As Congress debates health care reform and consequently taking over one-sixth of the U.S. economy, it’s instructive to review the government’s resume in search of prior successfull efforts to create large-scale, nation-wide agencies or departments and judge their performance.

Consider the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Invented by Benjamen Franklin in the 1700’s, it was a  brilliant logistical achievement. At a time when America was largely a collection of rural outposts connected with challenging roads, horse and buggys, Franklin established a means whereby anyone, anywhere in the continental US, could receive a letter quickly. Mail routes were established and an infrastructure put in place that allowed mail to be delivered at incredible speeds, even by today’s standards. In fact, some of the postal speeds today only match but do not surpass the speed enabled by the original Franklin plan.

Fast forward to today and you find the once brilliant invention of Mr. Franklin running a major deficit, asking Congress for billions to keep afloat, even as thousands of postal workers come to work to do nothing. No, really. It’s called “Standby Time”, and due to a union rule over 11,000 employees continue receiving full pay for coming to work and spending the entire day doing nothing. They never interact with a customer; never touch a piece of mail.

The USPS is a great example of the lethargy inherent in any government organization which, due to layers of bureaucracy, unions, restrictive protocols, lack the vision, imagination and general ability to change with the times. Rather than be lean and mean, they are slow and cumbersome, unable to adjust to a new world, fully lost in developing a business capable of functioning meaningfully in a completely different environment.

It reminds me of the days when representatives of the USPS went before Congress to patiently explain why it was simply naive and silly to think that a package could be delivered overnight, anywhere in the world. They trotted out charts and gave eloquent, educated speeches arguing their point.

Meanwhile, the private sector stepped in and, being far too preoccupied with efficiency and evolution of their industry, proved the USPS incorrect.

While no one said that government run programs should necessarily earn a profit, not that one ever has, it is instructive that these programs fail against even the weakest alternatives offered by the private sector.

The USPS is operating in a world that has passed them by. Their employees are not compensated for thinking outside the box, so no “outside the box” thinking happens. Postal workers perform monotonous functions, never noticing that the volume of snail mail is reducing by the minute. There is no sense of “ownership in the company”, no drive to innovate, no genuine pride in blazing a new path. Just virtual automatons performing redundant functions, occasionally aware that with each passing hour they are deeper in debt, yet not sure why.

Solutions to health care lay in the private sector, not in centralized government. Solutions to most of the problems and challenges of modern America lay in the free market, where the dollars spent are personal and willingly given to a new idea, not confiscated by an inept government that, to this very day, remains unable to demonstrate a successful program that is not, or will not soon be, bankrupt.

Progressives and liberals put their faith in government, indeed welcome a centralized planning formula that has wreaked havoc throughout the world countless times.

Conservatives and Libertarians have a different approach. They believe that minimizing government and allowing entrepreneurs and the business community to solve problems will yield far more impressive results with more accountability, less waste and more vision.

Smaller government that respects the genius and creativity of its population will lead to smarter decisions, amazing inventions, a better quality of life, and fewer wasted tax dollars.

To our elected officials I say, “Leave people and businesses alone!”.