Things not going well for USPS

[Biff Tannen 46163]

51 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

What would you have the Dems do when DeJoy ignores their subpoena? Call the Justice Dept?

In normal times would they be the ones to arrest him?  Is that not what SHOULD be the penalty for not complying with a subpoena?  Or have I been reading one too many Billy Mumphrey stories?

[Doc Sam Beckett 5905]

4 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

In normal times would they be the ones to arrest him?  Is that not what SHOULD be the penalty for not complying with a subpoena?  Or have I been reading one too many Billy Mumphrey stories?

"A federal appeals court dismissed a House lawsuit Monday seeking to force President Trump’s former White House counsel Donald McGahn to comply with a congressional subpoena, saying that Congress has not passed a law expressly authorizing it to sue to enforce its subpoenas.

The divided 2-to-1 ruling dealt a blow to congressional oversight powers and came three weeks after the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed that Congress had standing to sue — that is, it had shown that the Trump administration’s refusal to allow McGahn to testify harmed the House’s long-standing right to compel testimony from government officials."

[elfenix 34749]

so the full panel says that congress has standing but the small panel says that federal courts don't have subject matter jurisdiction

[Biff Tannen 46163]

6 minutes ago, Doc Sam Beckett said:

"A federal appeals court dismissed a House lawsuit Monday seeking to force President Trump’s former White House counsel Donald McGahn to comply with a congressional subpoena, saying that Congress has not passed a law expressly authorizing it to sue to enforce its subpoenas.

The divided 2-to-1 ruling dealt a blow to congressional oversight powers and came three weeks after the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed that Congress had standing to sue — that is, it had shown that the Trump administration’s refusal to allow McGahn to testify harmed the House’s long-standing right to compel testimony from government officials."

Oh good.  Ah, well, nevertheless.  I'm sure we can count on the courts to do the right thing when this president disputes the election results and refuses to leave office.

[27-25 2085]

USPS doesn't want Congress to see what's going on behind closed doors:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/congresswoman-blocked-touring-mail-facility-postal-service-police-n1239359

Sure, require a longer advanced notice from a member of Congress (more so than they did in the past apparently) such that they have plenty of time move piles of backedup up mail elsewhere and out of sight.  Seems legit.

[Gil Bang 26235]

My contact lenses are still sitting at a facility in WIsconsin.    They haven't moved for 10 days or so. 

[RDCanecutter 26881]

22 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

My contact lenses are still sitting at a facility in WIsconsin.    They haven't moved for 10 days or so. 

Damn son, if you can see clear to Wisconsin, you don't need lenses.

[atomheartbevo 90642]

22 hours ago, 27-25 said:

USPS doesn't want Congress to see what's going on behind closed doors:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/congresswoman-blocked-touring-mail-facility-postal-service-police-n1239359

Sure, require a longer advanced notice from a member of Congress (more so than they did in the past apparently) such that they have plenty of time move piles of backedup up mail elsewhere and out of sight.  Seems legit.

So the postal police wear thin blue line flag desecration as the headgear with their uniform?  What the fuck?

[atomheartbevo 90642]

22 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

My contact lenses are still sitting at a facility in WIsconsin.    They haven't moved for 10 days or so. 

I've been doing some eBaying over the past month - friend's private school is providing the funds for me to buy a bunch of used ThinkPads and basically refurbish them for the students.

USPS has been fucking dragging something awful recently - the sellers are all telling me the same thing "we're very sorry, but it's been this way this summer, you have the tracking number, you know where it's sitting and how long it's been sitting there, it's not our fault."  (well, yeah, it is your fault if you're using USPS instead of another company).

I've also experienced this shit with Amazon stuff taking way too long through USPS.

I cannot recall anything like this in the last 20 years.

[Biff Tannen 46163]

I had a $600 purchase shipped from California and got a notification that it was returned to sender for having a non-existent address. I was there when the label was printed and the address was 100% correct. Not sure if it’s related to usps being fucked right now or not, but I’m not happy about it. 

[atomheartbevo 90642]

1 hour ago, Biff Tannen said:

I had a $600 purchase shipped from California and got a notification that it was returned to sender for having a non-existent address. I was there when the label was printed and the address was 100% correct. Not sure if it’s related to usps being fucked right now or not, but I’m not happy about it. 

We had an item from Amazon coming through USPS a few weeks, and it showed it was to be delivered on Sunday.   Get the notice that it's out for delivery, then about 8:30 at night, the tracking status changed to something like "unable to access entry/driveway" or something (which is impossible for us).  Showed up 4 days later.

