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babylonsister

(170,960 posts)
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 10:40 AM Apr 2018

Trump Moves to Gut the Post Office

What else can he damage or destroy for profit??

http://prospect.org/article/trump-moves-gut-post-office

Trump Moves to Gut the Post Office
David Dayen
April 16, 2018
His war on Amazon expands to include the right-wing’s campaign to abolish America’s oldest—and still successful—public service.


Some may be inclined to think that Donald Trump’s executive order Thursday night establishing a task force to recommend reforms for the U.S. Postal Service reflects another salvo in the president’s war against Amazon. Trump’s attack on Amazon, a clear byproduct of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s ownership of The Washington Post, included the suggestion that the online retailer was “ripping off the post office” by securing a special deal for the USPS to ship packages the last mile. By reviewing the finances of the post office, Trump’s task force could demand increases to that shipping contract, possibly costing Amazon billions of dollars.

Whether Amazon actually is getting a special deal on shipping is open to intense debate. The company also happens to enjoy a discount on stamps, which they then mark up to their own marketplace sellers, a pure arbitrage deal to earn profits from a publicly issued product.

But these issues have almost nothing to do with the Trump executive order. The Amazon spat is a cover for the formal unveiling of a long-wished right-wing project to destroy the post office and have private industry take over its infrastructure, which taxpayers funded long ago. All the executive order really does is create a report; it would take a willing Congress to deliver the final hammer blow. But that report, with a government imprimatur, will become part of that right-wing wish list, living on for decades in think tanks and private shipping company boardrooms as a fervent dream.

And sometimes dreams become reality.

snip//

The solutions here are obvious. The post office has the advantage of 30,000 locations, universal service, and a wider reach than for-profit companies could ever cast, paid for by taxpayers. Returning to the postal banking system we had from 1911 to 1967, which offers financial services to the unbanked with simple accounts and even small loans, would fit the agency’s mission of expanding commerce and save billions for vulnerable populations—all the while shoring up postal finances. The author of a 2014 white paper on postal banking, then-USPS Inspector General David Williams, is one of the nominees for the Board of Governors, and if allowed to do his job, Williams could fix up a system that would solve numerous problems at once.

This is one of a many ideas to maintain the Postal Service’s strong position at the center of American life, where it’s been since before the Constitution was written. Instead, Donald Trump, while claiming fake concern for the USPS getting “ripped off” by Amazon, wants to empower a gang of cretins bent on selling off the agency for parts.

