Congratulations, House Republicans!

@MontereyJack,

MontereyJack wrote:

And remember that it was PRIVATE ENTERPRISE that the government went to to create the software that fucked up the rollout of the ACA.

No the evidence is accumulating that the HHS department kept them in the dark about the rules of the game until after the election, and without them they couldn't organize the logical structure of the sites and ended up in a fruitless race to the finish all while dealing with continual changes in eligibility standards, subsidies and rates.

0 Replies

@georgeob1,

georgeob1 wrote:

Frank Apisa wrote:

Do you honestly think private enterprise could make a more efficient Navy?
In some areas, yes. The pirates of the 17th and 18th centuries kept the Royal Navy very busy far out of proportion to their numbers for a very long time.

So are you suggesting it might be a good idea to outsource the running of our Navy to private enterprise?

Quote:

Frank Apisa wrote:
Do you think private enterprise could run a gigantic industry like government more efficiently than the people doing it now?[/b]

I don't think that question has an answer. If a private industry attempted to run the government, it would become the government and behave just as government does. Both use the same human material, but government is of necessity interested primarily in preserving its own power and authority and only secondarily in the efficiency of its operations. That's why the government should generally stay out of tasks that are well-defined and for which the the results are easily measurable. Business is much better at such things.

Business, George, is concerned about meeting the goals of its owners...of maximizing "profits", so to speak.

Government is just as beholden to its "owners"...We, the People...who actually are "the government."

Once again you are simply asserting that business is more efficient than government...but you cannot supply information on how that comparison was accurately assessed.

I respectfully suggest that the assertion (the assessment) is more a function of your biases...than of any hard evidence that it is so.

1 Reply

@Frank Apisa,

Frank Apisa wrote:

Well...if you didn't mean "in your opinion"...you are dead wrong.

The Founders of the Constitution were FREEDOM-LOVERS, like me.
Thay respected the rights of citizens to NOT buy things that thay don t want,
un-like the anti-freedom Democrats.

Frank Apisa wrote:

I love the fact that when it is shown to be one
of the most successful safety net programs ever initiated...

...because of the Republicans, it will be known as Obamacare.

obamacare is the name of the citizens being anally sodomized out of their liberty
to reject the purchase of things that thay DON T WANT
by charlatans faking the authority
to extort citizens into buying things that thay don t want.
Suppose that Ford had extorted more folks into buying un-wanted Edsels, Frank;
the government has as much authority to bully the citizens into doing the same thing.

We got away with it, as to the Edsels, not as to the insurance.

David

1 Reply

@Frank Apisa,

Frank Apisa wrote:

Once again you are simply asserting that business is more efficient than government...but you cannot supply information on how that comparison was accurately assessed.

I respectfully suggest that the assertion (the assessment) is more a function of your biases...than of any hard evidence that it is so. [/b]

Think about FEDEX, UPS and the Post Office; VA Hospitals and AMTRAC. There aren't many direct comparisons like that out there, but generally the government comes out second best. You are quicker in accusing me of unwarranted bias than in thinking about these things yourself.

1 Reply

@georgeob1,

georgeob1 wrote:

Frank Apisa wrote:

Once again you are simply asserting that business is more efficient than government...but you cannot supply information on how that comparison was accurately assessed.

I respectfully suggest that the assertion (the assessment) is more a function of your biases...than of any hard evidence that it is so. [/b]

Think about FEDEX, UPS and the Post Office; VA Hospitals and AMTRAC. There aren't many direct comparisons like that out there, but generally the government comes out second best.

C'mon...I've seen as many screw-up with FEDEX AND UPS...as with the Post Office...and the Post Office has to handle stuff those places wouldn't.

For profit hospitals are no better than the VA.

And AMTRAC is an example of what?

Quote:

You are quicker in accusing me of unwarranted bias than in thinking about these things yourself.

George, when the bias comment first came up...I immediately indicated a bias on my part. IMMEDIATELY...ON MY OWN. Go back an look...and you will see it.

You reacted with a comment that you may be biased...AFTER I first acknowledged it in myself.

So the accusation here is absurdity...almost as absurd as pretending your assertions about the relative efficiency of government and industry are the result of actual comparisons rather than simply a display of your bias.

1 Reply

@OmSigDAVID,

You wrote,

Quote:

un-like the anti-freedom Democrats.

What 'rights' (or freedoms) have the democrats taken away from you? How has it impacted your life?

0 Replies

@Frank Apisa,

Frank did you see the results of customer satisfaction polls over FedEx, UPS, and the Post Office? The post office won hands down. I much prefer the post office. And so does FedEx and UPS - they use the post office to deliver a lot of their shipments. Ever wonder why there are FedEx drop boxes in front of a lot of Post Offices?

1 Reply

@bobsal u1553115,

Not only that, but I find that USPS costs are more reasonable.

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

The cost to the consumer is less but the USPS is very heavily subsidized in the Federal budget. Its cost of operations per unit of service is much higher than its private sector competitors. However, Frank thinks it.s just as efficient - whatever that term means to him.

3 Replies

The USPS doesn't just dump off your packages in the yard or on the porch and run, the way UPS does.

