The Government Accountability Office reports that the U.S. Postal Service's recent efforts to cut costs and increase revenues have been a $7 billion bust, the third consecutive year of losses and the largest in decades. And in keeping in the spirit of Bailout Nation, Congress shipped $4 billion to the Postal Service to help it make its mandatory payment to prefund employee retirement benefits.

The generous contracts that union employees have in the USPS is a large part of the system's fiscal problems. Despite improvements in technology and automation, compensation and benefits have comprised a steady 80 percent of the USPS's costs over the years.

With the GAO forecasting that the mail service will lost $7 billion in 2010 and 2011, the USPS will have to quicken efforts to cut costs and generate revenue. But if they raise the price of postage, they risk losing out on more business to electronic delivery. The USPS is looking for ways to generate revenue outside of its regular purview. It has asked Congress for permission to offer non-postal products such as insurance and banking. The GAO warns such a venture could very well lose more money for the USPS, and it also opens up "fair competition issues."

Our public option for mortgages has already gone belly up, and our public option for mail is on life support. Why would a public option for health insurance not meet a similar fiscal fate?