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Trump, Louis DeJoy and USPS BoG Have a Lot of Explaining to do
(printed in its entirety with permission of the author)https://www.sevenbowie.com/2020/08/louis-dejoy-and-usps-bog-have-a-lot-of-explaining-to-do/
The USPS is not a private business but rather a publicly owned and funded (via patronage and American tax dollars) institution. There is NO public appetite for the defunding and thus sabotage of this beloved American institution in order to set up a pretense for privatization. This is the main driver of the public outcry. Americans do not what this institution, which has served the public good well since the inception of our country, sabotaged so as to render it ineffective. Instead, it should be fully funded by congress as needed in order for it to continue its service for the public good, particularly at this critical and dangerous time in our nation’s history – and as it has done in the past during such times.
Americans see what is now being done at the hands of Mr. DeJoy as a pretense for privatization, and a slowdown of mail delivery being instituted right before an election in the midst of a deadly pandemic, when voting by mail is the safest way most American can vote. There isn’t a conscious person who can possibly believe this is a good idea — or that it is somehow a “cost-saving” measure. It appears to be a measure instead, to save Donald Trump.
Americans must be able to rely on timely mail delivery and return of their mailed ballots in order to protect them from a deadly virus which continues to rage out of control in the US due to lack of federally coordinated response and the White House’s refusal to follow the guidelines of the medical, scientific, and epidemiological experts — preferring instead to push disinformation and alleged miracle drugs based on questionable claims of unreliable and unqualified sources.
It must be questioned why Mr. DeJoy was chosen for his role, and what he believes his role to be, as well as the blatant conflicts of interest Mr. DeJoy works under as PostMaster General, considering his financial interests and holdings in USPS competitors. The changes Mr. DeJoy has carried out at USPS, particularly removing sorting machines and denying overtime — seem designed not to help control costs, but rather to help Donald Trump in the November election by slowing down all mail delivery.
USPS has notified 46 states that their voters my be disenfranchised due to the changes Mr. DeJoy has made. Subsequently, Mr. DeJoy says he will not make any more changes now that it appears this objective has been satisfied. An explanation of this is demanded by Congress and the American people as to how and why this is NOT what he was indeed doing.
The debauchery and carelessness of – without congressional approval or American citizens’ knowledge – making these drastic changes which affect American lives and the ability of small businesses to operate is at best questionable and at worst, criminal. Sabotaging the USPS in order to slow down mailed ballot delivery also slows down delivery of: bills, bill payments, packages mailed by small businesses, medications for millions of Americans and veterans in particular, VA benefit checks, social security checks – all of which millions of Americans rely on timely delivery to pay their financial obligations on time without credit damage, and to protect their health.
An explanation is warranted as to how or why Mr. DeJoy or the USPS Board of Governors believed the changes they have suddenly made would not cause massive problems for millions of Americans — damaging their health, their credit standing, their small businesses, and their ability to safely vote — or why they seemingly didn’t give a damn if it did, as long as it helps President Trump by disenfranchising millions of Americans.
We’ve heard excuses that the November 2020 election would be a disaster if too many people vote by mail – this being used as an excuse for Mr. DeJoy’s sabotage. However the US Postal Service handles more mail and packages than will be sent as ballots in the 2020 election, every Christmas to and from all over the World. However, if the concern is truly about the postal service’s capacity to deliver all the mailed ballots, then reducing the number of sorting machines, mail drop boxes, and employee overtime hours will make the problem worse! If that were truly the concern, the USPS would be fully funded, the sorting machines left in place and maybe even additional ones added, all overtime needed would be approved. Prior to DeJoy’s sabotage operation, the USPS would have been fully able to deliver any and all mailed ballots. Now, they’ve notified most US states that those ballots may not arrive in time and that this is directly correlated with DeJoy’s sabotage.
The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act passed in 2006 must be overturned. This act and this act alone put the USPS into the red financially and it has remained there since, not due to mismanagement, prices being too low, too much overtime, or any other reason than the act enforces something that no other private business or government entity is forced to do: fund its retirement plan SEVENTY FIVE YEARS in advance. This act was a ruse intended to cripple USPS funding, so that it could be considered “mismanaged”- thus setting up another pretense for privatization.
The hue and cry is that the USPS is “losing money”. That gets us back to my first paragraph – that the postal service is a PUBLICLY owned service that serves the public good — it does not exist to make a profit, like privately owned business UPS and FedEx do. Do these same screamers grouse about our DoD and Pentagon, our troops ‘losing money’ and not making a profit? Of course not. Because they serve the public (and world) good. They do not exist to make a profit. Likewise, our United States Postal Service operates as a public service, not a private profit making enterprise. So that excuse is also invalid.
The USPS has a very large union membership and this is another reason anti-union operatives who are unfriendly to any institution that serves the public good would like to see the USPS destroyed and then privatized. This would effectively get rid of its union. The Republican Party, President Trump, Koch enterprises, ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council and its members) and many other anti-union interests would love to see America’s USPS sabotaged, sold for parts to private interests, destroying its union and its historically efficient and cost-effective service to the US public good since the founding of our country. It should be noted that the American people, seniors, rural residents, veterans and small business have no interest in seeing the United States Postal Service sabotaged or privatized in this manner. The institution belongs to them and they obviously would like to keep it, regardless vulture capitalists who may have other ideas.
