Things not going well for USPS

[Celery Man 20886]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/us/politics/coronavirus-is-threatening-one-of-governments-steadiest-services-the-mail.html

 

I haven’t been following this but alarms are being raised. Hope rural America is ready for the death/privatization of the mail.

[Kel Varnsen 8430]

[bad_teammate 13132]

Yet another bipartisan failure.

[Pancho 44487]

 

[Degenerate Gardner 4081]

If USPS was a Trump operation, it would be bigly bailed out. Instead, DOTUS nudges another American institution toward failure. No doubt he resents being excluded from the mail racket and would like to get a piece of the action. 

 

[RPM 26230]

57 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

Hope rural America is ready for the death/privatization of the mail.

 

It's kinda that way now. Rural carriers bid on a contract. There's usually not much competition because it's a shitty job.

At least Mussolini made the trains run on time. Trump can't even deliver a letter.

Edited April 11, 2020 by RPM

[MAUFRAIS 6580]

Fuck! I regret my forever stamp investment strategy now.

[lemonlime 5503]

Seems like letting the post office die is a good way to stop voting by mail in November.

[workswithseed 2037]

1 hour ago, RPM said:

It's kinda that way now. Rural carriers bid on a contract. There's usually not much competition because it's a shitty job.

At least Mussolini made the trains run on time. Trump can't even deliver a letter.i mean it wasn't really that great before hand.

It's not like they were doing great before hand 

Edited April 11, 2020 by workswithseed

[RPM 26230]

5 minutes ago, workswithseed said:

It's not like they were doing great before hand 

Running a postal system isn't as difficult as you would think. Otherwise there wouldn't be private competition. It just requires competent leadership. It happens literally all over the world. 

[Underdog 28457]

25 minutes ago, lemonlime said:

Seems like letting the post office die is a good way to stop voting by mail in November.

[ChiTownDoc 21102]

The USPS has to appreciate OP's attempt at the reverse jinx.  The way these threads usually go, the USPS will probably be acquiring Amazon in 6 months. 

[RPM 26230]

46 minutes ago, lemonlime said:

Seems like letting the post office die is a good way to stop voting by mail in November.

Holy shit I didn't even think of that. But the interruption to business would seem to be too great of an obstacle to try that. Well, from a sane person pov.

[ChiTownDoc 21102]

2 hours ago, Degenerate Gardner said:

If USPS was a Trump operation, it would be bigly bailed out. Instead, DOTUS nudges another American institution toward failure. No doubt he resents being excluded from the mail racket and would like to get a piece of the action. 

 

They should remind him how he found his wife.  

[Biff Tannen 45499]

1 hour ago, lemonlime said:

Seems like letting the post office die is a good way to stop voting by mail in November.

So much this.  Under the radar way to say, hey, even if we wanted to, we can't.

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

1 hour ago, ChiTownDoc said:

The USPS has to appreciate OP's attempt at the reverse jinx.  The way these threads usually go, the USPS will probably be acquiring Amazon in 6 months. 

Some WaPo article is going to be the last straw and Trump will weaponize the USPS to nationalize Amazon just to stick it to Bezos.

MARK IT DOWN

[tx 3 putt 76409]

lot of money to be made privatizing usps 

[Celery Man 20886]

 

[Grade of D as in David 13253]

We're throwing around bailout cash like we're at a Tijuana donkey show, but the post office is where we draw the line? 

Trump thinks this is a win win. He gets to stick it to Bezos and the pubs get cash in on the privatization. 

That said, why the fuck do I need junk mail delivered six days a week? How about they come once or twice like the damn trash? They're bloated and need some cuts definitely, but this is not the way to go about it.

[Mdhorn 5911]

all those seniors and vets that get their meds by mail are about to get f'ed.  

[Mdhorn 5911]

19 hours ago, lemonlime said:

Seems like letting the post office die is a good way to stop voting by mail in November.