58 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Trump Moves to Gut the Post Office (Original Post) babylonsister Apr 2018 OP
Why doesn't Simon Legree want us to have nice things? dchill Apr 2018 #1
K&R... spanone Apr 2018 #2
Everything he touches disappears into a shithole dalton99a Apr 2018 #3
Private industry does not want to do what USPS does DeminPennswoods Apr 2018 #4
Oh, they'd do it. But it'll cost a whole lot more. nt erronis Apr 2018 #12
I do not wish to be a "countryman" with the GOP agenda as a basis for society. Moostache Apr 2018 #5
Great rant and totally spot on world wide wally Apr 2018 #6
I agree. Great rant. My slightly different perspective yield two major responsibilities. erronis Apr 2018 #14
And I want to see maggot MFM008 Apr 2018 #26
Republicans have been drooling over USPO properties for decades randr Apr 2018 #7
Around here the Post Offices are leased Maggiemayhem Apr 2018 #21
and the employees are temps RainCaster Apr 2018 #43
Same here Rebl2 Apr 2018 #44
He probably wants to make the buildings into tRump properties BigmanPigman Apr 2018 #8
That will put a smile on the face of all his,,,, Cryptoad Apr 2018 #9
Say "Trump" but think dark-money Republican donors. Hortensis Apr 2018 #10
This dark money machine is worse than any Russian plot. alarimer Apr 2018 #16
+ A MILLION. :) Hortensis Apr 2018 #18
Will this report address the STUPID mandate that USPS fund retirement 75 years into the future? Caliman73 Apr 2018 #11
That mandate is why a Private Equity wants it. Billions to steal and leave taxpayers on the hook. TheBlackAdder Apr 2018 #23
Yep. I sure Bain Capital is salivating right now. Caliman73 Apr 2018 #28
What business Rebl2 Apr 2018 #46
Exactly! Caliman73 Apr 2018 #55
NO he is NOT MORALLY a President......just taking all the things us poor people want, onecent Apr 2018 #13
Kick------nothing else to say Angry Dragon Apr 2018 #15
We had to destroy the village in order to save it. IronLionZion Apr 2018 #17
The gop has been trying to gut the US Postal System for decades. Hulk Apr 2018 #19
Yup, The Cato Institute and House Speaker, Newt Gingrich have long dreamed oasis Apr 2018 #39
There is no Rebl2 Apr 2018 #47
That is a violation of The Constitution SHRED Apr 2018 #20
Yes it is, but the GOP no longer cares about that. Those of us who do have a tough problem or Eliot Rosewater Apr 2018 #27
republicans further weakening America Achilleaze Apr 2018 #22
Fuck that asshole. The real reason he went after Amazon blake2012 Apr 2018 #24
That was the first thing I thought too FairDemocrat Apr 2018 #58
Private industry uses USPS for express delivery because it's cheaper and FEDEX uses USPS planes politicaljunkie41910 Apr 2018 #25
The United States Postal Service does not operate any aircraft A HERETIC I AM Apr 2018 #57
From the USPS website matt819 Apr 2018 #29
K & R! Lifelong Protester Apr 2018 #30
Still, huh? That's nice. Hortensis Apr 2018 #32
This is Rebl2 Apr 2018 #48
kick Demovictory9 Apr 2018 #31
he is trash JI7 Apr 2018 #33
Its deal with Amazon has actually helped keep the USPS afloat, Hortensis Apr 2018 #34
Are you sure Rebl2 Apr 2018 #50
No, I took the Chicago Tribune at its word on that. Hortensis Apr 2018 #53
So there was no feud with Jeff Bezos? oberliner Apr 2018 #35
This has far more to do with the WaPo than privatizing the USPO RainCaster Apr 2018 #36
Privatization duforsure Apr 2018 #37
I talked to my local postmaster watoos Apr 2018 #38
Its also about busting the unions. If they do, id Lose my healthcare and pension. alfredo Apr 2018 #40
200,000 employees and the GOP could give a F**K. sarcasmo Apr 2018 #41
Privatization Crutchez_CuiBono Apr 2018 #42
We have to make sure this never happens. Ilsa Apr 2018 #45
He must wake up every morning PatSeg Apr 2018 #49
The word-evil, enters my mind when I hear the name of Trump riversedge Apr 2018 #51
It will take decades to repair the damage Trump has done or will do to this nation, if ever. elocs Apr 2018 #52
The men with the straight jackets need to intercede and escort him from the oval office. democratisphere Apr 2018 #54
Trump just said Amazon was the post office's problem FairDemocrat Apr 2018 #56

DeminPennswoods

(15,246 posts)
4. Private industry does not want to do what USPS does
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 10:48 AM
Apr 2018

That's why they've gotten out of door-to-door delivery and contracted with USPS for that function.

Moostache

(9,895 posts)
5. I do not wish to be a "countryman" with the GOP agenda as a basis for society.
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 10:52 AM
Apr 2018

Seriously.

This is not hyperbolic or reflex reaction. I want nothing to do with any part of their desires, philosophy or hideous agenda. I believe in a country that cares for its people, not its corporations alone. I believe in public responsibilities like educating our children and populace, defending our families and communities, incarcerating and rehabilitating criminals as a SOCIAL cost (NOT a profit center), roads and infrastructure upkeep and improvements, and caring for the sick and the aged as a part of the social contract.