I'm thinking these things happen because they get way behind, and some clerk just throws in a notification to make it go away.

[Biff Tannen 46163]

2 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

We had an item from Amazon coming through USPS a few weeks, and it showed it was to be delivered on Sunday.   Get the notice that it's out for delivery, then about 8:30 at night, the tracking status changed to something like "unable to access entry/driveway" or something (which is impossible for us).  Showed up 4 days later.

I'm thinking these things happen because they get way behind, and some clerk just throws in a notification to make it go away.

Yeah, voting by mail, not looking so good right now. Fucking fascists. 

[Gil Bang 26235]

shocked

 

 

[Biff Tannen 46163]

48 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

shocked

 

 

The only way they know how to win is to cheat. The only way to stop them is to hold them accountable. Not just at the ballot box. They have to be punished. Severely. 
 

Real prison time. Or guillotines. Whatever it takes. 

[Horn Dog 10158]

The GOP is the ultimate criminal enterprise.  Imagine what they could do with a competent leader.

[jimmyjazz 47155]

On 8/24/2020 at 3:27 PM, SydneyCarton said:

You mean the ballots that actually make it somewhere to be counted as opposed to languishing around various post office locations?

You make it sound like there's a map somewhere, maybe split out by zip code and demographic tendency, by which vote tampering could be effected.

Furk.

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

2 hours ago, Horn Dog said:

The GOP is the ultimate criminal enterprise.  Imagine what they could do with a competent leader.

You mean like dick Cheney?

[bolverk 30323]

Links to local news station story in California with surveillance video showing a guy dumping bags of mail out the end of a Budget rental truck.

 

[Cairn Horn88 8502]

9 hours ago, Horn Dog said:

The GOP is the ultimate criminal enterprise.  Imagine what they could do with a competent leader.

I’d rather not.

[safe sex 12002]

My only fear with DeJoy being fired is that his replacement will almost certainly be even worse. 

[jimmyjazz 47155]

So this guy almost surely committed federal election code violations at his company for years, and we're not going to do anything about it.  Do I have this right?

[TwiceHorn 32076]

On 9/5/2020 at 7:11 PM, atomheartbevo said:

I've been doing some eBaying over the past month - friend's private school is providing the funds for me to buy a bunch of used ThinkPads and basically refurbish them for the students.

USPS has been fucking dragging something awful recently - the sellers are all telling me the same thing "we're very sorry, but it's been this way this summer, you have the tracking number, you know where it's sitting and how long it's been sitting there, it's not our fault."  (well, yeah, it is your fault if you're using USPS instead of another company).

I've also experienced this shit with Amazon stuff taking way too long through USPS.

I cannot recall anything like this in the last 20 years.

Be aware that there are a number of private shippers that cater to online vendors that use USPS for actual delivery -- and use their tracking numbers -- but do "label processing" and package pickup and delivery to the local PO, themselves.  Apparently using donkeys and rowboats.

When you track at USPS, you get some weird results.

That's not to say USPS is fubar at the moment.

[PsychMike 1553]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

So this guy almost surely committed federal election code violations at his company for years, and we're not going to do anything about it.  Do I have this right?

Banana Republic is right. Actually they may be in better shape than us. In fact, the next time a caravan is spotted between the US and Central America, POTUS should probably check which the direction the headlights are shining before sending troops to the border.

[jimmyjazz 47155]

2 minutes ago, PsychMike said:

Banana Republic is right. Actually they may be in better shape than us. In fact, the next time a caravan is spotted between the US and Central America, POTUS should probably check which the direction the headlights are shining before sending troops to the border.

Well, it is a fact that more people cross from the US into Mexico than vice versa, but Trump certainly doesn't care about that.

[Gil Bang 26235]

14 hours ago, bolverk said:

Links to local news station story in California with surveillance video showing a guy dumping bags of mail out the end of a Budget rental truck.

 

Weird.  I'm pretty sure that's the place @Sbbruin goes for his brazillian waxes. 

 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

On 9/6/2020 at 12:43 PM, Horn Dog said:

The GOP is the ultimate criminal enterprise.  Imagine what they could do with a competent leader.

The Trump Mob has its finger in every pie. HHS, Education, USPS, and on and on.

He's just getting warmed up on the military. He and his friends are going to make a lot of money there too.

[Biff Tannen 46163]

Hang em all. 

[Grade of D as in David 13255]

Quote

House Democrats are launching an investigation of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and called for his immediate suspension following accusations that he reimbursed former employees for campaign contributions they made to his preferred GOP politicians, an arrangement that would be unlawful.

