Everyone who reads this blog is aware that President Trump and Elon Musk are busy downsizing the government. What that looks like and how that affects us is less easy to grasp and recognize until we come face to face with the ways these actions are being done.
Services to American's via the federal government are expensive. I will absolutely grant you that without question, and some services appear to be unnecessary (unless you are the one needing them). I'll even agree to that, but let's take a look at some that all of us take for granted and use on a regular basis. Will allowing outside private companies and owners to take over the operation of these agencies result in less government spending and better services for the American citizen? Privatization of federal services can take a variety forms.
Let's look at the U.S. Postal Service, which we all rely on but can agree needs some changes. This federal entity has been losing money for a loooong time. One reason being we no longer use letter writing to communicate with each other, and first class mail (those individual letters we used to write to Grandma) has gone away. Congressional requirements, "Current law requires the USPS to deliver to all addresses, even rural ones that are too costly for a private business to serve profitably. Even many online purchases handled by private companies such as United Parcel Service depend upon the the Postal Service to handle the “last mile” of delivery to homes" are costly. https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/21/business/trump-postal-service-privatization/index.html.
If a private firm were to take over they would likely purchase the equipment and facilities from the United States government, and address the things that studies have shown make the system ineffective. Quite honestly, huge numbers of smaller communities would see their local post offices consolidated in a centralized location, mail delivery to rural addresses would stop and those folks would have to go that centralized location to retrieve their mail. The new owners would change the rate of pay and retirement benefits for employees having private control of the system. The destruction of any part of the public service, any path towards privatization is going to have one bottom line result for the customers, it’s going to cost more, and it’s going to take longer to get there.
What would the National Weather Service look like under the same possibility? The National Weather Service is the main source of weather data, forecasts and warnings in the U.S. Its job is to protect life and property, and that means making weather data universally available to everyone as a public service. On my phone or computer I can go to noaa.gov and get a ton of information about my local weather or any other data the federal government collects in regard to atmospheric conditions. Communities use this data to send out watches and warnings, farmers use the data to determine management of planting and harvesting. If the weather service becomes privatized it will cost the individual or city money to access this information, and let's face it folks it won't be cheap.
Bottom line, privatization costs the consumer. Many of the services we have come to take for granted will, in the future, cost you money personally. As consumers of these services some of us will be able to afford some services and many of us will not. Other programs being discussed for privatization include: Medicare, Department of Education, Veterans Affairs, TSA, Air Traffic Control and a host of others.
Just as you choose which streaming services you have on your tv, you'll have to choose which services you can afford to have and which ones are worth losing.
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