I believe in regulation to control the baser instincts and pulls of a purely capitalist system.
I believe in equality under the law for EVERYONE - full stop...no qualifiers, no special exclusions. NO EXCEPTIONS.
I believe in a public good and a right to privacy in my effects and papers and home.
I believe in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the system of checks and balances.
I believe in the scientific method, and the data-based, peer-reviewed opinions of scientists in all areas of their expertise.
I believe that one can have religious beliefs or no beliefs and should be treated equally in private and public.

As near as I can tell, NONE of these positions or beliefs is reflected back at me from the right. Their core is servitude to the corporate and wealthy overlords and subservience in quest of a bit of extra crumbs from the master's table. Their representatives and congressional appointees and judicial appointees are abhorrent and malignant. Their lack of compassion and desire to punish the poor for their circumstances and plight is disgusting and base.

In short, I have no desire to label such monsters as "countrymen". I cannot find the grace of RFK to forgive and to seek deeper bonds with such people. I cannot excuse the hurt and the anguish and destruction they have wrought on this nation since 1981.

I want them to secede. I want them to leave. I want to start over with a nation of like minded individuals who may disagree on principles and specifics, but not on fundamentals. We in the Democratic Party can ALWAYS find things we disagree about internally, but those disagreements are not whether or not we should inflict more unnecessary pain on citizens to benefit a tiny minority of the populace.

I just want this to all end already, before it turns bloody, before more lives are lost and sacrificed to the egos of tiny men with enormous bellies and bankrupt souls. I just want OUR country back. I want to see America be "America" again.

erronis

(14,941 posts)
14. I agree. Great rant. My slightly different perspective yield two major responsibilities.
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 01:24 PM
Apr 2018

- Support the free flow of information without ownership or costs.
- Regulate activities that are for the common good and activities that can harm the common good.

Simplistic, I know.

randr

(12,408 posts)
7. Republicans have been drooling over USPO properties for decades
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 11:07 AM
Apr 2018

Our postal system owns some of the most valuable properties in the country. Centrally located edifices in every town that would bring maximum profits if sold to the private sector.
One of our most beautiful treasures has already fallen to this greed and is presently called the Trump Hotel in Washington, DC.
Republicans see every asset of the nation as their own personal piggy bank or something they want to privatize for their own use.

Maggiemayhem

(804 posts)
21. Around here the Post Offices are leased
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 01:36 PM
Apr 2018

The old post office a half mile away has never sold. I don’t know about a historical post office like Charles Town WV.


BigmanPigman

(51,430 posts)
8. He probably wants to make the buildings into tRump properties
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 11:09 AM
Apr 2018

like he did with the old DC post office bldg. He can make 30,000 tRump "No Tell" Motels.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
10. Say "Trump" but think dark-money Republican donors.
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 01:03 PM
Apr 2018

We can't win this war if we don't know who and what we're fighting.

The plot to profit-ize our national postal delivery system started long before Trump was elected.

alarimer

(16,245 posts)
16. This dark money machine is worse than any Russian plot.
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 01:26 PM
Apr 2018

It's been going on for decades but really accelerated after Citizens United. The Koch brothers, the Mercers and others have orchestrated the rightwing takeover of this country. The Kochs have done by bankrolling ALEC and developing "model legislation" for all the worst kinds of bills like right to work, voter suppression, and worse.

And now the post office. Despite the fact that Fedex, etc are simply not willing to go the last mile to every single address, the way the USPS is required by law to do.

And I don't know how they will get around the fact that the Post Office is in the Constitution as one of Congress' duties. Oh, they will parse the language like nobody's business. So much for the originalists.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
18. + A MILLION. :)
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 01:30 PM
Apr 2018

Terms like "originalism" and "judicial activism" are used interchangeably as tools by these kleptocrats to achieve their goals.

Caliman73

(11,690 posts)
11. Will this report address the STUPID mandate that USPS fund retirement 75 years into the future?
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 01:07 PM
Apr 2018

That particular dick move by congress was a serious blow to USPS and is not required by any other public or private entity. USPS had to start making 5 billion dollar a year contributions into the pension system.

