Coronavirus may give President Trump a long-sought chance to privatize the Postal Service

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WASHINGTON — Amid a cash crunch threatening to put the U.S. Postal Service out of business, the Trump administration is being accused of blocking bipartisan efforts to provide money to the agency as part of a long-sought conservative effort to privatize mail delivery.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a precipitous drop in mail deliveries, worsening a crisis for an already financially troubled service. Last week, Postmaster General Megan Brennan said financial woes exacerbated by the pandemic could cause the agency to run out of money by October.

The $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package passed on March 25 did not provide assistance for the Postal Service, despite bipartisan support for the funding, according to an aide to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Postal Service.

Instead, the legislation only allowed the Postal Service to borrow $10 billion from the Treasury Department.

“There was bipartisan support for direct appropriations to go to the Postal Service,” said a committee aide, who requested anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin “said you can have the loan or you can have nothing.”

Yet in the weeks since the stimulus passed, the Treasury Department has not approved the loan.

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-coronavirus-privatize-us-portal-service-173250637.html

[abqtommy]

1. The reTHUGS have long wanted to dismantle the USPS. Now they're trying hard to make all

their corrupt schemes come true with the Treasonous tRUMP on hand to sign all their corrupt legislation. We've got to push back hard on them to save the USPS and anything else we can save.

[Nictuku]

2. I'm hoping the opposite will happen

Given the current circumstances, US Citizens are ever more aware of our need for a reliable postal service. The crisis for the Post Office has been long in the works, it started (with the Repubs wanting to privatize it, and take over all that prime real estate).

Here is how they did it:

In 2006, Congress passed a law that imposed extraordinary costs on the U.S. Postal Service. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) required the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. This burden applies to no other federal agency or private corporation.

https://ips-dc.org/how-congress-manufactured-a-postal-crisis-and-how-to-fix-it/

Last year, the House passed a bill to end this, and last month a measure regarding this:

After years of broader postal reform bills failing to pass, the House passed a measure Wednesday to repeal the Postal Service’s mandate to pre-fund health care benefits for future retirees.

The USPS Fairness Act, introduced last May by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), would undo the pre-funding requirement at the heart of the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act that has accelerated the Postal Service’s financial losses.

“The unreasonable pre-funding mandate has threatened the survival of the USPS and placed its vital services for the millions who rely on it at risk,” DeFazio said following the 309-106 floor vote.

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/agency-oversight/2020/02/house-passes-smaller-usps-reform-bill-to-eliminate-pre-funding-benefits/

Of course, it will never pass the Senate, but come November, WE WILL WIN THE SENATE!

Too much is as stake in this Nation, and after the news out of Wisconsin today, I am very hopeful that the orange typhoon's term will be terminated on January 20, 2021.

[Cha]

5. That's the spirit.. Thank you!

[LisaL]

3. Why is there decrease in deliveries?

Amazon often uses USPS, and Amazon's business is going through the roof.

[Nictuku]

4. What I heard is that

What I heard is that the majority of their income comes from advertisement inserts, and that is what has tanked as businesses are closed.