Grow the Economy By Growing the Post Office

David Dayen at Firedoglake notes that "by May 15 Congress must come up with some postal service reforms to avert mass closures of post offices."

Jim Hightower cuts through the lies with "The Post Office is not broke--and it hasn't taken any of our tax money since 1971"

From the gated enclaves and penthouses of the ueber-wealthy to the inner-city ghettos and rural colonias of America's poorest families, the US Postal Service literally delivers. All that for 45 cents. And if you've written the wrong address or your recipient can't be found, you'll get your letter or package back for no charge. The USPS is an unmatched bargain, a civic treasure, a genuine public good that links all people and commu-nities into one nation.

So, naturally, it must be destroyed.

For the past several months, the laissez-fairyland blogosphere, assorted corporate front groups, a howling pack of congressional right-wingers, and a bunch of lazy mass media sources have been pounding out a steadily rising drumbeat to warn that our postal service faces impending doom: It's "broke," they exclaim, the situation "is dire," USPS "nears collapse," it's "a full-blown financial crisis!" This is the year, they insist, that the whole shebang will implode: The PBS Newshour recently alarmed viewers about "a complete shutdown this winter," and even the current Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, has added to the din by declaring, "we'll be out of cash next August."

According to this gaggle of gloomsayers, the national mail agency is bogged down with too many overpaid workers and costly brick- and-mortar facilities, so it can't keep up with the instant messaging of internet services and such nimble corporate competitors as FedEx. Thus, say these contrivers of their own conventional wisdom, the Postal Service is unprofitable, is costing taxpayers billions of dollars a year in losses, and is plummeting irreversibly into bankruptcy. Wrong, wrong, and wrong. I realize that the Powers That Be never allow truth to get in the way of their policy intentions, but--come on--three strikes and you're out!

Hightower demolishes all three Big Lies, and then goes beyond to show how very small reforms can not only save the Post Office but turn it into an engine of economic renewal and growth. He urges: Think Large

The biggest lie of all is that USPS is an antiquated, unnecessary, failing civic institution that simply must give way to electronic technology and corpo-rate efficiency. This is nothing but ideological hogwash spewed by private profiteers and political quislings. Obviously, the Postal Service is no longer the only player making the rounds, and it must make some major adjustments to find its proper fit and new opportunities in the marketing and public service mix. But this requires top management and polit-ical overseers to be a bit more creative and business- like than constantly cutting, closing, outsourcing, eliminating--and giving in to the bashers and slashers.

This is the time to innovate, offer new services and products--don't shrink, expand! Start with three phenomenal assets that USPS has: (1) that network of 32,000 retail outlets (many of them historic and even works of art) that form the most extensive local presence of any business or government in America, drawing more than seven million people into them each day; (2) an experienced, smart, skilled, and dedicated workforce of nearly 600,000 middle-class Americans who live in the communities they serve and are brimming with ideas and energy to move the Postal Service forward--if only those at the top would listen and turn them loose; and (3) the general good will of the public, which sees their local post office and its employees as "theirs," providing useful services and standing as one of their core civic insti-tutions (in a 2009 Gallup Poll, 95 percent of Americans said it was personally important to them that the Postal Service be continued).

Let's build on those big pluses. This is one government program that really works for the people, but it can work better and do more. Here are just a few ideas:

Go digital ....

Expand the store ....

Seven days ....

Bank here ....

America's postal service is just that--a true public service, a grassroots people's asset that has even more potential than we're presently tapping to serve the democratic ideal of the common good. Why the hell would we let an elite of small-minded profiteers, ranting ideologues, and their political hirelings drop-kick this jewel through the goal posts of corporate greed? This is not a fight merely to save 32,000 post offices and the middle-class jobs they provide--but to advance the BIG IDEA of America itself, the bold, historic notion that "Yes, we can" create a society in which we're all in it together.

That's worth fighting for, which means that you and I must add our voices and grassroots activism to those who're daring to confront the cants and greed of the privatizer elite. It means standing up to them, but most importantly standing up for ourselves, our values, our country.

Read the whole brilliant thing.