The “Just say no” approach to drug abuse during the Reagan years would seem to aptly characterize the course some have taken in the postal reform debate.
In years past, such a response may have been deemed tenable, since a postal “crisis” was discernible only to those who were willing to look at trends. But now those trends are part of everyday reality. If you don’t believe it, spend a little time reading the assessments of the situation by the General Accounting Office and the Presidential Commission on the Postal Service.
We all know the characters who have presented significant obstacles to postal reform — those who enjoyed the luxury of just saying no whenever reform was discussed. Those who spent their time merely shooting down proposals advanced by others without once offering alternatives more to their liking.
Well, this baloney has got to end. We’re now at a point where Congress should make abundantly clear that this sort of naysaying is unacceptable from anyone who wants to be considered a responsible party in the postal reform debate.
PostCom has stated several principles it believes should serve as the foundation of any reformed postal legislative and regulatory structure. Key has been the call to mandate that future postal ratemaking begin with a clear and definitive estimate of the costs necessary to provide postal services at various points of network access (for example, distinct levels of work-sharing). Without such rigor, it’s impossible for the U.S. Postal Service, a third-party regulator or even Congress to determine profitable postal prices that are unfettered by cross-subsidies.
The idea of cost transparency makes some critics of postal reform uncomfortable. Beneath the discomfort is either a fear of accountability or concern that such a system might enhance the competitiveness and cost-efficiency of the postal service. Listen carefully to their complaints and you’ll hear that it all amounts to “Just say no.”
Congress should explain that postal reform is about getting to yes. It also should demand that, if they are to be taken seriously, reform’s critics have an obligation to offer other choices that would be subject to public scrutiny.
The days of “Just say no” are over. It’s time to put up or shut up.
GENE A. DEL POLITO is president of the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) in Arlington, VA.
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