Obamacare will run like the Post Office?

NEWS ITEM: The U.S. Postal Service is looking to shut or alter service at more than 700 post offices to help it close a $7 billion deficit.

Why would Barack Obama bring up one of the biggest government-run failures (the Postal Service) in trying to sell his government-run health system? It appears he did not have a teleprompter and was attempting to speak off the cuff.

I like what Tad DeHaven had to say at the Cato Institute blog:

In a speech yesterday in defense of his health care plan, President Obama used an interesting analogy to dismiss criticism that the inclusion of a government-run insurance option could undermine private insurers:

"UPS and FedEx are doing just fine… It's the Post Office that's always having problems."

Comparing the USPS with a proposed government-run insurance plan is probably counterproductive for the President's aims. But making the analogy and deriding the government-run mail carrier — while acknowledging that private-sector UPS and FedEx are "fine" — provides some nice ammo for those of us who think the government should be less involved in both health care and mail delivery.

Now I understand that comparing the USPS to FedEx and UPS isn't exactly apples to apples. But that's due at least in part to the fact that the USPS has a government-granted monopoly on first (and third) class mail. When it comes to mailing a letter, there is no private option for Americans.

Read the full post here.