neroden
Engineer
It's excellent. If you have any real criticism of the USPS, I suggest you say it, because there really isn't anything to criticize. Apart from being starved of funds, short on staff, while being required to serve unprofitable tiny communities -- the same treatment Amtrak gets.Ah yes, the government running things--The efficiency of the US Postal service
Amazon is now contracting with the US Postal Service to do Saturday deliveries, because UPS and FedEx simply aren't competent enough.
As for the IRS, they are rarely accused of being *inefficient* -- criticism generally comes from them being *too aggressive* at their jobs. And you aren't their customer, Congress is.
Are there problems with some branches of the federal government? Certainly, and the military is among the most messed-up.
But for health care, I'd rather have VA healthcare than deal with a private insurance company with a paid-out-of-pocket policy *any day*. I've encountered both for different family members. They both try to cheat you, but the private insurance companies are more likely to actually deny coverage in ways which will seriously injure or kill you. Even with the latest scandal. I have never met a veteran who would prefer the hell of open-market private health insurance to the VA. The entire health care situation in this country is a complete disaster, and it seems the best way to get health care as a US citizen is to go to another country, but within this country the VA is one of the better things you could deal with.
Back to the subject of railroads: I think there is no denying that passenger trains are substantially more likely to run on time, and to get improvements in service, when the tracks are owned by the state governments. The major improvements in passenger service in recent years have nearly all been on track owned by state or local governments -- every urban rail system, nearly every commuter rail system, Pacific Surfliner, Piedmont, Keystone, Springfield, Vermonter, and now Empire Corridor and Michigan. Cascades is a notable exception, but even there the plan is to incrementally move to government-owned track. There are also a few exceptions with shortlines, but these shortlines are desperate for government cash to maintain their tracks and would probably prefer it if the state owned the track.
The only way to get contracts with teeth in them is to have some leverage, and the best way to have leverage is to own the tracks.
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