I'll let Bitt dispute your assertions about medicare, I don't know enough about it. But if you think USPS is a bad example, [insert impolite, disparaging phrase here].

The USPS ran at a 2.8 billion dollar loss in 2008. Terrible, isn't it? On revenues of 68 billion dollars, that's a 4% deficit. I'll bet none of those so-called "free-market" businesses lost 4%. Oh, wait...

The USPS delivered 177 billion pieces of mail in 2009. Had they been allowed to increase their rates by 1.6 cents per item, they would have shown a profit which they have done many times in the past.

So why does Federal Express show a profit? Must be because it's a free market thing, I guess. Let's see, I want to mail a four-pound package from Florida to Alaska.

$04.85 USPS Flat-Rate Priority Mail (3--4 day delivery)
-------
$04.85 total cost


$23.62 Federal Express Ground (1--2 WEEK delivery)
$02.10 Home delivery surcharge
$12.50 Saturday delivery surcharge
$03.50 Fuel surcharage
$10.00 No zip code fee
-------
$51.72 total cost

So at nearly 11 times the expense for about 1/3 the service (defined as the inverse of the number of delivery days) Federal Express manages to eke out a profit on the transaction, while the Post Office loses about a penny and a half. Clearly the Post Office is a shining example of ineptitude and we should all take full advantage of the free market expertise of Federal Express.

Of course, the Post Office only manages to stumble along because of the massive federal subsidies it receives. Why, in 2009 alone the USPS received, umm, let me look it up, yes, here it is: $0.00 in tax money. The United States Post Office is an independent, federally controlled (but not federally funded!) business. It competes directly with other delivery companies like DHL, Federal Express, and UPS, offering services at a small fraction of the price with considerable reliability.

When you consider the miracle of being able to stick a small square of paper that cost most of us less than one minute of working time to pay for onto the corner of an envelope, and know with some certainty that that envelope will arrive at its destination on the other side of the country in a matter of a few days... it absolutely boggles my mind that anybody in their right mind can disparage the USPS.

Just consider the alternative...

tanstaafl.