The Self-Sticking State

Just in time: Smart Stamps that know who is sending mail to whom. And I thought that what we needed was a smart USPS.

Comments

[Ben]

Guess that means there are no plans to end the state mail monopoly any time soon.

[Douglas Fletcher]

I'll keep that mail monopoly thing in mind next time I'm headed out to the Federal Express office.

I agree that the post office should be "competition neutral" but they can't just make plans to end it, they'd have to amend the Constitution first.

[Mark Fulwiler]

Douglas:

The Constitution permits the government run post office, but does not require it.

The USPS does not have a monopoly on overnight mail and packages, but it does have a monopoly on other types of mail.

[Mark Fulwiler]

Douglas:

The Constitution permits a government run post office, but does not require it.

The USPS does not have a monopoly on overnight mail and packages, but it does have a monopoly on other types of mail.

[Anonymous]

LOL! Thanks!

[Douglas Fletcher]

I'll defer to your superior knowledge about the monopoly issue.

I think the main point that should be made about the existence of the post office is that, whether or not you believe it to be the best system for delivering the mail, Congress nonetheless has the authority to set up the Post Office as it sees fit. I don't know what the history is behind allowing a monopoly in letter mail yet competition in package delivery, but apparently the courts all these years have found it to be within the authority of Congress to establish the monopoly (logically inconsistent though this seems to be).

I think at this point if you want to get rid of the monopoly it would take an amendment to the Constitution that clarifies exactly what powers the Congress has in this regards, otherwise any system of private mail carriers would forever be at the mercy of the Congress to put them out of business.