(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste expressed disappointment after the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) reform commission’s initial press conference this morning.

“We applaud President Bush for establishing a reform commission,” CAGW Vice President Leslie Paige said.  “While Wednesday’s press conference signaled this panel understands the need for reform, CAGW is concerned the commission will not get to the root of the problem, which is lack of competition.  This is no time to be tinkering around the edges at USPS when invasive surgery is needed.”

“From the beginning, Treasury official Peter Fisher, along with commission co-chair James Johnson and Postmaster General John Potter, stated that postal service privatization will not be considered as part of this commission,” Paige continued.  “Why not?  In contrast to what the commissioners said, privatization is not an ‘ideological’ position, it is a pragmatic approach that other countries have successfully followed.  In fact, the Bush Administration has consistently sought outsourcing throughout government as a method of reducing costs and increasing efficiency.”

“It appears that some of the commission’s leadership has accepted the corporate government enterprise model, which is what we have now at USPS,” Paige also said.  “This status quo approach will not solve the postal service’s problems.”

The notion that the USPS operates free of taxpayer subsidy, cited multiple times during the press conference, was also disputed by CAGW.  “Postal ratepayers are captive to USPS due to its first class mail monopoly, which in essence forces the public to pay up; that is generally called a tax.  Second, USPS has been allowed to borrow $11 billion at lower-than-market rates from the U.S. Treasury, i.e. taxpayers, an expense included in the government’s unified budget.  Finally, USPS is allowed to operate largely tax free, in effect, a transfer payment from private enterprises and individual taxpayers to the postal service.  The commissioners should base their analysis of the postal service on this reality,” Paige added.

“New technologies are clearly having an impact on mail volume.  Yet, postal operations are not capable of downsizing to meet the decrease in demand.  The postal service may have to start thinking of itself as a smaller entity.  The commission should not step in to shield the USPS from competitive market forces and forward leaps in communications technology.  In fact, it should welcome a smaller, less costly role for USPS and get out of the market’s way.  Where is it written that mail delivery must always be run by an outdated government monopoly?” Paige concluded.

On a positive note, CAGW is pleased to note that Joseph Wright, a former OMB director and long-time supporter of the Grace Commission and CAGW, has been named to the commission.  Former Rep. Bob Walker, now of the Wexler Group, is a welcome addition to the commission as well.  His lifetime rating from CAGW’s lobbying arm was an admirable 86 percent out of 100.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.