(August 26, 2014) Fox News’ Cashin’ In show used the U.S. Postal Service’s default on a $5.7 billion payment recently as little more than a pretext to bang the drum of privatization again.

Jonathan Hoenig got the privatization ball rolling. “We should follow Europe in this case and privatize it just like postal industries in England, in Denmark, and in Germany.”

“Privatize it. I love that idea,” host Eric Bolling said.

Michelle Fields said she “absolutely” agrees.  “And this is not surprising. All you have to do is walk into a post office to understand why they are going broke. It’s horrible customer service. …Just privatize the whole thing.”

Jehmu Greene was the only dissenter. She said, “The post office actually gets no tax dollars from us, so we’re not paying for it. They have to supply the Treasury with six billion dollars a year to take care of the retirees and the health benefits. …Their operating revenue is actually going up.

Greene also noted, “Private companies rely on the post service. And if it goes away, all the prices go up and the fact that Amazon just contracted with them – yes, UPS and FedEx use them because they’re not going to provide services for rural communities. We can’t leave them out.”

The heck with rural communities, as far as Bolling is concerned. “We’re free market capitalists here. The pricing mechanism is broken with the post office,” he said.

Wayne Rogers agreed. “There’s no doubt about it. …You have FedEx and that you have these other postal services that came out of the private sector to compete with the post office. Seventy five years ago, they weren’t there. …The post office should go out of business. They should privatize it or as you said, and let them go out of business or they have to compete with the FedEx and those people.”

Alternet explains why privatization of the Postal Service means job and tax revenue losses along with hardships for businesses and communities.

Watch the lack of concern for the consequences of privatization below, from the August 16, 2014 Cashin’ In.

 

via Fox Still Working To Privatize The Post Office – NewsHounds.