The Post Office
President Trump stepped up his long-running battle with Amazon, ordering a federal task force to investigate the Postal Service’s finances. Actually that’s misleading as the battle is really with the Washington Post and its coverage of him. Jeff Bezos owns a controlling interest in both Amazon and the Washington Post, so Trump attacks Amazon.
One problem with the Postal Service is that while Trump nominated three to USPS Board of Governors in October of 2017, he still hasn’t nominated anyone for the other six positions. The Board of Governors oversees Postal operations.
The Postal Service has financial issues that were intentionally caused by Congress as part of a push to privatize it. The Mail Handlers know what the problem is:
… The most immediate step to secure financial relief and sustainability for the USPS would be to address the 2006 Congressional mandate to pre-fund retiree health benefits 75 years in advance – an onerous burden that no other private or public entity in America is required to carry.
For those who don’t follow these things, when private equity firms or hedge funds or other vulture capitalist entities take over a company they raid pre-funded pensions first and then start selling off parts of the company and mortgage what they can. This is the process that bankrupts large companies like Sears, Toys-R-Us, and major newspapers.
8 comments
Somewhere I read that Bezos should buy twitter with his pocket change and cancel Trumps account. I think that’s a most excellent idea.
I’m sure that the postal service retirement account is part of the swamp Trump would like to drain.
Trump would probably block the sale to Bezos with ‘trumped up’ monopoly concerns.
The real prize the Republicans have been trying to snare is the almost 3 trillion dollar Social Security trust fund. They want to ‘invest’ it in something other than the US Treasury bonds.
Off topic, I thought you’d get a kick out of this one:
Signals Intelligence Analyst under investigation for being normal.
From the military equivalent of The Onion.
🙂 .
OTOH they don’t have to talk to local Wachtmeisters [town cops] in German towns about one of your subordinates breaking into the local church to play the organ at 2AM. Ah, those were the days … that made me regret ever being promoted. 😈
Wait. You mean not *everybody* plays the organ at 2AM? 🙂
Apparently not in the state of Hesse [Frankfurt am Main]. I know – hard to believe.
Be CLEAR … NOT Congress … GOP/Republican LEAD Congress … wants to privatize the US Postal Service AND DID set up the 2006 Congressional mandate to pre-fund retiree health benefits 75 years in advance – an onerous burden that no other private or public entity in America is required to carry!
These m fers STATED goal is to shrink and/or degrade the Federal government so that they can drown it in a bathtub!
GOP/Republican governance HAS been disasterous for the United States of America in the 21st Century!
You’ll get no argument from me. It should be noted that both UPS and FedEx use the Postal Service for ‘last mile’ deliveries. Paying USPS to make those deliveries is ‘cheaper and more efficient’ than doing it themselves.
Currently UPS and FedEx only make deliveries of packages the USPS won’t deal with, like some chemicals and devices, or oversized packages.