Where’s The Mail???

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary, Trump's Staff Picks

I don’t know about you, but my mail delivery has been horrid for the past month.  My insulin arrived at the post office on a Thursday, I was told it would be delivered on Friday, but it wasn’t.  Then I was told it would be delivered on Saturday.  It wasn’t.  Finally it was delivered on Tuesday, after sitting in the post office for five days, this despite the fact that the box was clearly marked …Insulin boxI almost never get mail on Wednesday anymore, and only about half the time on Thursday.  No, this is not normal … prior to last month, I can only remember 2-3 days in the past 10 years that we didn’t receive mail.  In addition, a friend sent me a package from the UK in early May that I still have yet to receive.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is in deep trouble, my friends.  While Donald Trump is directly responsible for part of the problem, and I’ll get to that in a minute, the USPS’ problems began long before Trump showed up with his wrecking ball.

In 2006, under the Bush administration, Congress passed the Postal Act of 2006 that required the USPS to prefund 75 years’ worth of retiree health benefits in the span of ten years—a cost of approximately $110 billion. Although the money is intended to be set aside for future Post Office retirees, the funds are instead being diverted to help pay down the national debt.  This was the beginning of the USPS struggle to stay afloat.

And then in 2017, Donald Trump was inaugurated and things went downhill from there.  It is a personal vendetta for Trump.  Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, also owns The Washington Post.  The Post has been, as have all legitimate media outlets, critical of much of Trump’s rhetoric and many of his actions since taking office.  The criticism is well-deserved, and personally I think often understated.  However, as we know, Trump cannot tolerate criticism even when it is earned, so he went on a personal vendetta against Bezos and is refusing to release a $10 million loan to the USPS that was approved by Congress this spring, unless the USPS ‘quadruples’ what they charge Amazon to deliver packages.

Now, bear in mind that if the USPS did raise the rates to Amazon, it isn’t Jeff Bezos or Amazon who would pay the price … it is you and me.  Companies pass their costs to their customers … simple fact of life.

But there is another factor in play here.  Many believed in 2006 that the bill passed by Congress was an attempt to force the USPS to privatize … transferring ownership from the U.S. government to a private company, and thereby opening it up to competition.  Trump seems to be hellbent to sell off the USPS, and his current refusal to help keep it afloat seems to be an attempt to force that issue.  His Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has also called for certain parts of USPS to be sold off.

louis-dejoyEnter Trump’s new pick for Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy.  DeJoy’s main qualification for the position is that he donated millions of dollars to the Republican Party and $1.2 million to Donald Trump’s “Victory fund”.  Said Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, a long-time advocate of keeping the Postal Service public …

“When I heard that he had been appointed I quickly realized that the president is irrepressible in his move to destroy the USPS.”

Congressman Gerry Connolly, chairman of the House Government Operations subcommittee, also weighed in …

“President Trump rewards a partisan donor by installing him at the United States Postal Service. The Postal Service is in crisis and needs real leadership and someone with knowledge of the issues. This crony doesn’t cut it.”

No, it doesn’t cut it, but what’s new?  Most every member of Trump’s cabinet is highly Unqualified for the position to which they were appointed, and they were appointed either in return for mega-donations (Betsy DeVos) or to destroy some portion of this nation (Andrew Wheeler).  Apparently, DeJoy fits both of those categories.  DeJoy has said postal reform will include identifying “new and creative ways” for USPS to fulfill its mission with a focus on efficiency.  How ‘bout trying to deliver the damn mail on time???

In the past, I have argued against privatization of the Postal Service, for I felt that once profit became a motive, we would be the losers.  However, at this point, I’m not sure a for-profit business could f**k it up any worse than the federal government with a madman determined to destroy everything in his path is doing.

The statute that created the Postal Service begins with the following sentence: “The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people by the Government of the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by an Act of Congress, and supported by the people.”

Once again, Donald Trump is shredding, stomping and burning the Constitution of the United States.  November 3rd cannot come soon enough!burning constitution

42 thoughts on “Where’s The Mail???”

  2. The usps has been in murky waters for a long time. Privatization and contracting out of govt work has destroyed unions and weakened quality of service. The us army for gosh sakes contracted out tent building and food distribution, even security, in Iraq. All the usps needed was Trump.

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  5. The post office is in the Constitution. It is one of the identified responsibilities of Congress. Article 1, Section 8. “To establish post offices and post roads”. Privatizing the postal service would only add to consumer costs. How much does UPS and Fed ex charge? Think UPS will deliver a letter across the nation for 55 cents? You think Fedex will ship a letter to Japan for $1.25? (If so, send me some of what you are smokin.) The postal service is just that. A service. It is cheap . It is effective. I have had damaged packages delivered by the post office, yes, but also UPS. It happens. This push toward privatization is just another bad idea in a long and unending line of bad ideas by those who want to make America into a coin-operated oligarchy.

