UPS Does Just Fine But Postal Service Loses Money

I read an AP article by Randolph E. Schmid, Saturday Mail Delivery May be Stamped Out , which pointed out the fact that our government controlled postal service is unable to make a profit; not just a minor loss, almost 7 billion dollars this year alone.

“Without drastic action the agency could face a cumulative loss of $238 billion over 10 years, Postmaster General John Potter said in releasing a series of consultant reports on agency operations and its outlook.”

I was never that good at math; but if the postal service is projected to lose $7 billion dollars in one year how is it they will do so poorly over the next 10 years. Instead of 10 years of $7 billion in loses, or $70 billion dollars this report claims the post office is so inefficient they will increase their rate of loss considerably, three times as much; I forgot, this is a government run operation and all loses are under bid.

UPS on the other hand has a solid financial record of making profits, enough so that its CEO earned $6.24 million in compensation in 2009. Other interesting headlines, as reported by UPS share news included a surge in 4th quarter profits over the previous year and TNT said that volumes at Express Division were improving.

Imagine that; the US Postal Service reported a steady decline in volume causing it to lose billions of dollars while UPS has shown a steady increase in volume and profits. Could it have anything to do with the fact that one is managed under free market conditions while the other languishes under the burdens of bureaucratic mismanagement typical of most government agencies?

Not to be preferential, Fed Ex showed similar financial stability , paying dividends to its shareholders based on consistent profit margins. Why can’t the government run postal service keep from bankrupting itself, much less break even while the private sector, in a very similar industry, is booming?

Now that I’ve got your attention, apply that same question when considering health care reform and the understanding that government bureaucratic mismanagement is not the exception; but the rule.

The smoke and mirrors provided by the Obama administration, Democrat controlled Congress and Senate would have you believe that health care costs will be lowered while at the same time promising that there will be better care for more folks without any quality of service reduction; in short it will be just as efficient as the US Postal Service.

I may have tongue in cheek when I propose my solution; let UPS or FedEx take over mail service and health care reform; it has a better chance of succeeding than what’s been offered by the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi or Barrack Obama. Treat mail delivery and the medical industry like a business with as little government intervention as possible and see if they can turn things around.

We’ve already seen how the postal service has been run into the ground; now they want to do the same with the medical services industry. Government run health care reform, as it is being forced down our throats, will provide only bureaucratic mismanagement to an already complex and damaged system of delivering medical services to the American people.

You won’t hear this kind of talk coming from the Marxist mentality which has taken control of Washington. Pelosi told Democrat representatives to bite the bullet even if it meant getting voted out of office in the next elections, to vote in favor of government mandated health reform, even though their constituents have spoken against such mandates. Congress knows what’s better for everyone, better for Americans than individual liberties as outlined in our founding document.

That’s the tune I’m hearing and I don’t like it, not one bit. If we’re not careful, the next AP article from Randolph E. Schmid could easily read, “Individual Liberty May be Stamped Out by Marxist Regime”. Oops, I forgot; AP is part of the Marxist regime, fetching their water as called upon.

Edited: March 3, 2010


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