Trump-backed postmaster general plans to slow mail delivery

[ZiprHead]

https://fortune.com/2020/07/24/usps-mail-delivery-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-us-postal-service/

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” So goes the unofficial motto of the United States Postal Service (USPS), adapted in 1912 from The Persian Wars by Herodotus and inscribed in the stone atop the main USPS building in New York City.

The inscription, however, leaves out the quest for profit, which is currently threatening the "swift" delivery of mail.

Americans have come to depend on the modern iteration of the Postal Service to quickly deliver lifesaving medicines, election ballots, bills, checks, and other goods through rough weather, world wars, natural disasters, and pandemics. Nearly 6,190 USPS employees, deemed essential workers, have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 60 have died.

But now, as the cash-strained Postal Service faces what union leadership is calling “Christmas every day for package delivery” and an impending November presidential election that will likely necessitate an unprecedented increase in vote-by-mail ballots, it appears that the 108-year-old credo may have met its match in new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

“These changes are happening because there’s a White House agenda to privatize and sell off the public Postal Service,” said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union. “But there’s too much approval for the organization right now. They want to separate the service from the people and then degrade it to the point where people aren’t going to like it anymore.”

 

[RVonse]

I sure wish they would leave the post office alone. It is one of the last government agencies I grew up with that still works IMO. I do not mail a lot of things, but when I do I notice it is much cheaper and easier just to let the USPS do the delivery than either fed ex or UPS. So if everyone thought like I did, those other private agencies would be out of business.

The only thing I would qualify about the post office is that I think they should charge everyone the same rate. I do not think it is fair (as a tax payer) to greatly subsidize shipments from China as they have in the past. Especially when that kind of advantage removes American jobs.

 

[Derec]

I guess Kramer is winning after all.


Who would have thunk?

 

[Rhea]

Remember that the only reason the post office is “cash strained” is because of the deliberate sabotage enacted b the GOP to force them to put MORE into reserves than any company is forced to do. We need to undo that and let the psot office do what it does for all of us.

 

[ZiprHead]

Listening to Randi Rhodes this afternoon. A woman called in and said she was a postal clerk. She said they have stacks and stacks of "flats", referring to large envelope mail, magazines, etc., including primary ballots going to both voters and back for counting. She said they have been instructed by the superiors that those stacks, and Amazon packages, are to be ignored and left sitting.

 

[Jarhyn]

Listening to Randi Rhodes this afternoon. A woman called in and said she was a postal clerk. She said they have stacks and stacks of "flats", referring to large envelope mail, magazines, etc., including primary ballots going to both voters and back for counting. She said they have been instructed by the superiors that those stacks, and Amazon packages, are to be ignored and left sitting.

How is that even legal? That can't be legal. She should process them. If her superiors have a problem with that, she should process *them*.

 

[ZiprHead]

Listening to Randi Rhodes this afternoon. A woman called in and said she was a postal clerk. She said they have stacks and stacks of "flats", referring to large envelope mail, magazines, etc., including primary ballots going to both voters and back for counting. She said they have been instructed by the superiors that those stacks, and Amazon packages, are to be ignored and left sitting.

How is that even legal? That can't be legal. She should process them. If her superiors have a problem with that, she should process *them*.

Chris Hayes on Postal Delays

 

[ideologyhunter]

Jesus, is there ANY department of the fed gov that hasn't been deranged by Trump?? The U.S. Board on Geographic Names? No -- they probably have directives to preserve place names dedicated to slave owners. The Dept. of Weights and Measures? No, they have to explain Trump's weight of 243 pounds.
Is there maybe a department that tracks butterfly migration?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Listening to Randi Rhodes this afternoon. A woman called in and said she was a postal clerk. She said they have stacks and stacks of "flats", referring to large envelope mail, magazines, etc., including primary ballots going to both voters and back for counting. She said they have been instructed by the superiors that those stacks, and Amazon packages, are to be ignored and left sitting.

We'd need a little more confirmation before believing that claim. I can believe it is true, but that needs serious corroboration.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Jesus, is there ANY department of the fed gov that hasn't been deranged by Trump?? The U.S. Board on Geographic Names? No -- they probably have directives to preserve place names dedicated to slave owners. The Dept. of Weights and Measures? No, they have to explain Trump's weight of 243 pounds.
Is there maybe a department that tracks butterfly migration?