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    • But what good is cheap if service keeps deteriorating? What if this pandemic and our contracting global economy diminish demand for US mail, should the taxpayer continue subsidizing a bottomless pit? Perhaps there should be a public discussion and revision of the Constitution if necessary.
      On July 1st, Russia is implementing the rewriting of her Constitution to better serve the ppl. It’s not covered in US mainstream media, wonder why? Every Russian citizen get to vote whether they want to accept the new Constitution or not. I find it interesting that Russia’s economy despite US “sanctions” is absolutely exploding and quality of life, income, world trade and international standing is improving for all Russians. Fascinating.
      From Wiki:
      Russian Post (Russian: Почта России, Pochta Rossii) is an Aktsionernoye Obschestvo (AO, private limited company)[1] which is the national postal operator of Russia. The company is responsible for the delivery of mail in Russia, and the issuing of postage stamps. Russian Post employs about 390,000 people and has over 42,000 post offices,[3] with its headquarters in Moscow. In 2012 the Russian Post delivered more than 2.4 billion pieces of mail and accounted for more than 54 million parcels and more than 100 million in remittances.[4] In March 2013 a presidential decree signed by President Vladimir Putin included the Russian Post in a list of so-called strategic enterprises.[5]
      Perhaps it’s time USPS along with Congress make some hard decisions about the future of postal, perhaps convert it to an LLC and fund it with public stock offerings on the NYSE. What’s wrong with making a business successful, profitable and offer better service? That use to be the American way, why are we “communizing the losses” for the public, adding to an already bloated budget/ national deficit? That’s not fiscally responsible.
      If the US postal service were a private company right now it wouldn’t last very long, something needs to done, hiding one’s collective head in the sand will not solve the problem.
      Any suggestions?

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    • Yes, it is … and I don’t advocate for the privatization of the USPS, but … if the alternative is the shuttering of the USPS, then I’ll take the privatization. We need to get the problems fixed before November, because mail-in voting is going to be critical this election. Granted, there is too little time to transfer ownership and work the bugs out, and as I said, I don’t wish privatization, but have just come to believe it might be the best route given the current state of affairs. People’s lives depend on the USPS, so we cannot simply allow it to cease operations.

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    • No, it shouldn’t be … but, I keep asking myself, “What next?” I wake in the mornings and just want to cover my head and go back to sleep for a few years. Someday, perhaps we can both look back on the mess our countries are in and laugh … over a cup of coffee, of course! ☕☕

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    • Yep … who knows? Here, it is a determined effort to shut down the USPS before November, or at least make it highly unreliable. Trump does not want us to have the option of mail-in voting, for it would not be to his advantage, since voters who might otherwise not be able to vote, could vote if their state had mail-in ballots. Sigh. ❤

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  9. Jill i’m sorry to hear about your issues with the US postal service. But honestly why would you depend on the post office for something super important like insulin? Even Amazon Prime guarantees 2 day or overnight delivery for non-essential orders. You would think pharmacies fed-ex life sustaining medicines as a matter of course to keep citizens alive? I hear the post office offers overnight express, but I don’t know how reliable that is since I’ve never used their service.
    Personally I would like to see USPS privatized, not b/c of Trump’s petty vendetta with Bezos, but to be more competitive, efficient and serve their customers better. Post offices around the world have become a long running joke, service non existent, rude customer service. Why do clients have to put up with such unprofessionalism? 5 day wait for insulin is just unacceptable, hope you find a better carrier or different pharmacy.

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    • Dear, 1EU, I 5hought you were Canadian? Guess I must be wrong, because Canada Post is but a shadow of what it was when it was privatised. Regular Service used to arrive in most major cities next day, without paying an outrageous fee. To send two exactly equal packages to different places in Canada cost the exahct same amount. To send one package from the prairies to the prairies overnight now costs a minimum $5. To send that package to Central Canada costs $10. To send it to Atlantic Canada it’s #20. To British Columbia, I guess they back pack it over the mountains, it costs between $10 and $20, depending mainland, an island, or northern BC. Possibly understandable. Now lusten to this. To send that exact same package 300 kilometres from High Level, AB to Har River, NWT, a three hour trlp, it costs a minimum of $25. To go to Nunavut I have no idea. I did no business there. Most of my mail order customers were i n Hay River or n3arby. They could have been paying at least double what a paying customer in Quebec was. That is pricatisation. And it killed my business.
      To Americans, don’t let them privatize the USPS, there won’t be any competition. They give the buyer a 50 or 99 year monopoly as an incentive to buy it. The politicians won’t be around to care.

