The Nation : Miller Pushes Mail Service Privatization

Federal budget director James C. Miller III pushed the idea of turning over the Postal Service to private companies, as about 100 picketing postal workers accused him of trying to destroy the U.S. mail. Postmaster General Anthony M. Frank, appearing at the same Washington seminar, opposed the privatization idea and called for greater discretion for the service to manage its finances and set rates. The seminar was sponsored by the Cato Institute, a conservative policy research organization. Moe Biller, president of the American Postal Workers Union, called Miller’s proposal “cockeyed� and said it would disrupt the mail and increase costs to the public. But Miller accused the service of wanting to be a government-protected monopoly, saying: “There is no good reason why (the Postal Service) should remain part of the U.S. government, and no good reason why it should enjoy a monopoly over the delivery of letter mail.