Donald Trump has considered privatizing the U.S. Postal Service after decades of Republican attacks, but an analysis sent him a warning that his own supporters would hurt the most is he goes ahead with it.
The president-elect has complained frequently that USPS was a "loser" and blamed nonexistent mail-in voter fraud for his 2020 election loss. Republicans have faulted the service for running a deficit despite its statutory obligation to "bind the Nation together" by providing "prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas," wrote MSNBC's Paul Waldman.
"Many of the fiscal challenges the Postal Service faces are a result of the things it does that a profit-seeking private business would never do," Waldman wrote. "If the post office were privatized, it would probably start charging more — a lot more — for the services it now provides for a pittance."
Sending a letter from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles costs 73 cents using the post office, compared to about $50 or more for FedEx, the columnist wrote. A private postal service would probably charge different rates depending on the destination.
"It’s fundamental to how we think of mail service that every American can send mail to every other American at the same rate, whether you’re sending a letter to the other side of town or from Apalachicola, Florida, to Alakanuk, Alaska," Waldman wrote. "The Postal Service connects Americans to each other, binding us together as one nation."
The USPS maintains more than 30,000 post offices, including many remote facilities in sparsely populated areas, to keep with its mandate to serve all Americans no matter where they live. And 57 percent of post offices are located in rural areas serving just 16 percent of Americans – the vast majority of which cost more to operate than the amount of revenue they bring in.
"If we shut down every outpost that doesn’t make a profit, thousands of rural post offices would close," Waldman wrote. "In other words, no one gets a better deal from the Postal Service than rural Americans — most of whom have voted emphatically for Trump in three straight presidential elections.
"Bringing mail to rural areas is the least cost-effective part of what the USPS does. Commercial carriers such as UPS and FedEx won’t even bother delivering to many rural addresses; it just doesn’t make economic sense to drive miles and miles to deliver a single package."
"If you use one of those carriers to send something to a rural address, they’ll often just give your package to — you guessed it — the post office," he added. "For all its problems, the USPS is a national treasure."
ALSO READ: It’s time to decimate the Republicans’ standing with the public — and the press
The USPS consistently ranks as one of the most popular federal agencies, with a 72 percent favorable rating that trails only the National Park Service. Waldman suspects that is the source of Trump's hostility.
"In contrast to his claim that our country is a festering hellhole of misery that only he can save, the Postal Service is a government agency that Americans have always loved," Waldman wrote.
"It treats us all equally, without a profit motive. Its unionized workforce is more racially diverse than the country as a whole. Its popularity is a reminder that when the government does something important and does it well, Americans don’t want it taken away."
"So if Trump wants to try to privatize the Postal Service," he added, "his foes should welcome the fight."
