

First Class Mail is a Zombie - Kill It Off. - tomkarlo
http://www.karlo.org/2011/09/first-class-mail-is-a-zombie-kill-it-off.html

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codgercoder
I bet the author doesn't actually know the last time the USPS was subsidized;
he just off-handedly argues we shouldn't subsidize it more. (clue: no taxpayer
dollars since it was spun off as quasi-governmental)

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tomkarlo
The USPS is still actively subsidized by the US government, even if it doesn't
receive budgeted funds (although they're coming this week to ask for funds and
permission to cut service.) The government enforced monopoly on mailbox
delivery is effectively a gigantic subsidy, as is their exemption from paying
real estate taxes on thousands of buildings they own and vehicles they
operate.

An organization doesn't have to receive cash from the government to be heavily
government-subsidized - Fannie and Freddie effectively receive billions in
subsidies from the government each year because of how much they save on
interest via the implied government backing of their obligations. Those kinds
of subsidies are far more pernicious because their cost is hidden in a way
that budgeted subsidies aren't.

