Taxpayers Need a "Predictable Flat Rate" from the Damn Post Office

The Senate just granted the United States Postal Service a $4 billion reprieve, which will allow "the postal service to maintain fiscal stability while [meeting] commitments [to] employees and customers."

The bureaucrats forgot to mention any commitments to the taxpayers. Little things, like turning a frickin' profit, for instance.

Every week, the USPS pays 45,000 hours (at around $50 an hour fully loaded) for "standby time", which is code for hanging out while surfing the web or sleeping. That's around $120 million a year for nada. Bupkis. Zippo. What a great deal for the taxpayers: they could be paying a quarter of a billion in "standby time", so they're doing us a favor!

Or consider the genius of the Post Office's new "Priority Mail Flat Rate" service. Anything you can jam into a box, no matter how much it weighs, gets shipped for the same, flat rate. Uranium? Lead? Paperweights? Can do! Of course, it doesn't seem likely that this delightful new service will ever turn a profit. That's not the point. It's the effort. And it's for the children. Or something. All while losing billions on your tab.

The post office is a perfect metaphor for the Obama administration: a bureaucratic nightmare that is hemorrhaging money like nobody's business, suckling at the teat of the taxpayer, while trying to convince you that the money was well spent.

Hey! I've got a great idea! Let's call the new health care service PostalCare™. I think that captures the spirit of the crap sandwich the Democrats are trying to stuff down the taxpayers' throats, sight unseen.