
Head of Postal Workers Union Says Postal Service Could Be Dead in Three Months - pmoriarty
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/22470/mark_dimondstein_apwu_union_post_office_shut_down_trump_gop
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therealdrag0
The mail-in ballot angle is really concerning here. We need the ability to do
that. And we need a post office to do that.

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alexmingoia
Absentee ballots can be sent with private couriers like FedEx. That's actually
what some people living overseas have to do. Election commissions can choose
to send ballots via private mail couriers as well, and allow people to print
and send self-certified ballots.

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bottle2
How much does that cos? The post office is cheap for a lightweight letter (and
I can use a stamp from home), but if I use FedEx I generally have to go to
their local shop and pay a few dollars

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kitotik
It’s amazing to me that this isn’t being covered more on the mainstream media.

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bpodgursky
There's no point in covering any US government shutdown more than a week or
two before it happens. We've turned political gamesmanship into a refined art-
form.

Everyone knows the USPS isn't going to stop running. Republicans will try to
gut the union as a precondition for emergency funding. Democrats will try to
beef up the retirement funds. Of course the head of the Postal Workers Union
will want to prevent the former from getting pushed through the negotiations,
so they'll talk up the potential shutdown now. But that doesn't mean it's a
realistic outcome.

We'll inevitably get a shitty, 18 month funding deal out of it, and kick the
can down the road to the next congress. It will suck, we'll live with it,
whatever. Everyone knows this is the outcome though, and there's no point
talking about THAT stupid game when we have the stupid game of the week to
cover -- in this case, re-funding the Paycheck Protection Program.

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0xy
Isn't parcel volume up substantially right now? How could a post office be
teetering when online retail is at unprecedented volumes right now?

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olefoo
The postal service is subject to a law saying it has to pre-fund it's benefit
plans; this is due to a law passed by the Republican congress specifically so
they could point to the USPS failing finances and use that as the excuse for
privatising it.

Just another part of our American heritage getting looted by private equity.

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0xy
I agree with you in that it's an unreasonable expectation, but this does not
explain the alleged crisis.

By my calculations, their revenue numbers should be flat or slightly up now.

Parcel volumes are up in excess of 150% where I live.

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RickJWagner
If the Post Office is floundering when FedEx and UPS are turning profits, then
something is out of whack.

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lend000
I can't imagine I would get much junk mail delivered through UPS and FedEx.

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DangitBobby
Interesting. You think UPS and FedEx aren't interested in the new money on the
table from advertisers that are suddenly willing to pay their higher prices?

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jimmaswell
I'm guessing the rates wouldn't be subsidized to the degree of USPS.

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plorkyeran
Junk mail is a profit center for the USPS. It isn't the thing being
subsidized.

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enraged_camel
This has two components. First, Trump hates the Postal Service, because he
mistakenly believes that they are giving Amazon (owned by Bezos, whom Trump
despises) too good of a deal:

[https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/98006358159204761...](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/980063581592047617)

[https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/98006541963256627...](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/980065419632566272)

The second part is that Republicans believe starving the Postal Service will
be yet another hurdle to throw in front of mail-in voting, which is gaining
momentum amidst the coronavirus crisis. After all, without USPS, there
wouldn't be a low-cost option to mail ballots.

The entire thing is cynical and vile.

edit: judging by the downvoters I guess I hit a raw nerve...

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jdxcode
Didn’t downvote but my guess is people aren’t interested in discussing pure
politics. Doesn’t necessarily mean they think you’re wrong.

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AnthonyMouse
Maybe it's time. The whole USPS as a quasi-governmental entity thing has been
an anachronism for about a hundred years and a farce ever since email replaced
its raison d'etre.

Just delete every law on the books that distinguishes it in any way from UPS
or FedEx and let it live or die on its own merits.

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kitotik
So price most rural citizens out of mail?

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alkibiades
if that’s the worry we can just subsidize UPS etc to service them.

it’s a lot cheaper and more efficient than this

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notacoward
It's only efficient as a way to funnel taxpayer money into stockholders'
pockets. "Privatizing" a service but continuing to pick winners and subsidize
them isn't really privatizing and isn't compatible with a real free market.
It's literally a kind of command economy, albeit one designed to benefit only
a few.

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bhupy
> continuing to pick winners and subsidize them

Another approach could be to just give rural Americans more cash, and let them
pick the winners, as consumers.