Republicans will try and cheat no matter what--it's what they do.  They'll have to work fast on privatizing the USPS in time though.  Maybe they can get a ruling to help their efforts.  

[mdmost 42865]

Wouldn't any privatization still have to deal with the massive employee retirement fund which is one of the main drains on the USPS? Or do we just tell all those employees who spent decades earning their pension to just f off while we give billions to companies that overextended themselves?

[Herpa Derpa 6113]

6 minutes ago, mdmost said:

Wouldn't any privatization still have to deal with the massive employee retirement fund which is one of the main drains on the USPS? Or do we just tell all those employees who spent decades earning their pension to just f off while we give billions to companies that overextended themselves?

What do you think?

[wildcat09 29261]

19 hours ago, workswithseed said:

It's not like they were doing great before hand 

Actually they were. Not that USPS is meant to be a profitable enterprise, but the only reason they're even "losing" money is because a Republican Congress passed a bill in 2006 requiring them to pre-fund 75 years of their pension program, which is something no business in the history of the world has ever been required to do.

[Patrick Bateman 3903]

Here's a good thread if you want to understand what's this about.

Some highlights:

There's a lot more in there and it's a good place to start.  The USPS is a lot different from the service in the late 80s/early 90's.

[tx 3 putt 76409]

this is 100% about privatizing a very valuable govt asset. now I'm curious who's lined up for this huge pay day ?

 

 

[Bama Chick 28596]

This is actually exactly what the USPS should do.

[FondrenRoad 4378]

19 minutes ago, Bama Chick said:

This is actually exactly what the USPS should do.

 

They should. There is no question that it would work. Maybe even sweeten the deal by offering to add his silhouette to their logo.  Then they can just make excuses to delay production til 2021 and then cancel it.

[Blotto 23434]

11 minutes ago, Bama Chick said:

This is actually exactly what the USPS should do.

 

 

Sure. Why not

[Zonahorn 8079]

2 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

this is 100% about privatizing a very valuable govt asset. now I'm curious who's lined up for this huge pay day ?

 

 

Fedex probably

[tx 3 putt 76409]

The urban areas will be money makers 

[cmontexas 3254]

Trump is throwing in with UPS and Hoffa's Teamsters 

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

I've always felt like her plan for the USPS seemed like a reasonable and necessary way to help the postal service

 

She discusses the history of the USPS in her thread above and writes about her plan for the postal service here:

 

https://harvardlawreview.org/2014/02/its-time-for-postal-banking/

And discusses the need for it here:

 

[BrazilHorn 6576]

USPS should monetize people that don't want credit card solicitation, catalogs, junk mail etc delivered to them.

They cannot compete with UPS/FEDEX and have been relegated to junk mail delivery service.

[Celery Man 20886]

I did not know that in 2006 a law was passed requiring the USPS to fully fund pensions 75 years in advance. That is bananas.


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

[NWBuck 8548]

There's a part of me that believes this is just another situation where Republicans want to privatized something federal so they can exploit it for their supporters' profits. 

(As an aside, I used to think that only the military was immune to this mindset. Then Blackwater and Academi and others proved me wrong) 

There's another part of me that thinks Republicans are doing this to completely sabotage or manipulate vote by mail initiatives.

I'm convinced that if the country ever moves to nationally sanctioned and secure online voting, Republicans would want to outlaw electricity. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

I've followed the planned defunding of the USPS since the beginning. It has not been allowed to adapt and reach its full potential since the GOP began meddling with it. It is disturbing that Americans defend Second Amendment rights, cannot see the public service this institution provides for every citizen, rich or poor, urban or rural. I know the employees at our local branch and appreciate them and what they do. Like any office, some are better workers than others, but the average American who cannot see this move for what it is, is going to be crying foul too late to matter.

 

[JustBecause 112]

Email

 

 

[bad_teammate 13132]

9 hours ago, Celery Man said:

I did not know that in 2006 a law was passed requiring the USPS to fully fund pensions 75 years in advance. That is bananas.

Complete insanity.

