No one said UPS or FedEx is cheaper. The operative phrase Sowell uses is "If FedEx, UPS or someone else can carry the mail cheaper or better than the Postal Service..."
And while the Constitution establishes the postal service, there is nothing in it that says the USPS needs to operate in the manner that it does.
Exactly and that is the very point they keep missing. UPS and Fed Ex is NOT cheaper, by a lot. A UPS overnight letter costs me between $30-$50 depending upon the time of day that it is delivered. The cheapest UPS package/letter I can send is around $9, depending on where it goes and how heavy it is.
USPS is dirt cheap by comparison. I use USPS Priority Mail whenever I don’t need trackability.
The USPS should upgrade its methods and join the 21st century, rather than be abolished.
The point is that every time someone writes an article about this topic, they use UPS and Fed Ex as a comparison, and they are not comparable at all.