I like Postal Service, and I like Phil Collins...together, it seems really shitty. This seems like someone threw this song together in like an hour.

>> ^marinara:
Steward Machine Company v. Davis,
The ruling is a blunt slush of arguments. Basically they say that taxing people is making them happy. Therefore the government has a right to tax.

They're responding to a broad slush of arguments, most of which say "taxes make me unhappy, so they're unconstitutional" and "states are sovereign, nyah" neither of which impressed the court.

This is against all the other principles of the constitution, you can't rob peter just because it makes everyone happy. The constitution is a document that limits government power, it doesn't say "do anything and everything that might make people happy." The USA constitution is exceptional that way. And inconvenient.

Which principles in the constitution are you talking about? The part where it gives it the power to regulate commerce? The part where it gives it the power to make money, and regulate its value? The part where it establishes a national postal service, and national roads? The part where it gives it the power to purchase land, even without consent?

It seems to me they granted it a large amount of leeway in getting involved in the construction and maintenance of the nation's fundamental infrastructure, as well as many rights with regard to creating security for the nation.

If medical care had been as advanced and as expensive as it is today in 1789, I'm certain the framers would have considered it part of people's right to life, part of the nation's duty to defend that right (and then granted some sort of exception that let the South deny it to black people).

Since when is government unfair competition? I can't think of an example of a government-run institution that is "unfair" in any sense to its free market competitors. Consider the United States Postal Service. It's a pretty good deal - you drop a letter in your mailbox with necessary postage and it gets picked up and delivered with an extremely high probability of success. For packages you may have to drive a few minutes to the nearest post office instead (for weighing and labels and so forth), but it is still marginally convenient. The letter/package then arrives a few days later (or longer depending on where you are sending to) at the addressed destination.

Now, there are companies such as FedEx and UPS that ultimately decided to enter the free market/capitalist system of the United States (which is completely within their Constitutional rights and freedoms) with the intent of creating a competing service to that of the USPS. The private sector now provides a valuable service to businesses as well as individuals who have specialized mailing needs, whether that be same day/overnight priorities for time-critical deliveries, extended hours/customized pickup times beyond hours the USPS is bound to (by law), or perhaps other special services (such as prepaid-labels or advanced package tracking) that the USPS simply does not have.

The proponents of privatized health care are all in favor of the free market capitalist system, and find no lack of ways to extoll capitalism's virtues and remind people that the free market ultimately is self-policing and provides for the needs of all people, a la textbook Adam Smith.

To reiterate the point - if privatized health care is such a firm believer in their own infallibility and the power of laissez-faire economics (and how it ultimately provides the consumer with the best possible health care through open competition and supply & demand), why would they be opposed to another player entering that arena regardless of whether it is government- or private-run? Again - if they provide a better service than the government does, why should they be afraid of a mass exodus to the public option? The government SURELY will provide an inferior level of health care, so they have nothing to be afraid of!

Any health care provider that is not saying "Bring it on" is one that knows they are screwing their customers up the wazoo.

Think about what would happen if the public option failed miserably. Let's say the legislation passes and Obama's plan is put into effect. If anyone who joins that plan gets treated like cattle in a slaughterhouse, is denied health care due to so-called "rationing," or a "death panel" euthanizes their grandma in front of them - that is what will frighten consumers into going back to ol' reliable privatized health care. And the government option will inevitably collapse and Obama will look like a worse president than Bush, all while reaffirming the strength and sensibility of a free market health care system. Capitalism 1, "Socialism" 0.

Let them duke it out, and to the victor go the spoils. QED.

>> ^gtjwkq:
^ Because government is unfair competition. People being forced to pay for government healthcare would have less money and incentive to pay for private healthcare.
Government is not really an "option" when it's funded by taxes. You can only choose not to use it, but you can't choose whether or not to pay for it.