Their private "competitors" are allowed to treat employees like garbage while the USPS has to pre-pay pensions. And marketeers get to argue that the government is inefficient and wasteful.

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13547]

9 hours ago, Celery Man said:

I did not know that in 2006 a law was passed requiring the USPS to fully fund pensions 75 years in advance. That is bananas.


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

GOP Standard Operational Procedure-

1. Create/increase likelihood of crisis

2. ...that require desperate measures

3. Profit

[Larry T. Spider 1741]

7 minutes ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

GOP Standard Operational Procedure-

1. Create/increase likelihood of crisis

2. ...that require desperate measures

3. Profit

Same things they do in education all the time. Defund and then launch attacks through their media surrogates. That builds the political will to pass vouchers, charter schools, etc.

[pyrohornIII 4809]

Big push on Twitter yesterday to buy stamps now.  Consider it a loan.  Gonna go buy some today.  #buystamps

[MAUFRAIS 6580]

[Mdhorn 5911]

15 hours ago, BrazilHorn said:

USPS should monetize people that don't want credit card solicitation, catalogs, junk mail etc delivered to them.

They cannot compete with UPS/FEDEX and have been relegated to junk mail delivery service.

yes and no--people still get medicine by mail, the census is by mail, some still get tax refunds and IRS statements, ballots, bills, registrations, there's still a value with the USPS.  Also, Trump has managed to put his people in and effectively control a bunch of government agencies.  I see this as just another control grab.  Except this should be a conflict of interest since so much individual information would effectively be handed over to the private sector, without their consent.  Plus the private sector would now effectively control the flow of information for the dissemination and retention of individual information.  And for those really afraid about the government taking your guns, you'd pretty much effectively sell your remaining privacy at this point--the stuff that really matters.  That's some power that really would be used for the wrong purposes, distorted and manipulated. There's some tyranny at play here.  

[Celery Man 20886]

I wonder what the trumpy/non-trumpy breakdown is of postal workers.  I haven't thought about this a ton and I assume it's also been wrecked at this point but "works for the post office" seemed like one of the last kinds of jobs where if you meet some basic requirements and aren't totally incompetent/unreliable you can work and make a living in most places.

[BrazilHorn 6576]

2 hours ago, Mdhorn said:

yes and no--people still get medicine by mail, the census is by mail, some still get tax refunds and IRS statements, ballots, bills, registrations, there's still a value with the USPS.  Also, Trump has managed to put his people in and effectively control a bunch of government agencies.  I see this as just another control grab.  Except this should be a conflict of interest since so much individual information would effectively be handed over to the private sector, without their consent.  Plus the private sector would now effectively control the flow of information for the dissemination and retention of individual information.  And for those really afraid about the government taking your guns, you'd pretty much effectively sell your remaining privacy at this point--the stuff that really matters.  That's some power that really would be used for the wrong purposes, distorted and manipulated. There's some tyranny at play here.  

I wish they would just stick to being the governments delivery service or just outsource to FEDEX/UPS the delivery of the items you mention. They could charge me $20/mos to just dump the junk mail in trash right now by front door vs putting mail person & myself at CV19 risk and I would gladly pay it.

[Patrick Bateman 3903]

USPS gets it.... why doesn't one voting bloc?

 

[Bama Chick 28596]

John Oliver did a great piece on the USPS last night.

[tx 3 putt 76409]

for the first time in forever I had to mail a letter. borrowed an envelope and stamp from the neighbor (also flirted) and headed to the post office. the post box outside was so full, my envelope would have been hanging out. so i went inside. the inside slot was beyond full, yet i managed to shove my envelope a little further in. 

[workswithseed 2037]

3 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

for the first time in forever I had to mail a letter. borrowed an envelope and stamp from the neighbor (also flirted) and headed to the post office. the post box outside was so full, my envelope would have been hanging out. so i went inside. the inside slot was beyond full, yet i managed to shove my envelope a little further in. 

Kinky