The United States Postal Service serves the public good. It is not a privately owned business but rather publicly owned by via our tax dollars and public patronage. The American people will NOT have it sabotaged for political reasons, destroyed by poison pill bills like the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, or crushed for vulture capitalist, union-busting endeavors.
This sabotage MUST. STOP. NOW.
Americans see what is now being done at the hands of Mr. DeJoy as a pretense for privatization, and a slowdown of mail delivery being instituted right before an election in the midst of a deadly pandemic, when voting by mail is the safest way most American can vote. There isn’t a conscious person who can possibly believe this is a good idea — or that it is somehow a “cost-saving” measure. It appears to be a measure instead, to save Donald Trump.
Americans must be able to rely on timely mail delivery and return of their mailed ballots in order to protect them from a deadly virus which continues to rage out of control in the US due to lack of federally coordinated response and the White House’s refusal to follow the guidelines of the medical, scientific, and epidemiological experts — preferring instead to push disinformation and alleged miracle drugs based on questionable claims of unreliable and unqualified sources.
It must be questioned why Mr. DeJoy was chosen for his role, and what he believes his role to be, as well as the blatant conflicts of interest Mr. DeJoy works under as PostMaster General, considering his financial interests and holdings in USPS competitors. The changes Mr. DeJoy has carried out at USPS, particularly removing sorting machines and denying overtime — seem designed not to help control costs, but rather to help Donald Trump in the November election by slowing down all mail delivery.
USPS has notified 46 states that their voters my be disenfranchised due to the changes Mr. DeJoy has made. Subsequently, Mr. DeJoy says he will not make any more changes now that it appears this objective has been satisfied. An explanation of this is demanded by Congress and the American people as to how and why this is NOT what he was indeed doing.
The debauchery and carelessness of – without congressional approval or American citizens’ knowledge – making these drastic changes which affect American lives and the ability of small businesses to operate is at best questionable and at worst, criminal. Sabotaging the USPS in order to slow down mailed ballot delivery also slows down delivery of: bills, bill payments, packages mailed by small businesses, medications for millions of Americans and veterans in particular, VA benefit checks, social security checks – all of which millions of Americans rely on timely delivery to pay their financial obligations on time without credit damage, and to protect their health.
An explanation is warranted as to how or why Mr. DeJoy or the USPS Board of Governors believed the changes they have suddenly made would not cause massive problems for millions of Americans — damaging their health, their credit standing, their small businesses, and their ability to safely vote — or why they seemingly didn’t give a damn if it did, as long as it helps President Trump by disenfranchising millions of Americans.
We’ve heard excuses that the November 2020 election would be a disaster if too many people vote by mail – this being used as an excuse for Mr. DeJoy’s sabotage. However the US Postal Service handles more mail and packages than will be sent as ballots in the 2020 election, every Christmas to and from all over the World. However, if the concern is truly about the postal service’s capacity to deliver all the mailed ballots, then reducing the number of sorting machines, mail drop boxes, and employee overtime hours will make the problem worse! If that were truly the concern, the USPS would be fully funded, the sorting machines left in place and maybe even additional ones added, all overtime needed would be approved. Prior to DeJoy’s sabotage operation, the USPS would have been fully able to deliver any and all mailed ballots. Now, they’ve notified most US states that those ballots may not arrive in time and that this is directly correlated with DeJoy’s sabotage.
The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act passed in 2006 must be overturned. This act and this act alone put the USPS into the red financially and it has remained there since, not due to mismanagement, prices being too low, too much overtime, or any other reason than the act enforces something that no other private business or government entity is forced to do: fund its retirement plan SEVENTY FIVE YEARS in advance. This act was a ruse intended to cripple USPS funding, so that it could be considered “mismanaged”- thus setting up another pretense for privatization.
The hue and cry is that the USPS is “losing money”. That gets us back to my first paragraph – that the postal service is a PUBLICLY owned service that serves the public good — it does not exist to make a profit, like privately owned business UPS and FedEx do. Do these same screamers grouse about our DoD and Pentagon, our troops ‘losing money’ and not making a profit? Of course not. Because they serve the public (and world) good. They do not exist to make a profit. Likewise, our United States Postal Service operates as a public service, not a private profit making enterprise. So that excuse is also invalid.
The USPS has a very large union membership and this is another reason anti-union operatives who are unfriendly to any institution that serves the public good would like to see the USPS destroyed and then privatized. This would effectively get rid of its union. The Republican Party, President Trump, Koch enterprises, ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council and its members) and many other anti-union interests would love to see America’s USPS sabotaged, sold for parts to private interests, destroying its union and its historically efficient and cost-effective service to the US public good since the founding of our country. It should be noted that the American people, seniors, rural residents, veterans and small business have no interest in seeing the United States Postal Service sabotaged or privatized in this manner. The institution belongs to them and they obviously would like to keep it, regardless vulture capitalists who may have other ideas.
The United States Postal Service serves the public good. It is not a privately owned business but rather publicly owned by via our tax dollars and public patronage. The American people will NOT have it sabotaged for political reasons, destroyed by poison pill bills like the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, or crushed for vulture capitalist, union-busting endeavors.
This sabotage MUST. STOP. NOW.
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