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      • Hello RG,

        No I was not aware the Canadian Post was a privatized institution. I’m sorry to hear shipping costs have gone up, you and so many other businesses have suffered b/c of it. Just curious, are there other carriers/ shippers in Canada aside from the Post?
        If not, then you have a monopoly which explains the for profit exponential price hike. In the states we have several international shippers who charge very competitive rates along with USPS. According to economic free markets, competition dictate market price, as along as gov’t doesn’t interfere with the capital mechanism. Delivery charges depend on shipping weight and size. USPS kept raising prices over the years and have lost it’s competitive edge.
        For instance, packages 2lbs or heavier, FedEx or UPS is the cheaper choice. Under 2lbs and USPS is better.
        https://mywifequitherjob.com/what-is-the-cheapest-shipping-option-usps-fedex-or-ups/

        If USPS becomes privatized, they’ll most likely renege on their pension obligations and free up much needed capital to maintain competitive operations. Prices overall will go DOWN, not up as with the Canadian Post.
        I’m not sure Congress will allow such a massive default of pension obligations, but then again many city and state pension funds are woefully underfunded and depleted, so I wouldn’t be surprised.

        This will be an interesting case study how everything plays out, I personally have no vested interest in the outcome. But like jill said, let’s try to keep the post office alive till Nov 3rd so mail-in voting is still a fair, viable option for the majority of citizens, also prevents voter suppression.

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    • You ask why I would depend on the USPS to deliver my insulin … because I have no choice. If I bought my insulin here in the U.S., it would cost me more than my monthly income. So, I order it from Canada for about a fourth the cost.

      As to the privatization issue … my biggest concern is cost. I think that a private company might very well be more efficient, but I also think we’d be paying a dollar or more just to mail a letter across town. But, something has to give … the current situation is untenable.

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      • Oh I see now, pharmaceutical dispensaries from Canada have contracted with postal service exclusively. I’m sure they have contingency plans in place. If the USPS ever get shuttered, pharmacies can switch over to UPS at a greater expense to the consumer. UPS actually delivers from Canada to all 48 contiguous states.
        Yes it’s a tradeoff, more money but you get reliable service for mail delivery, right now it’s neither here nor there.
        Altho with the advent of free email, online billpay and product ordering, I can’t imagine why I would need to send a physical letter. Even physical junk has fallen to all time lows as advertisers pull out mailers and invest their advertising dollars with YouTube adsense or some other online advertising like Facebook or Twitter.

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  11. I pray you can get rid of the pri.. in November. How is the relationship of the US army with Trump? Am wondering that a lot just in case he doesn’t want to go when not re-elected. Would they support a coup? Sorry to put oil on the fire 😕🙋‍♀️🐝

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    • Oh, don’t worry about the oil on the fire … we have all been asking these questions for quite some time now. It is a foregone conclusion that Trump isn’t going to go peacefully. So, do we call on the military, the Secret Service? It’s a matter of debate, but one for which there needs to be a plan. Personally, I would delight in seeing him led out in handcuffs and shackles, with television cameras recording every last bit of it as he’s carted off to jail. Sigh. 🙋‍♀️

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    • Seeing as how his only loyalty (Of sorts) is to a bedrock of The Right of Right and his precious 50,000,000 voters I don’t think any organisation within the US governmental system trust him on inch, so in my opinion ‘No’.
      One day he could take a step too far, you’ll know by the following announcements at the Whitehouse press briefings:
      1. Due to a head cold The President has cancelled a ………
      2. The President is receiving treatment for the attack of the mild form of influenza he has contracted.
      3. The President is continuing to make good progress in his recovery and is in fine spirits.
      4. There is no truth in the rumours concerning the president’s health. (note: not so much emphasis on the title)
      5. Our thoughts and prayers are with the president and his family at this time.
      6. Yesterday President Pence confirmed……

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  12. yet you and others think that it’s a good idea to vote by mail? this post presents the very argument of why this is such a Ludacris idea. If we can’t depend on the mail for ordinary delivery, how much of a more negative impact will that have on the election?

    think about the logic for a moment.

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    • Ah, but this is one of the reasons it is so important to get the USPS back fully on its feet. With the coronavirus on the rise, and new levels expected in the fall, mail-in voting is going to be essential. We must be able to trust that our votes will be delivered in a timely and efficient manner.

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