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) said in a statement late Monday that the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which she chairs, would begin an investigation, saying that DeJoy may have lied to her committee under oath.

Maloney also urged the Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service to immediately suspend DeJoy, who, she said, “they never should have hired in the first place.”

A spokesman for the Postal Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Maloney’s announcement came a day after The Washington Post reported allegations that DeJoy and his aides urged employees at his former North Carolina-based logistics company to write checks and attend fundraisers on behalf of Republican candidates.

DeJoy then defrayed the cost of those political contributions by boosting employee bonuses, two employees told The Post.

Although it can be permissible to encourage employees to make donations, reimbursing them for those contributions is a violation of North Carolina and federal election laws.

Such federal violations carry a five-year statute of limitations. There is no statute of limitations in North Carolina for felonies, including campaign finance violations.

[Louis DeJoy’s rise as GOP fundraiser was powered by contributions from company workers who were later reimbursed, former employees say]

Maloney said DeJoy faces “criminal exposure” not only if the allegations are true, “but also for lying to our committee under oath.”

Maloney was referring to DeJoy’s testimony to the House Oversight panel last month, when he forcefully denied that he had repaid executives for contributions they had made to President Trump’s campaign.

House Oversight Committee will investigate Louis DeJoy following claims he pressured employees to make campaign donations

[elfenix 34749]

On 9/5/2020 at 7:24 PM, Biff Tannen said:

I had a $600 purchase shipped from California and got a notification that it was returned to sender for having a non-existent address. I was there when the label was printed and the address was 100% correct. Not sure if it’s related to usps being fucked right now or not, but I’m not happy about it. 

i had basically the same thing happen to a package also from california.  tracking basically went silent for 3 weeks, it suddenly showed up as out for delivery one tuesday morning, then it was processed as a return to sender for insufficient address.  that was 4 weeks ago and the last time tracking updated it was at IAH over a week ago.  that was an ebay sale with paypal, which imports the address straight from my paypal account for the seller.  i've had other stuff ebay sent to my office before and after and no problems.  nothing else from cali though. 

[pyrohornIII 4846]

I wonder how many people who used to use the USPS have curtailed their shipping because of this, and how that would affect the finances of the post office.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

On 8/21/2020 at 9:37 PM, Mrs Whiggins said:

Here is the Board of Governors. Trump has quite the diversity in his Administration.

Robert M. Duncan was appointed to the Postal Service Board of Governors by President Donald Trump and was confirmed by the Senate in August 2018. The Senate confirmed Duncan for a second term in December 2019. His current term expires on December 8, 2025. Duncan was re-elected as Chairman of the Board of Governors in November 2019. Outside of government service, he served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2007 to 2009. As RNC Chairman, he raised an unprecedented $428 million and grew the donor base to 1.8 million – more donors than at any time in RNC history. Duncan was also President and CEO of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. He taught democracy to former communist leaders through the International Republican Institute, and he participated in the EastWest Institute’s U.S. China High Level Political Party Leaders Dialogue. He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Alice Lloyd College, a private four-year liberal arts college in Pippa Passes, Kentucky, and Chairman and CEO of the Inez Deposit Bank in Inez, Kentucky.

John M. Barger was appointed to the Postal Service Board of Governors by President Donald Trump and was confirmed by the Senate on Aug. 1, 2019. Barger will serve for the remainder of a term that expires on Dec. 8, 2021. He currently chairs the Board's Compensation and Governance Committee.

He brings to the USPS Board an extensive background in business, law, finance, and corporate governance. He is the managing director of NorthernCross Partners, an investment and advisory firm providing private capital and advisory services to middle market companies and private equity funds. He also serves as a director on a number of company boards, including those involved in ecommerce, logistics/supply chain, data analytics, and digital visualization and electronic displays. He was also a founding partner of a successful turnaround management consulting firm and was a founding partner in Axa/XL-Latin America Reinsurance Company.

Ron A. Bloom was nominated to serve on the Postal Service Board of Governors by President Donald Trump, confirmed by the Senate and began his service on Aug. 20, 2019. Bloom will serve the remainder of a seven-year term that expires on Dec. 8, 2020. He currently chairs the Board's Strategy and Innovation Committee.

Before joining the Postal Service, Bloom worked for Lazard Freres & Co., a financial advisory and asset management firm. In 1990, he formed his own investment banking firm, Keilin and Bloom, which specialized in representing the interests of unions and employee groups in corporate bankruptcies and restructuring situations. From 1996 through 2008, he served as Special Assistant to the President of the United Steelworkers (USW). In that role, Bloom represented the USW in major contract negotiations.