TheBlackAdder

(28,070 posts)
23. That mandate is why a Private Equity wants it. Billions to steal and leave taxpayers on the hook.
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 01:45 PM
Apr 2018

They'll borrow against it, go bankrupt and leave taxpayers on the hook to replenish the funds.

Rebl2

(13,301 posts)
46. What business
Sat Apr 21, 2018, 09:42 AM
Apr 2018

does that? My feeling is they did this to steal the money away from the P.O. to use elsewhere. Nobody funds pensions 75 years in advance! If they didn’t have to do that they would actually be making money. I’m sure many here know this, but much of the public doesn’t, the post office isn’t funded by taxpayers money.

Caliman73

(11,690 posts)
55. Exactly!
Sat Apr 21, 2018, 06:24 PM
Apr 2018

It was a despicable act of sabotage that the Republicans foisted onto the post office in order to bankrupt the organization, crush the single largest public union in the country, and get their hands on public property to give to their financial benefactors.

onecent

(6,096 posts)
13. NO he is NOT MORALLY a President......just taking all the things us poor people want,
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 01:23 PM
Apr 2018

and take them away. I hate HIM so much!

IronLionZion

(45,254 posts)
17. We had to destroy the village in order to save it.
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 01:29 PM
Apr 2018

Trump is destroying the postal service to save it from evil liberals like Amazon who use it as a delivery boy. It's unacceptable to have liberal pay money to the post office to deliver things. Everyone knows their job is to fund retirement 75 years into the future. Get a brain morans!

Trump and his people will always try to destroy every American institution and it's disgusting that we have to defend the frickin post office. It's rural and elderly people who depend on it the most. Trump's own voters in the red states are the ones who depend on the post office when they don't have commercial options like the cities. It's Grandma sending letters and birthday gifts to her grandkids who gets screwed.

 

Hulk

(6,699 posts)
19. The gop has been trying to gut the US Postal System for decades.
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 01:33 PM
Apr 2018

This is another one of those "privatise everything" so they can suck the profit out of it and leave rural America high and dry.

The gop is responsible..TOTALLY...for requiring the US Postal system to provide FUTURE FUNDING for their pension plan...something NO OTHER INDUSTRY is required to do. As if they really give a shit about the retiring postal worker.

Give me a g'damned break!

oasis

(49,150 posts)
39. Yup, The Cato Institute and House Speaker, Newt Gingrich have long dreamed
Wed Apr 18, 2018, 07:29 AM
Apr 2018

of postal privitization.

Rebl2

(13,301 posts)
47. There is no
Sat Apr 21, 2018, 09:48 AM
Apr 2018

other government agency required to do this. Why make the post office do it. They get no money from the government. Any money they have they make through sales of postage, packing materials, and around here they sell greeting cards. They would be making money if they didn’t have this ridiculous funding requirement!

Eliot Rosewater

(31,096 posts)
27. Yes it is, but the GOP no longer cares about that. Those of us who do have a tough problem or
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 01:50 PM
Apr 2018

choice.

Do we defend our constitution which could mean our physical or economic deaths, or do we let them do what they want?

 

blake2012

(1,294 posts)
24. Fuck that asshole. The real reason he went after Amazon
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 01:46 PM
Apr 2018

Going after more well compensated union employees.

 

FairDemocrat

(82 posts)
58. That was the first thing I thought too
Sat Apr 21, 2018, 06:40 PM
Apr 2018

How will my father pay his bills and many other people that can not afford to do it any other way?

politicaljunkie41910

(3,335 posts)
25. Private industry uses USPS for express delivery because it's cheaper and FEDEX uses USPS planes
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 01:47 PM
Apr 2018

because it's cheaper. I know because I've used it and a clerk at FedEx told me about it. Many years ago, my son was on a school trip on the east coast (we live on the west coast) and needed his birth certificate to go on a trip and I needed to overnight it to him. I went to FedEx and they were going to charge me about $25 to make sure that it was there the next morning. (There are different rates for next day delivery depending on when it has to be there by. Early morning is more expensive than late afternoon for example. I'm including that just so we're comparing apples to apples.) The clerk at FedEx whispered to me that if I went down the street to the USPS that it would be cheaper. I explained to her that it had to be there by the next morning. She said it would be. I said, but you don't understand, it absolutely, positively had to be there the next morning. She said, trust me. Now I had already waited in line at FedEx and didn't want to now leave and go down the road a couple of miles and get into another line and in the end pay the same amount, or worse and have to come back. But I decided to trust her.

