Wells Fargo Is Plotting to Privatize the Post Office

jacobin.com

15 points·moneycantbuy··6 comments

A private company will also oversee the Postal Inspectors, won't it?

"As fact-finding and investigative agents, postal inspectors are sworn federal law enforcement officers who carry firearms, make arrests, and serve federal search warrants and subpoenas. Inspectors work closely with U.S. attorneys, other law enforcement agencies, and local prosecutors to investigate postal cases and prepare them for court."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Inspectio...

just to outsource it to India

Why does everybody have a hard-on for privatizing one of the few services the Constitution explicitly authorizes the Federal government to run?

money.

But unfortunately for the public, this will play out like the private equity folks who take over small businesses. Although this will raise prices and lower service, this won't only happen at the beginning.

Money number must go up.

Money is, of course, the obvious answer.

But I think more importantly, it's about demeaning government. There is a widespread notion that government does not do anything well, and private companies do everything better.

The Post Office is an easy target, because people interact with it directly. Every single missing letter/parcel is evidence that the government is bad. (Even if wasn't actually sent via USPS.) Every stamp price increase is proof of government incompetence. And that means the entire government is incompetent.

They may or may not actually care whether the Post Office itself is privatized. But it is an effective ideological football.

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