Roman Martinez IV was appointed to the Postal Service Board of Governors by President Donald Trump and was confirmed by the Senate on Aug. 1, 2019. Martinez will serve for the remainder of a seven-year term that expires on Dec. 8, 2024. He currently chairs the Board's Audit and Finance Committee.

Martinez began his career as an investment banker in 1971 at Kuhn Loeb & Company, which merged with Lehman Brothers in 1977. Martinez became a partner there in 1978 and worked as Managing Director in investment banking until his retirement in 2003. Throughout his career, he was involved in most aspects of investment banking, including public and private financings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and overall corporate financial advice. Since 2003, he has served on the board of directors for several companies, including Cigna Corporation, Orbital ATK and Bacardi Limited.

Donald L. Moak was appointed to the Postal Service Board of Governors by President Donald Trump and was confirmed by the Senate on June 18, 2020. Moak will serve for the remainder of a seven-year term that expires on December 8, 2022.

Moak is a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Moak Group, a public affairs, advocacy, and business consulting firm. He brings to the board, extensive experience within the corporate, labor, and political worlds. Throughout his career, Moak has also been a leader for change in the air transportation industry and international policy. During his time as a pilot, pilot leader, and association leader, he helped ensure the future of American aviation and aviation jobs. He advocated for numerous policy changes related to international and domestic aviation policy and was a prominent spokesperson for aviation safety and effective aviation policy.

William D. Zollars was appointed to the Postal Service Board of Governors by President Donald Trump and was confirmed by the Senate on June 18, 2020. Zollars will serve for the remainder of a seven-year term that expires on December 8, 2022.

Zollars first served his country in 1970, when he enlisted in the Army National Guard. During his years in private industry, he led large organizations in three different Fortune 500 companies and served on the board of directors of four different Fortune 500 companies.

As chairman, president and chief executive officer of YRC Worldwide, Inc., Zollars, led one of the largest and most recognizable global transportation service providers from 1999-2011. While at YRC, Zollars was a direct participant in the postal delivery process by providing consolidation and de-consolidation services on behalf of the USPS. Before that, Zollars was president of Yellow Transportation Inc., a position he accepted in 1996 as part of a major management transition for the company.

 

 

Remember these guys^^^^? The USPS Board?

Well, this happened:

 

[Biff Tannen 46163]

14 hours ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Remember these guys^^^^? The USPS Board?

Well, this happened:

 

WTF

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

They treated the United States Postal Service as if it were one of their companies. To be stripped and raided and plundered to the benefit of their investments and interests. Not too different than what happened with the Department of Education monies wherein private investor firms have gobbled up charter school properties which they then rent back to the schools. The schools get tax dollars which they then pay the investors.

Think of this as Republican money laundering and you are the person outside the laundromat in the parking lot wondering what happened to your clothes AND your wallet.

Edited September 10, 2020 by Mrs Whiggins
**in other words, they got what they wanted so they give Trump what he wanted, which is a defunct crippled mail service.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

Liz really does understand corruption in DC. Please Democratic Party and Biden-Harris team, please please do not waste the doggedness, intelligence, and determination of your members. Warren is but one of many advocates. Use Sanders, use Demings, use Stacey Abrams, and Katie Porter. Adam Schiff, Eric Salwell, Beto and the Castro brothers. Grab Daniel Goldman and get to work cleaning up the mess.

[elfenix 34749]

lAw AnD oRdEr

Quote

The Postal Service last month abruptly ordered its police officers to stop investigating mail theft that occurs away from post office property, the Postal Police Officers Association alleged Monday, suing Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to block a change they say could erode the safety of mail carriers and delivery.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/14/postal-service-police-union-sues-dejoy-414537

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13628]

 

[cmontexas 3368]

Working in Saginaw yesterday I watched as 3 police SUVs descended on a mail guy that was filling up one of those community mailbox things. More and more they use outside contractors to deliver mail in their personal vehicle and are not issued uniforms.

If you are trying to guess the skin color of the poor mail guy, you aren't thinking very hard 

[WhatTheBuck 28929]

I can pay my Verizon bill electronically. I used to be able to pay it in cash at a kiosk at a couple of Verizon stores nearby. That service was discontinued prior to the quarantine. (The kiosks are still there to accept plastic. I can pay that way over the phone. What's the fucking point?)

As an experiment I mailed a payment on Sept. 8. It was posted to my account on Sept. 16. Columbus, OH to Newark, NJ. Eight days. Should've been three, four at the worst. 

