It's no secret that the Post Office is in deep financial trouble. Based on its current operating system, it is faced with a staggering $238 billion budget deficit by 2020. Even President Obama has quipped "I mean, if you think about it, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right?  No, they are.  It's the Post Office that's always having problems." The solution from America's Postmaster General John Potter? Skipping Saturday mail delivery. That's right. The government solution to a poorly run organization is to reduce services. This "solution" was taken even further when consulting firm McKinsey & Co. recommended that service be reduced to as few as three days a week.

So the solution to hemorraging money is to reduce services huh? Brilliant. Obviously Congress won't be reducing the budget for the Post Office so we as consumers will just continue to blissfully pay full price for watered down delivery. If my lawn care company was overbudget I'm sure they would reduce the number of treatments they provide and I would be fine continuing to pay them full price. I'd hate for them to have to look into streamlining their business with reduction in personnel, pay cuts, restructuring, applying lean principles, etc... You know, all the things a private business would do because it faces competition so it actually cares about what its customers think.

Let's go with the President's suggestion. (Thanks President Obama!) Privatize the postal service. Private companies, driven by profit, have incentive to run tighter ships and are (relatively) free from bureaucratic government interference. If "UPS and FedEx are doing just fine" then let UPS and FedEx handle the mail. Not exactly rocket surgery. Even the Europeans are now either privatizing or opening up competition to their formerly monopolistic mail providers. Unfortunately this administration continues to move the United States towards the European Socialist model at the same time the Europeans have abandoned their model and started moving more towards the free market. We'll just have to wait for another administration for the bold step of privatization.