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I bet he wishes he'd phrased it diufferently..lol.
The Post Office has been losing money for a few years now. Nothing to do with Govt control of it but a huge decrease in people using the mail in favour of emails, electronic billing, direct debits etc etc. Technology has killed the post office, not the fact that it is being run by the Govt.
I think Obama rather clumsily made an attempt to prove that Govt systems do not finish off private competition as some people say a UHC would do to private health insurance.
And the irony being, the USPS has mostly been "privatized", meaning it's no longer an actual government agency, but is supported almost entirely* by sales revenues, not taxes.
Quote:
The Modern Postal Service: Agency or Business?
Until adoption of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, the U.S. Postal Service functioned as a regular, tax-supported, agency of the federal government.
According to the laws under which it now operates, the U.S. Postal Service is a semi-independent federal agency, mandated to be revenue-neutral. That is, it is supposed to break even, not make a profit.
In 1982, U.S. postage stamps became "postal products," rather than a form of taxation. Since then, The bulk of the cost of operating the postal system has been paid for by customers through the sale of "postal products" and services rather than taxes.
And better yet, the notion that its operating with "huge deficits" is entirely untrue.
Quote:
Under federal law, only the Postal Service can handle or charge postage for handling letters. Despite this virtual monopoly worth some $45 billion a year, the law does not require that the Postal Service make a profit -- only break even. Still, the US Postal Service has averaged a profit of over $1 billion per year in each of the last five years.
*"The USPS does get some taxpayer support. Around $96 million is budgeted annually by Congress for the "Postal Service Fund." These funds are used to compensate USPS for postage-free mailing for all legally blind persons and for mail-in election ballots sent from US citizens living overseas. A portion of the funds also pays USPS for providing address information to state and local child support enforcement agencies, and for keeping some rural posts offices in operation."
That is a dirty trick, Jenny. You showed him at a moment when the teleprompter must have been rolling over or something. He was without ability to speak there for a little while.
You quoted me, but didn't even read it apparently. I specifically said, "and I'm paraphrasing."
You apparently missed my edit, where I acknowledged your paraphrase.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonrise
Besides what's the big difference between what he said, and what I thought he said?
What you said doesn't even come close to resembling what he said. Problems /= Huge deficits. Plus, you're factually incorrect. See my post just above. I think if it's a choice between believing an actual quote over an erroneous paraphrase, I'm gonna go with the actual quote.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonrise
Either way, he went out of his way to point out that a government run entity was extremely inefficient and poorly run and that private competitors were kicking the government run ones butt. How on earth is this in any way, shape or form, an endorsement for government run healthcare? As I've already said, it sounds like something that the 57% of Americans opposed to Obamacare would use against him.
Stop making stuff up. He didn't say anything like "extremely inefficient and poorly run" about the Post Office.
Again, see my post just above. The U.S. Postal Service isn't run like any other government agency, and is primarily run like a private business. Follow the link I provided for further details.
That is a dirty trick, Jenny. You showed him at a moment when the teleprompter must have been rolling over or something. He was without ability to speak there for a little while.
Could you imagine if it had been McCain as President, he couldn't get it right even WITH a teleprompter..........
And the irony being, the USPS has mostly been "privatized", meaning it's no longer an actual government agency, but is supported almost entirely* by sales revenues, not taxes. And better yet, the notion that its operating with "huge deficits" is entirely untrue.
*"The USPS does get some taxpayer support. Around $96 million is budgeted annually by Congress for the "Postal Service Fund." These funds are used to compensate USPS for postage-free mailing for all legally blind persons and for mail-in election ballots sent from US citizens living overseas. A portion of the funds also pays USPS for providing address information to state and local child support enforcement agencies, and for keeping some rural posts offices in operation."
You're bending over backwards to try and spin this, but unless you're a really good video editor, the video of him putting his foot in his mouth will always be there.
Kudos for trying though. Not sure why SO many people are doing anything they can to defend this. What does this man have on you people?
Yesterday during his lovefest in Portsmouth he addressed a concern of many of us. He said, and I'm paraphrasing, "Many people question how private insurance can compete with government run healthcare. Well look at FedEx and UPS, they're doing great, and it's the post office that's doing really bad. No seriously, the post office is running up huge deficits and the private companies, fedEx and UPS are competing really well."
He actually said this and I'm utterly confused. How is pointing out that a government run entity is hemorrhaging money and operating very inefficiently suppose to reassure us that government healthcare will work? It appears that his very argument should be used by those of us opposed to this.
I heard that, what a goof, he just made a startling case for NOT voting for 0bamaCare. That comment was illustrative of his idiocy, and the one where he demonizes those villainous doctors as chopping off people's feet to make a buck, guess there was not enough money in yanking out the tonsils of children.
Talk about scare mongering! 0bama is just pathetic.
They are surely going to force him back on the teleprompter, he sure sucks when he speaks for himself, and not reading what his handlers write for him to say.
What he is purposing is giving healthcare to people who can't afford it for themselves. If your employer gives you healthcare, or you buy it yourself, and you are happy with it then you can keep what you have.
The "post office" example was used to argue against the, "Insurance companies can't compete with the government" argument. I felt it was a good example.
People with no insurance will probably be happy with whatever they get. I know if I had no insurance, that I'd be happy with something, rather than nothing.
What he is purposing is giving healthcare to people who can't afford it for themselves. If your employer gives you healthcare, or you buy it yourself, and you are happy with it then you can keep what you have.
The "post office" example was used to argue against the, "Insurance companies can't compete with the government" argument. I felt it was a good example.
People with no insurance will probably be happy with whatever they get. I know if I had no insurance, that I'd be happy with something, rather than nothing.
This is the kind of common sense that goes straight over the heads of the pathetic "Elitists" in America who think health care is a luxury item that should only be used if you can afford it.
Yesterday during his lovefest in Portsmouth he addressed a concern of many of us. He said, and I'm paraphrasing, "Many people question how private insurance can compete with government run healthcare. Well look at FedEx and UPS, they're doing great, and it's the post office that's doing really bad. No seriously, the post office is running up huge deficits and the private companies, fedEx and UPS are competing really well."
He actually said this and I'm utterly confused. How is pointing out that a government run entity is hemorrhaging money and operating very inefficiently suppose to reassure us that government healthcare will work? It appears that his very argument should be used by those of us opposed to this.
And if the US Postal Service didn't have laws that specifically forbid UPS and FedEx from carrying letters and other materials, they'd beat them in that too.
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