To clarify the Obama Post Office statement, what I found amusing was that he basically vocalized (which we all know) how much better a private enterprise (UPS/Fedex) is at doing something compared to a govt run entity (post office). Look, I like my mail carrier. He’s a nice guy. But compare him to UPS. I see the drivers run-literally-run out if the truck, deliver, run back and drive away. These guys work their butts off. Have you ever seen a mail carrier run (except when being chased by a dog)? It’s just about incentives, competition and what private enterprise is all about vs the govt which has no competition and no incentive to be efficient.

You raised some good points and I appreciate the constructive manner in which you did so. At a high level I’ll try to do my best to keep it objective and continue to rely on readers to keep me honest.

” But…let’s not forget, this is right out of the left wing play book.”

I can agree that anything that prevents an open dialogue or meaningful discussion is not helpful. However, you shift the blame to the “left” as if they were responsible for the actions of all Americans.

Obama does not contradict himself. You state “OK, so if government health care is the equivalent of our Post Office” which is a complete misrepresentation of his words. He stated that a public option (read: government run insurance business), one part of health care reform, could be compared to the USPS. Such a comparison shows that an unsubsidized government run business can be competed with by private business. There was no contradiction. Now, whether or not we need the government running unsubsidized businesses can be debated, and in general I don’t think we do. But that opinion has nothing to do with his statements. He simply disproved the sentiment that private business can’t compete with unsubsidized government business such as the USPS.

Additionally, you misquote him as saying “it’s the Post Office that’s always screwing up” when he actually said “it’s the Post Office that’s always having problems”. To me it seems that your political bias is held so close to your heart that your slip up not surprisingly suggested that the government (Post Office) always screws up.

I think the issue to debate is government subsidy. In some cases I think the subsidized services provided are worthwhile, and in others they are not. What services should our government provide and which should they regulate? and which should they leave alone completely? Now if the democrats or republicans actually had distinct differences in their philosophies on government, a post with political leanings would be appropriate. However, the events over the past 20 years do not give evidence that either party is commited to reducing unnecessary involvement of the government in American lives.