0 Replies

@georgeob1,

georgeob1 wrote:

The cost to the consumer is less but the USPS is very heavily subsidized in the Federal budget. Its cost of operations per unit of service is much higher than its private sector competitors. However, Frank thinks it.s just as efficient - whatever that term means to him.

Really? Where is that line item in the US budget that heavily subsidizes the Postal Service?

Quote:

The USPS has not directly received taxpayer-dollars since the early 1980s with the minor exception of subsidies for costs associated with the disabled and overseas voters.

http://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/postal-reform-myths-vs-facts

Quote:

FACT: The U.S. Postal Service is funded entirely by revenues from postage.

1 Reply

@parados,

From wiki.

Quote:

United States Postal Service
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"United States Post Office" redirects here. For individual post offices, see List of United States Post Offices.
"USPS" redirects here. For the non-profit boating safety and education organization, see United States Power Squadrons. For UPS, see United Parcel Service.
United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service Logo.svg
Logo used since 1993
Agency overview
Formed July 1, 1971
Washington, D.C.[1]
Type Independent
Headquarters 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW
Washington, D.C. 20260-0004
Employees 626,764 (489,727 career, 137,037 non-career) as of January 21, 2014[2]

The United States Postal Service (originally called the U.S. Post Office Department, when it was completely managed by the U.S. Government before 1971) also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. The USPS traces its roots to 1775 during the Second Continental Congress, where Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general. The cabinet-level Post Office Department was created in 1792 from Franklin's operation and transformed into its current form in 1971 under the Postal Reorganization Act.

The USPS employed 626,764 workers (as of January 2014) and operated 211,654 vehicles in 2013.[2] The USPS is the operator of the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world.[3] The USPS is legally obligated to serve all Americans, regardless of geography, at uniform price and quality. The USPS has exclusive access to letter boxes marked "U.S. Mail" and personal letterboxes in the United States, but still competes against private package delivery services, such as UPS and FedEx.[4]

The USPS has not directly received taxpayer-dollars since the early 1980s with the minor exception of subsidies for costs associated with the disabled and overseas voters.[5] Since the 2006 all-time peak mail volume,[6] after which Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act,[7] (which mandated $5.5 billion per year to be paid into an account to fully prefund both employee retirement health and pension benefits, a requirement exceeding that of other government and private organizations [8]), revenue dropped sharply due to recession-influenced[9] declining mail volume,[10] prompting the postal service to look to other sources of revenue while cutting costs to reduce its budget deficit.[11] The USPS lost US$5 billion in 2013, and its revenue was US$66 billion.

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

There is that $15 billion "borrowed" from the US treasury that there is zero chance that they will ever pay back, and the $100 billion unfunded pension liability that the taxpayers are likely to get stuck paying a good portion of.

You dont want to talk about that do you......

3 Replies

@hawkeye10,

Why wouldn't I want to talk about that! The US government is the one who created the US postal service, and they should be responsible for any added cost to run this program. It's all part of US security and economics.

Your myopia just fails to see what would happen if the postal service shut down.

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

Another option this country has, but with many unforeseeable problems is the privatization of the postal service. However, with the internet and magazine subscriptions decreasing at a fast rate, not many are willing to invest money into a program that has an unknown future.

Which private company is big enough to handle all the mail of the US?

Think before you jump into your pool of ignorance.

0 Replies

@georgeob1,

No its not.Its required by law to earn its own budget. Not only that, George, but if the Post Office was subsidized, so is FedEx and UPS by dint of their using USPO for less than you and I pay for it.

0 Replies

@hawkeye10,

Howdo you feel about that $775 Billion Defense budget? Or the $15Billion handout to big oil every single year?

1 Reply

@bobsal u1553115,

bobsal u1553115 wrote:

Howdo you feel about that $775 Billion Defense budget? Or the $15Billion handout to big oil every single year?

This is about me insisting that we speak the truth..... dont come to me telling me that the USPS does not take taxpayer money when the USPS is running through over $5 billion a year, has no sustainable business plan, currently owes the taxpayers $15 billion and when we are going to have to pay most of their pension liability because they have no way to get to a position to do it off of revenues. The US taxpayers will end up picking up the check, because there is no one else who could possibly do it, including stamp buyers.

Speak. Truth.

1 Reply

@hawkeye10,

A national post office is necessity and it needs to not be privatized. What country do you think you live in? The Post Office set up by the founding fathers fer Pete's sakes. By privatizing everything you guys are going to turn us into a nation of renters. I've seen postal systems all over the worl including Canada and the USPO is wonderful. Take that $5billion away from big oil and go tilt another windmill.

1 Reply

@bobsal u1553115,

Quote:

Take that $5billion away from big oil and go tilt another windmill.

I feel the same way about the USPS as I do about Amtrak, we need to end the lies from government that these are not federal agencies, and fund them through normal government appropriations.

EDIT: I also think that we should do what other national post office organizations have done, which is turn them into a banking outfit, mostly for the poor. I see no reason to not steal this business from walmart and the payday lenders.

0 Replies

Congratulations, House Republicans!

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