I don't care if I get sick and die as a result of voting in person. If it results in removing Trump from office, I'll be proud to give my life for my country. 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

 

[Gil Bang 26235]

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/usps-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-calendar-redacted_n_5fd9259cc5b663c3759aa5a5?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

fter being hit with a lawsuit in federal court, and after months of being pressed  by Democratic lawmakers, the U.S. Postal Service finally released Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s calendar on Tuesday.

But good luck reading it.

Democrats and transparency advocates hoped to learn whom DeJoy, a former fundraiser for President Donald Trump, met with as he took control of the Postal Service ― particularly since he initiated a set of sweeping policy changes that measurably slowed mail delivery ahead of an election where millions planned to vote by mail. He also has a number of potential conflicts of interest from his time in the private sector, where he ran businesses that compete with the USPS.

 

But the calendar released Tuesday is almost entirely redacted. From June 15 to Nov. 7, DeJoy held more than 450 meetings and conference calls, his electronic calendar says. But the agency’s Freedom of Information Act office blacked out nearly every word beyond references to dates and times. Only a handful of recurring words escaped redaction: “meeting,” “teleconference,” “prep for all hands,” “in office” and “RTP” (an abbreviation for “Read, Think, Plan”).

 

The calendar, disclosed in an ongoing lawsuit brought by liberal legal group American Oversight, does not specify on the document why the appointments were redacted. Though redactions to documents released through FOIA are common, the agency must cite specific exemptions detailed in the law.

An accompanying letter says that the withheld portions concerned trade secrets, privileged interagency communications, and personnel records that would raise privacy concerns.

 

“Shrouding his calendar in secrecy likely violates the letter of the law, and certainly violates its spirit,” Austin Evers, the executive director of American Oversight, wrote in an email to HuffPost. “DeJoy works for the public, but you wouldn’t know it from his calendar. Even in the Trump era, this is an extraordinary level of obfuscation.”

The USPS has faced pressure for months to disclose DeJoy’s electronic calendar. In a widely publicized exchange back in August, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, asked DeJoy to release his calendar, asserted that it was subject to FOIA, and asked whether he or his staff had deleted any items from it. (DeJoy said they had not deleted any items.)

Mail delivery slowed after DeJoy took control of the USPS in June, driving concerns that he had the power to tip the election in Trump’s favor, given that Democrats were more likely to cast mail-in ballots.

DeJoy fundraised for Trump in the past. The North Carolina businessman also served as an executive for XPO Logistics, a company that contracts with the USPS.

Other agencies routinely make federal officials’ schedules public when requested under FOIA. But the USPS has refused to do so for DeJoy’s calendar, which is also the subject of a congressional subpoena. The agency’s FOIA office claims that the calendar, which was created for him on a government computer to carry out official business, is a private record.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

Oh, now that would just piss me right off. My first reaction were I a congressperson would be, "what the hell is this shit?" My second would be to reach for my phone and talk to Katie Porter and we'd be white board sisters-in-arms.

[swraith 348]

When DeJoy is replaced....USPS could release an unredacted version?  I assume DeJoy can't delete the calendar before he leaves.

[TwiceHorn 32076]

The redactions can be challenged in court.  "Privileged interagency communications" is utter bullshit, afaik, just a trumpy extension of executive privilege.  Trade secrets is also barely plausible for a quasi-governmental agency.  And I seriously doubt that those calendar entries contain enough information to implicate "personnel records."

[Neonmoon 38130]

Please name me one thing that a USPS employee needs redacted from the public

I can't wait to see the extent of corruption once pig dick is gone. You know like slowing down the mail service so people's votes don't get counted. I would LOVE to see what votes were delivered after Nov. 3, those people identified and see their reaction to their vote not being counted. 

[Mdhorn 6166]

3 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Please name me one thing that a USPS employee needs redacted from the public

I can't wait to see the extent of corruption once pig dick is gone. You know like slowing down the mail service so people's votes don't get counted. I would LOVE to see what votes were delivered after Nov. 3, those people identified and see their reaction to their vote not being counted. 

Hoping people are using drop boxes and voting in person for the Georgia runoffs. It's not like pig dick's usefulness is totally gone for the Right.  

[Bama Chick 28596]

[Biff Tannen 46163]

4 minutes ago, Bama Chick said:

 

Cool. I expect to never hear of this again. 

[tx 3 putt 78676]

Hang him High !!!

[DigglerontheHoof 21551]

Nothing. Will. Happen.