If anyone doubts whether Republicans will gut the Post Office the next time they control the government, just take a look at what the Tories have done in the Great White North:
An iconic slice of Canadian life – the postal worker dropping letters through the door – is slipping into the past as financially troubled Canada Post scrambles to find its footing in the Internet age.
Faced with a persistent decline in letter-mail and a massively underfunded pension plan, the money-losing federal Crown corporation announced drastic measures on Wednesday designed to get back to profitability and ensure its survival.
The changes include the phase-out of home delivery for the five-million Canadian households that still get it and moving them to community mail boxes over the next five years, and hiking the cost of stamps by more than one-third to 85 cents from 63 cents, effective March 31.
The rurals get a good deal under this plan (nothing changes for them), but the suburbans get screwed (community mail boxes will probably mean a walk of a block or two to get your mail every day). Both of those are important Republican/Tory constituencies, so it will be interesting to see how this shakes out for Harper. Of course, President Christie would do the fiscally responsible thing and stop mail delivery to Democrats, so it may not be an issue.