The Postal Service vs. Defense

Did you know that the payroll of the postal service is higher than for national defense? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in December 2008, the payroll of the postal service was $3.4 billion, and national defense/interntional relations was $3.3 billion.

President Obama used the postal service as an example why his health care reform would be just fine. From the LA Times, Aug 17, 2009:

President Obama is urging Americans not to worry if the federal government dispenses healthcare insurance. After all, he argues, competition from the government-subsidized U.S. Postal Service hasn't hurt FedEx or UPS. "If you think about it, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right?" he asked last week at a town hall meeting in Portsmouth, N.H. "No, they are. It's the post office that's always having problems."  Conservatives think the White House model is more revealing than the president might intend. As the Washington Times editorialized this morning: "If the president considers the Postal Service as an example, we should all be scared." The case: "Despite numerous advantages that FedEx and UPS could only dream of having, the Postal Service loses money."

Comparing the post office with a proposed government-run insurance plan is probably counterproductive for the President’s aims. But making the analogy and deriding the government-run mail carrier — while acknowledging that private-sector UPS and FedEx are “fine” — provides some nice ammo for those of us who think the government should be less involved in both health care and mail delivery.