The Post Office Is a Valuable Government Service. Why Don’t We Treat It That Way?
Louis DeJoy unveiled his 10-year plan to cut hours and raise prices, all in the name of profitability
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy presented his much-awaited—or, rather, much-dreaded—10-year reorganization plan at a news conference yesterday and it was pretty much what people expected it would be. DeJoy wants to cut hours, shut down some post offices, raise stamp prices, and lengthen the amount of time it takes first-class mail to be delivered, all in the interest of saving the U.S. Postal Service money.
I’ll leave it to others to debate the specific details of DeJoy’s plan. What I think is most important to understand is that this plan is that it only makes sense if you believe the post office should be a business rather than a government service. DeJoy made the case for his plan by saying that without it, the USPS was going to “run out of cash and require a government bailout.” In other words, his governing assumption is that the Postal Service should be economically self-sufficient, and should make whatever changes are necessary in order to make that possible — even if those changes significantly impact service and access.
