40% Favor Possible Sale of U.S. Postal Service to Lower the Deficit
The U.S. Postal Service has been struggling financially for some time, with Postmaster General Patrick Donohoe just today announcing the potential closings of nearly 3,700 offices nationwide. A growing number of Americans thinks now may be the time to sell the USPS to a private company.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that
40% of American Adults believe the U.S. government should consider selling the Postal Service to a private company like UPS or Federal Express in order to help reduce the federal budget deficit. Forty-four percent (44%) oppose this idea. Another 17% aren’t sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
But Americans are much more narrowly divided than they were
in February, when 31% favored the government selling the Postal Service and 50% were against it. ?
Forty-nine percent (49%) of Republicans like the idea of selling the USPS to help reduce the deficit, but 56% of Democrats are against such a move. Adults not affiliated with either major party are almost evenly divided.
Forty-four percent (44%) of adults believe private companies should be allowed to deliver first class mail, a practice illegal under current law. Forty percent (40%) oppose allowing private companies to deal in first class mail. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided.
In July 2010, 52% of all adults said private companies should be able to compete with the Postal Service by offering mail delivery. But 36% said mail service would be worse if run by a private company.
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The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on July 23-24, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
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