It was defunded. Butterflies are for liberals.

 

[Playball40]

Listening to Randi Rhodes this afternoon. A woman called in and said she was a postal clerk. She said they have stacks and stacks of "flats", referring to large envelope mail, magazines, etc., including primary ballots going to both voters and back for counting. She said they have been instructed by the superiors that those stacks, and Amazon packages, are to be ignored and left sitting.

We'd need a little more confirmation before believing that claim. I can believe it is true, but that needs serious corroboration.

Again, strictly anecdotal, but I put the cards out to be picked up electing to go to mail in ballots and my postal carrier WOULDN'T TAKE it. Four days later, I dropped it in the outgoing mail box at the post office.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Perhaps where this stems from is a comment Trump had previously made.

President Donald Trump nominated Dejoy to bring the service’s finances in line and he is pushing to cut costs even if it means delaying deliveries.

10 billion ain't much but it should keep the bags rolling.

 

[KeepTalking]

Listening to Randi Rhodes this afternoon. A woman called in and said she was a postal clerk. She said they have stacks and stacks of "flats", referring to large envelope mail, magazines, etc., including primary ballots going to both voters and back for counting. She said they have been instructed by the superiors that those stacks, and Amazon packages, are to be ignored and left sitting.

We'd need a little more confirmation before believing that claim. I can believe it is true, but that needs serious corroboration.

Again, strictly anecdotal, but I put the cards out to be picked up electing to go to mail in ballots and my postal carrier WOULDN'T TAKE it. Four days later, I dropped it in the outgoing mail box at the post office.

I think your mail carrier was giving you a subtle hint, and likely knew that ballots were being de-prioritized. Dropping the ballot in the box at the post office just puts you in that same spot. Your best bet would have been to drop it off personally at your local election board.

 

[Worldtraveller]

Again, strictly anecdotal, but I put the cards out to be picked up electing to go to mail in ballots and my postal carrier WOULDN'T TAKE it. Four days later, I dropped it in the outgoing mail box at the post office.

I think your mail carrier was giving you a subtle hint, and likely knew that ballots were being de-prioritized. Dropping the ballot in the box at the post office just puts you in that same spot. Your best bet would have been to drop it off personally at your local election board.

I'm not sure that's a possibility, or if it would be counted if there's no postmark.

I'd call my local clerk (usually the county clerk's office is who handles this here) and find out before doing that.

 

[KeepTalking]

Again, strictly anecdotal, but I put the cards out to be picked up electing to go to mail in ballots and my postal carrier WOULDN'T TAKE it. Four days later, I dropped it in the outgoing mail box at the post office.

I think your mail carrier was giving you a subtle hint, and likely knew that ballots were being de-prioritized. Dropping the ballot in the box at the post office just puts you in that same spot. Your best bet would have been to drop it off personally at your local election board.

I'm not sure that's a possibility, or if it would be counted if there's no postmark.

I'd call my local clerk (usually the county clerk's office is who handles this here) and find out before doing that.

I know it is in Illinois, not sure about other states.

ETA: regardless, it is too late for Playball, as they have already dropped theirs in the mail. A good place to find the rules for your State is at Vote.org https://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot

 

[Worldtraveller]

Good point, and vote.org is a great (non-partisan) organization.

I might call our local county recorder and ask about it, since UT normally does vote by mail anyway, it may be that it won't be an issue here.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Doesn't Trump need all the mail trucks massed at the southern border, to hold back Caravan '20? I mean, that I could see, even if it means a holdup on my Verizon bill.

 

[ZiprHead]

Listening to Randi Rhodes this afternoon. A woman called in and said she was a postal clerk. She said they have stacks and stacks of "flats", referring to large envelope mail, magazines, etc., including primary ballots going to both voters and back for counting. She said they have been instructed by the superiors that those stacks, and Amazon packages, are to be ignored and left sitting.

We'd need a little more confirmation before believing that claim. I can believe it is true, but that needs serious corroboration.

Again, strictly anecdotal, but I put the cards out to be picked up electing to go to mail in ballots and my postal carrier WOULDN'T TAKE it. Four days later, I dropped it in the outgoing mail box at the post office.

There's a drop box at our city hall. I dropped our ballots there and I will do so again in November.

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[ZiprHead]