Obama tries to compare healthcare to the USPS--Stupid Move

Larry Kudlow nails this issue perfectly:

It's hard to know why President Obama said what he said at Tuesday's health-care town hall in New Hampshire. He actually stated: "If you think about it, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. It's the Post Office that's always having problems."

Oops. Freudian slip? Subliminally speaking, was the president inferring that private health insurers are doing just fine?

Government insurance is what's in trouble today. Medicare is in the hole by about $40 trillion on a discounted present-value basis over the next 40 or 50 years. And if we're going to equate government care to government mail, according to Steve Hayes of The Weekly Standard, the U.S. Postal Service is going bankrupt with a $7 billion net loss this year. With 633,000 career employees, the Post Office won't be able to make $5.4 billion in retiree health-benefit payments. How many of these federal employees will populate the new government-backed insurance plan if it passes?

...Obama's health-care gaffes are mounting. At a press conference a few weeks back, the president let fly with an attack on doctors who remove tonsils instead of handing out allergy pills. Since doctors are very popular in America, and with many Obamacare protesters opposed to putting government central planners between doctors and patients, this was a big mistake.

Whoops! Obama admitted that private companies do a better job delivering items than a government run entity. This is no surprise to me or anyone else that is an advocate for the free-market. If he wants his ObamaCare to survive he best stick to the script of vilifing private enterprise.

For those that want to argue that the United States Postal Service is semi-private or privatized, read the following: The USPS is exempt from paying federal, state, or local taxes on its income, sales, purchases, or property. Unlike private companies, it is immune from most forms of regulation, such as antitrust, motor vehicle registration, parking tickets, zoning, and land use restrictions. It is also able to borrow money at the lowest possible rate through the U.S. Treasury. And with all these advantages, the USPS still can not balance its books. As Kudlow points out, "the U.S. Postal Service is going bankrupt with a $7 billion net loss this year." Incredible. Where will health care end up if the government takes it over?

So, how is the USPS "semi-privatized?" Well, private firms who submit the lowest bids are allowed to do all of the long -haul trucking for the USPS. Air transportation firms are also allowed to bid for jobs as are sorting facilities for express mail. That's pretty much it. The USPS has fought proposals for full privitization for a long time with horrendous results. So when Obama gaffes by trying to compare the health care industry to UPS, FedEx, and the USPS, a closer examination is very revealing.