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Thread: Would we need a constitutional amendment to legalize competition in first-class mail?

  1. #1

    Question Would we need a constitutional amendment to legalize competition in first-class mail?

    http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/cha...ranscript.html

    To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
    There's nothing in the constitution about granting the government monopoly power, but would we need to repeal that part of Section 8 if we wanted to allow competition in mail?
    "That's one thing about freedom; you have to tolerate the nonsense too." - Ron Paul



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  3. #2
    I don't see anything there that prohibits private mail companies. IT would only take Congress to repeal its own laws against competition.

  4. #3
    Was there ever a time in US history when we had legalized competition in first class mail?

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by emazur View Post
    Was there ever a time in US history when we had legalized competition in first class mail?
    Yes, absolutely. The great American anarchist Lysander Spooner's American Letter Mail Company.

    http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/271139

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Unspun View Post
    Yes, absolutely. The great American anarchist Lysander Spooner's American Letter Mail Company.

    http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/271139
    Beat me to it. I was going to mention Spooner. Thanks for the link I saved it to read later.

  7. #6
    Okay, another question then. Should the provision allowing the government to "establish post offices" be repealed, and when?
    "That's one thing about freedom; you have to tolerate the nonsense too." - Ron Paul

  8. #7
    "It's just a goddamned piece of paper." - George Bush

  9. #8
    I don't really think many private companies would want to get into the mail delivery business. It's going extinct.



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  11. #9
    You don't need an imaginary rule to exercise your right to open a business.

    Whether the thugs who call themselves the State will intervene is an entirely different issue.

    In the event you did attempt to repeal laws or get an amendment, the Letter Carrier Unions would retaliate in full force. You'd fail.
    Force always attracts men of low morality. – Albert Einstein

    Government is essentially the negation of liberty. – Ludwig von Mises

    The great non-sequitur committed by defenders of the State, including classical Aristotelian and Thomist philosophers, is to leap from the necessity of society to the necessity of the State. - Murray N. Rothbard

  12. #10
    First, there is absolutely no prohibition against a private competitor, but it's hard to complete with a company that runs at a loss with impunity.

    However, If Congress were to pass a law outlawing such competition, it would likely be held by the SCOTUS to be Constitutional under the Necessary and Proper clause, and they would be able to shut it down if it posed a real threat to their control on communication.
    "You cannot solve these problems with war." - Ron Paul

  13. #11
    There's nothing stopping you from sending a letter or post card via Fed Ex. They'd just look at you funny cuz you'd be paying more.
    All your voter base are belong to us!

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by mczerone View Post
    First, there is absolutely no prohibition against a private competitor, but it's hard to complete with a company that runs at a loss with impunity.
    Wrong. Private Express Statutes and the mailbox access rule.

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by 1000-points-of-fright View Post
    There's nothing stopping you from sending a letter or post card via Fed Ex. They'd just look at you funny cuz you'd be paying more.
    You'd be paying more because the government won't allow them to deliver any letters for less than a $3 or twice the amount it would cost to send it through the USPS, whichever is more.

  16. #14
    Last edited by Feelgood; 06-30-2009 at 12:16 AM.
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  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Feelgood View Post
    That's where I got the idea.
    "That's one thing about freedom; you have to tolerate the nonsense too." - Ron Paul



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