>> ^rougy:
Central planning is a great idea. It's how things actually get done.
Waiting around for some rich people to decide how they can best get richer is foolishness.
The free market is not the hand of God, and leaving the welfare of our future in its hands is pure madness.
The US Postal service isn't supposed to turn a profit, by the way, and to the best of my knowledge they deliver to more places in the US, more cheaply, than any private carrier extant.
And by the way, in theory at least, "we" are the government.

free market is you and me, it's consumers making decisions with their purchasing power, leave God out of this and don't presume it's invariably "controlled" by the selfish "rich". I'm OK with leaving our welfare in our own hands, it's the best incentive for people to care about it.

US POSTAL NOT SUPPOSED TO TURN A PROFIT? Stop criminalizing profit, it's a GOOD thing, wasting money and NOT turning a profit = bad, it means you're wasting other people's money (including taxpayer's money since it's a govt run service) to do a simple job that is delivering stuff. "more cheaply" you say? Did you take into account the "not being profitable" in your price calculation, the costs for society?

I don't get your "WE are the government". Unless you work for the government, you are a private citizen and you are paying for its crappy services. Unlike in a free market, you can't choose whether or not to pay and they don't have the incentive to do a good job because they don't care about profit.

>> ^gtjwkq:
Keep the government out of it, they can't even deliver the mail profitably. Treat it like damage to private property and let the courts punish offenders.
Government => central planning => bad idea
Private citizens => best ideas are rewarded => everyone wins


Central planning is a great idea. It's how things actually get done.

Waiting around for some rich people to decide how they can best get richer is foolishness.

The free market is not the hand of God, and leaving the welfare of our future in its hands is pure madness.

The US Postal service isn't supposed to turn a profit, by the way, and to the best of my knowledge they deliver to more places in the US, more cheaply, than any private carrier extant.

And by the way, in theory at least, "we" are the government.

You're one of those guys who tossed their rotary phone for one of those fancy push-button ones, aren't you? I think all Sift commands should be executed in cursive and sent via the postal service to the site administrators.

Your video, The Postal Service - "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight"*FV, has made it into your personal Highest Rated Videos listing. Congratulations on a job well done. For you contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

The thing is, no one has complained about the cat causing them problems with allergies!

This "the cat doesn't pay taxes thus isn't privy to our glorious nation's postal service facilities" bullshit pisses me off.

Damn, this genuinely scared me. If these people are willing to make such hateful statements, not only in public, but in public and on camera, imagine what they say in private.

On a deeper note, why do Americans have such a negative view of socialism/communism?

In regards to socialism, I'm guessing that most Americans a) don't really know what socialism is, and/or b) don't realize that most of America's large institutions are socialized (police, firefighters, libraries, postal service, education, road maintanence, etc.).

In regards to communism, it's a strange phenomenon considering that in the early 1900's, the communist party was one of the most popular third parties in America. Was it merely McCarthyism that destroyed that philosophy in USA or something else? Do most American's really know what communism is?

Tags for this video have been changed from 'Ben, Folds, Postal, Service, Macarena' to 'Ben, Folds, Postal, Service, Macarena, triplej, abc, jtv' - edited by maatc

Woot for random facts!

In reply to this comment by Bullard:
The singers sound alike because Ben Gibbard is the singer for both death cab and the Postal Service. Such Great Heights is covered by Iron and Wine on the garden state soundtrack, which is why this one sounds different.

The singers sound alike because Ben Gibbard is the singer for both death cab and the Postal Service. Such Great Heights is covered by Iron and Wine on the garden state soundtrack, which is why this one sounds different.

Yeah they do, which is why I like both bands. I knew for sure on this one since it's the song that got me into Postal Service in the first place.

In reply to this comment by thinker247:
That sounds like Death Cab for Cutie, not Postal Service. Wow, those singers sound alike.

Great video!

That sounds like Death Cab for Cutie, not Postal Service. Wow, those singers sound alike.

Great video!

Funny, it's probably my favorite DCFC song too. And that's saying a lot because I generally don't like Ben Gibbard much beyond The Postal Service.

Their stage performance is pretty drab and anemic though. Hmph.