bono. Costs were such that most patients paid in cash and waited for reimbursement from insurance, if they had it. There was one "chief" in a hospital system--the Chief of Staff, or senior MD. The business manager (AKA Hospital Administrator) managed a lean clerical staff. Doctors and hospitals didn't sic lawyers or collection agencies on patients who couldn't pay; that would have been unprofessional.
Then came the 1980s and the great wave of hospital privatization. Now we have whole tribes of parasitic MBA Chiefs (CEO, CMO, CFO, CCO, CQO, and on and on), sucking millions out of every hospital system at the expense of the patient, and health care debt is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States, with the rate being high among those with health insurance.
Think today's postal rates are high? Just wait for what happens when the private sector takes over mail delivery!
