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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Government Unemployment Watch: USPS To Close Up To 3,700 Post Offices

The problem with bloated central planning is that when austerity hits, the bloat goes away, and millions of government employees suddenly find themselves trying to enter the private sector, realizing they have absolutely no real competitive and marketable skills (more or less like investment bankers and hedge fund managers). And while America has yet to even remotely sniff austerity, the unemployment rate is already set to spike, after the USPS just announced it was preparing to close 3,653 out of its 32,000 total post office sites. Per UPI: "The U.S. Postal Service is expected to announce a plan to close 3,653 post offices, mostly in small communities, in a cost-cutting measure, officials said. A USPS spokeswoman said the post offices were chosen because they get the "least amount of foot traffic and retail sales," The Wall Street Journal reported Monday." Trust the bureaucrats to try spinning this bad news as good: "They also were selected because there may be local businesses that could provide some postal services to the community, spokeswoman Sue Brennan said." Well by that logic there are private businesses that cover every aspect of the government's "job" much better, and much more efficiently, up to and including that of the Fed (sorry, that already is private). Does that mean we should outsource every aspect of the bloated centrally planned economy that America has become? Of course the answer is yes, but that just does not jive with the current iteration of kleptofascist socialism.

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2 comments:

Flerndip said...

Another failed government program. The Post Office is announcing every year a 2 billion dollar loss. UPS and Fed Ex are doing fine. What does that tell you. The government doesn't know how to deliver mail and make a profit? Shocking! Medicare and Medicaid in the same boat. Social Security on the brink. ObamaCare is coming so watch out!

Anonymous said...

First of all those are not government jobs. The post office has always been funded by postage sales, never tax dollars. However, congress has placed strong regulations on them such as pre-paying health care and pensions for retirees (something the government doesn't do for its own workers) and not allowing them to reduce to 5 day delivery. They hit the wall the last 10 years because of technology, not due to laziness and underperformance. Think about it, they visit every mailing address in the country 6 days a week and will still take a letter from one coast to another for 44 cents. UPS doesn't come to your house every day. Whether you have mail or are sending it, a mailman drives by your house every single day except sunday.
Rob S