Funding The Fight Against Ricin And Anthrax

Op Ed Published in the National Review Online

Last month’s discovery of ricin at a Senate office building has put the specter of postal terrorism back in the headlines. The U.S. Postal Service has analyzed the danger and come up with a $779 million price tag – which it says it needs to pay for beefed-up security measures.

In fact, the Postal Service is now threatening to raise stamp prices if the federal government doesn’t fork over the cash immediately. Few would deny that increased security is critical for today’s mail delivery. But neither taxpayers nor postal consumers should have to foot the bill.

The Postal Service could easily pay for additional security and emergency systems without burdening taxpayers or hiking postal rates. That’s because the additional money is already available.

The USPS simply needs to streamline – or cut entirely – some inefficient and extraneous operations. The Postal Service could dig $779 million out of its $68 billion budget the way you or I might find 50 cents under our sofa cushion.

First of all, the Postal Service is engaged in all sorts of costly non-core activities that detract from its ability to protect Americans.

Read the rest of the article at http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/ryan200403100927.asp