I went to the USPS and not only was the line short that morning, I ended up using the same form, and envelope that I had completed down at FedEx. When I went to pay for it, it was about $16. I explained to the USPS clerk that this absolutely, positively had to be their tomorrow morning. She said it would be. She even gave me the tracking info. I asked her how can they ship theirs cheaper than FedEx? She told me that FedEx often ships their stuff through USPS. So after I finished up, I went back to FedEx and whispering, thanked the clerk there again for the information and apologized for my skepticism. She said that's okay, but if everybody knew that, she wouldn't have a job. So I want everybody to know that so people will quite with the myth that the private sector is always better than the government. Now this happened about a decade ago so the actual amounts may have changed since then, but on the one occasion since, when I had to send something overnight, I went straight to the Post Office, and I tell everyone I can, my story when I get the opportunity.

matt819

(10,749 posts)
29. From the USPS website
Mon Apr 16, 2018, 02:24 PM
Apr 2018

The Constitution and the Post Office
In June 1788, the ninth state ratified the Constitution, which gave Congress the power “To establish Post Offices and post Roads” in Article I, Section 8. A year later, the Act of September 22, 1789 (1 Stat. 70), continued the Post Office and made the Postmaster General subject to the direction of the President. Four days later, President Washington appointed Samuel Osgood as the first Postmaster General under the Constitution. A population of almost four million was served by 75 Post Offices and about 2,400 miles of post roads.

The Post Office received two one-year extensions by the Acts of August 4, 1790 (1 Stat. 178), and March 3, 1791 (1 Stat. 218). The Act of February 20, 1792 (1 Stat. 232), continued the Post Office for another two years and formally admitted newspapers to the mails, gave Congress the power to establish post routes, and prohibited postal officials from opening letters. Later legislation enlarged the duties of the Post Office, strengthened and unified its organization, and provided rules for its development. The Act of May 8, 1794 (1 Stat. 354), continued the Post Office indefinitely.

The Post Office moved from Philadelphia in 1800 when Washington, D.C., became the seat of government. Two horse-drawn wagons carried all postal records, furniture, and supplies.

Rebl2

(13,301 posts)
48. This is
Sat Apr 21, 2018, 09:51 AM
Apr 2018

true in a lot of rural areas. A few years ago there was an outcry when they planned to shut down some of the rural PO in Missouri.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
34. Its deal with Amazon has actually helped keep the USPS afloat,
Tue Apr 17, 2018, 05:37 AM
Apr 2018

countering dark-money efforts to destroy it.

A little history of the USPS's recent battle history and why Trump's audit is going to disappoint him, and possibly backfire:

Trump is right that the Postal Service needs reform

... Congress, however, continued to wield authority over the Postal Service — and that's been the big problem. With the rise of the internet in the early 2000s, the use of first-class mail began to decline. One way the Postal Service hoped to save money was by ending Saturday delivery. Congress said no. At a time when it was losing billions in 2011 and 2012, it proposed closing rural post offices and moving mail delivery to local stores. Congress said no.

A few years ago, the Postal Service suggested offering banking services, especially to people of moderate means. Congress said no. It suggested a series of other proposals to move into other lines of business. This is something postal services in Europe have done with great success. Congress said no.

And one more thing: In 2006, Congress imposed an insane mandate on the Postal Service: It was required by law to prepay, over 10 years, all future expected retiree health care benefits. That has cost the Postal Service somewhere on the order of $50 billion. It also guaranteed that the Postal Service would lose billions.

