Do legal obligations of the US Postal Service make it harder to operate as a business?
In 1970, when Congress transformed the post office from a cabinet department into a government-owned corporation, it left the U.S. Postal Service with unique legal obligations unlike those borne by private companies.
The obligations are broad, like providing high-quality mail service six days a week to all Americans, and obscure, like a federal plan that calls for mail carriers to deliver "medical countermeasures" in the event of a widespread biological attack. Modifying those obligations is an obstacle to cost reductions as well as bolder privatization steps favored by some conservatives.
The service is subject to several layers of federal oversight: Congress can veto rate changes, the President appoints its board and an independent federal agency, the Postal Regulatory Commission, oversees rule changes proposed by the service.
