Post Office

     The postal service is in bad shape.  According to USA Today, it is projected to be in debt $238 billion in ten years.  It plans to cut services and raise rates to make up for the loss.  (USAToday.com).  So what is to blame?  Typical government mismanagement?  Heck no!  According to the post office, its the internet.
     This is part of an alarming trend.  One thing the liberals seem to hate is technology, claiming it takes jobs away from people and replacing them with machines.  They advocate technological repression to bring back American jobs.  Even President Obama blamed our current unemployment condition on inventions like ATMs (RealClearPolitics.com).  Apparently machines like ATMs allow companies to hire fewer workers by replacing them with machines.  Of course he didn't account for the jobs created building the machines, maintaing the machines, creating parts for the machines, shipping the machines, etc.  Even Chris Matthews echoed this sentiment (Blogrunner.com).
     So naturally for liberals, technology is to blame for bringing down the post office.  But what does email really replace?  It is my contention that it replaces the quick phone call more than the lengthy letter.  Personal letters, some invitations, post cards, etc. are still had written and sent out via the post office.  I will agree that some post office traffic is being sent through the internet, like junk mail turning into spam and party invitations going through Facebook.  Yet, the huge amount of internet commerce, which is a growing part of the economy, surely makes up for some of the loss. 
     The post office should be changing with the times and competing, like private companies are forced to do to stay open.  They seem to be making some progress on this, offering flat rate shipping options to compete with other shippers.  Is there a postal email service in the works?  Maybe there should be.
     So then what is really to blame?  It's not technology.  It's union pension plans, which is hinted at in the above USA Today article.  This plagues all government finances.