Which it has. In 2006, the Postal Service had a $900 million surplus. Every year since, it has lost billions, including a staggering $15.9 billion in 2012. Last year, it lost $2.7 billion, an improvement from the $5.5 billion loss in 2016. And you wonder why the Postal Service is pleading for reform?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-postal-office-reform-amazon-jeff-bezos-0416-story.html

Rebl2

(13,301 posts)
50. Are you sure
Sat Apr 21, 2018, 09:58 AM
Apr 2018

it is retiree health benefits? My husband retired from the P.O. and we kept our health insurance. Pretty sure we pay the whole premium ourselves. I thought it was to prefund pensions a ridiculous 75 years into the future. No other part of the government has to do this.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
53. No, I took the Chicago Tribune at its word on that.
Sat Apr 21, 2018, 10:23 AM
Apr 2018

My half sister is a retired postmaster also, but we've never discussed the details of her retirement, only that they worked hard to push her to early retirement because she was undesirably far up the pay scale.

The outrageous, blatant attempt to destroy our USPS by requiring prefunding of pensions is the big thing everyone (except those who refuse to) remembers, of course. Villains.

RainCaster

(10,673 posts)
36. This has far more to do with the WaPo than privatizing the USPO
Tue Apr 17, 2018, 10:13 PM
Apr 2018

Small Hands Magoo wants to strike back at the owner of the Washington Post, who just happens to be the CEO of Amazon. Wonder how that works? Why is this small minded tiny fingered Tangerine Douche Bag using our government to fight his own petty battles?

duforsure

(11,882 posts)
37. Privatization
Wed Apr 18, 2018, 06:31 AM
Apr 2018

Going after the Post Office, teachers, and soon the police so they , and only they have control over them is there goal now, and anyone in those professions should be alarmed at what he's doing to them, or trying to.

 

watoos

(7,142 posts)
38. I talked to my local postmaster
Wed Apr 18, 2018, 07:19 AM
Apr 2018

and he told me that the USPS delivers 30% of Fed Ex and UPS ground mail.
I asked him who he voted for and he said Trump.

alfredo

(60,065 posts)
40. Its also about busting the unions. If they do, id Lose my healthcare and pension.
Wed Apr 18, 2018, 02:42 PM
Apr 2018

Both fought for and guaranteed by the union

Crutchez_CuiBono

(7,725 posts)
42. Privatization
Wed Apr 18, 2018, 05:05 PM
Apr 2018

Doesn't work. Zero cost control for consumers bc shareholders need ever more. Maybe Postal Workers can start showing up w Teachers. Wouldn't want to tick off a group of folks who walk and get outside everyday. Unfortunately the protesting can't all be done by state unions etc. Fed employees need to get angry and fight back as well. He's everybody's problem.
P.s...How far do you think a determined group of mail carriers...could carry a protest sign? Long way I'd wager.

Ilsa

(61,675 posts)
45. We have to make sure this never happens.
Sat Apr 21, 2018, 09:39 AM
Apr 2018

I don't know how, but this will destroy mail order of any kind, especially for people in rural areas who won't be able to afford jacked up prices.

PatSeg

(46,776 posts)
49. He must wake up every morning
Sat Apr 21, 2018, 09:56 AM
Apr 2018

and ask himself, "What can I destroy or dismember today?" He is like a Saturday morning cartoon villain.

elocs

(22,474 posts)
52. It will take decades to repair the damage Trump has done or will do to this nation, if ever.
Sat Apr 21, 2018, 10:07 AM
Apr 2018

But the only chance if for the Left to remain vigilant and not become lazy and complacent with mistaking the successes of winning battles with winning the war. The tens of millions of Americans who support Trump beyond all reason are going nowhere and they are betting that the Left will relax and give them the opportunity to take control or expand control from the local level up. We cannot weary of fighting the battles because this is a war without end.

 

FairDemocrat

(82 posts)
56. Trump just said Amazon was the post office's problem
Sat Apr 21, 2018, 06:37 PM
Apr 2018

Was that all a sham donkey and pony show..smoke and mirrors to keep this all behind closed doors?

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