This episode The Fall of the US Post Office looks at how a disastrous law, bureaucratic mismanagement, and executive overreach have placed the post office in a precarious position. Do we have what it takes to save America's oldest institution?
The Fall of the US Post Office looks at how a disastrous law, bureaucratic mismanagement, and executive overreach have placed the post office in a precarious position. In this episode, we look at:
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Hi everybody! I am Riley Daniel and this is the next generation voter-the only podcast of the next gen, by the next gen, for the next gen. If you guys remember, in March, I talked about how the Trump Administration was destroying old precedents and creating dangerous new ones with regards to the trust in science to respond to a public health emergency.Today, the Trump Administration is once again destroying the precedents with regards to another fundamental American institution, and it’s not one that you would expect. In fact, the institution that is on the verge of collapse due to a disastrous law, bureaucratic mismanagement, and the ill effects of the cornovarius pandemic is the most popular government agency in America, with an approval rating of greater than 90%, higher than that of George Washington himself, is the United States Postal Service.
The United States Postal Service, or USPS, actually predates the United States by almost a year. On July 26, 1775, the second continental congress, the very same men who a year later would draft the most famous document in the history of the United States, established the USPS, with Benjamin Franklin appointed to be the first postmaster general. Based on the British postal service, the new service was quickly embraced by Americans across the colonies. In fact, George Washington saw the benefits of it as president, seeing it as an efficient way to deliver newspapers to people across the country, keeping them informed of news that would otherwise be unknown. This success was so imperative the future of our young nation that it was written into Article one of the constitution, where in section 7, congress is given exclusive rights to create a post office, which they did with the postal act of 1792, giving the post office sole commercial jurisdiction over postage. In a time where Americans were spread apart great distances from each other, the post office was a glue connecting these areas together, effectively transforming a ragtag group of colonies into a nation of states. Leaders understood that the postal service's mission was not to run a profit, but instead to function as a universal service, something that should be available to all Americans at an affordable price. As America slowly expanded over the course of the next two centuries the post office was always there to deliver letters, packages, and even in a few rare occasions, people. No matter what obstacles lay in their path, postal workers kept trudging through, even using boats to transport mail to 19th century south florida, and dogsleds to reach the arctic reaches of Alaska. As a result of this determination, the post office became defined by the unofficial motto etched into a 1914 Manhattan postal building, “ Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”. In fact, for the first 230 years of America, the only thing that could stop mail from reaching a house was sunday.
However, in 2006, Maine Senator Susan Collins sponsored and shepherded through the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which was the first reorganization of the Postal Service since 1971. This act requires the post office to fund in advance the health benefits of postal workers for the upcoming 50 years.Yes, you heard that correctly. 50 years. I guarantee that some of the people who will receive these benefits 50 years down the line are not even alive yet. As will shock precisely none of you, no other private entity or government organization follows this prepaid system, mainly due to the fact that it is pointless and ineffectual, and benefits precisely nobody. In fact, Congressman Bill Pascrell wrote recently about it, calling the
act “a blunder, one of the worst pieces of legislation Congress has passed in a generation.” That’s saying a lot considering in this generation, congress has passed such lauded laws such as the Patriot Act and the Iraq War Resolution. In fact, of the $160.9 Billion in debt the post office owes,$119.3 Billion of it is due to these pay advances. To be fair, I’d have a hard time not going into debt if I was limited in business opportunities and forced to pay retirement benefits for infants. It’s no wonder that the post office lost $ 9 Billion last year, and is on pace to break 11 this year. It’s like asking the army to spend its money on uniforms for soldiers who will serve in the year 2100. As a result, the post office asked for changes and more funding from the government. What has happened since isn’t what they were looking for.
Earlier this year, Donald Trump appointed Louis DeJoy, a businessman who has donated millions of dollars to republican candidates for office to be the next postmaster general of the United States, the first Postmaster General since 2001 to be appointed without any prior experience in the USPS. In fact, DeJoy was not a member of the initial list of possible nominees for the position, and was actually only considered at the bequest of John Barger, a republican member of the post office’s Board of Governors. When he spoke to members of congress regarding the hiring process of Postmaster General DeJoy, David C. Williams, former vice chair of the USPS Board of Governors, said that of the list of candidates for postmaster general, DeJoy was the least qualified.” Additionally, there were concerns with a possible conflict of interest that DeJoy may have, considering he received an income of between 1.2 and 7 million dollars from sitting on the board XPO logistics, a company that provides logistical support to the post office during busy periods. Normally, such conflicts of interests would be cleared up in the high-level background check normally required for such a position, however Williams has claimed that this check did not appear to have been completed with DeJoy. That’s fundamentally scary. It’s absolutely the prerogative of the president to appoint whoever he wants to be postmaster general, but he owes it to the American people to conduct proper checks, to make sure that his appointee isn’t doing the job for personal gain. However, instead of doing so, the administration has only placed more undue influence on the affairs of the post office, to the point where Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was warned by the general counsel of the USPS that his interference with the appointment process and decisions of the board of governors was illegal because “another department cannot impose its will on a department of the federal government.”, which according to Williams, was ignored by Mnunchin. As a result of these changes being imposed Williams resigned his seat on the board of Governors in April, one day before DeJoy was officially appointed as Postmaster general. In his congressional testimony, he fairly accurately wrapped up these events by stating that “the administration was politicizing the postal service”, which is a scary thought due to the profound importance this completely nonpartisan department has on the lives of millions of Americans.
The post office’s responsibility don’t just range the span of popstage,as they are also responsible for helping millions of Americans mail their checks, receive their prescriptions, and even, in many states mail their ballots. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, voters in every state will, at least in some cases, be allowed to vote by mail, leading to estimates that tens of millions of ballots will be entrusted to the USPS, a burden that has some worried about the agency’s ability to handle such a high volume of mail at once. These fears have been exacerbated by the recent changes made by DeJoy, such as removing 671 mail-sorting machines from USPS plants, most of which were Delivery Bar Code Sorters(DBCS), which can sort 30,000 envelopes an hour. Although about 3⁄4 of these machines had already been designated for removal, the fact that they are being removed just months before what will likely be the most contentious election in our lifetimes, where the Post office will have to process ballots in an efficient and accurate manner, in order to adhere to the whims of a waiting America, does not seem the wisest course of action. When the machines that have been removed are examined closely, there are some very alarming statistics. Of those that were removed, there were 59 in Florida, 58 in Texas, 34 in Ohio, 30 in Pennsylvania, 26 in Michigan, 15 in North Carolina, 12 in Virginia, 12 in Wisconsin, and 11 in Georgia. When a third of the mailboxes removed are found in just six swing states, it makes me wonder if this is part of an effort to discourage mail-in voting, especially considering President Trump’s outright opposition to the practice, due to unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. In fact, there is serious doubt that the USPS will be able to deliver all ballots in time for them to make the deadlines in individual states, as the USPS sent a letter to 46 states and Washington D.C. saying that it “cannot be guaranteed” that ballots will be counted on time. I’m Sorry, that is simply NOT ACCEPTABLE. Our ballots are not a birthday card sent by grandma; They cannot afford to be delivered late, because late ballots could disenfranchise potentially millions of Americans. American democracy has survived countless wars, presidents, conflicts and criticisms, but its power rests on the simple premise that every adult citizen has the right to cast a ballot, and that their vote will count. I will acknowledge that in his testimony this week, DeJoy claimed to be highly confident that all ballots mailed during election week will be submitted by election day. Even if that ends up being true, this seems like yet another example of the Post Office making needless changes that have the consequences to create catastrophic problems for America. My advice would be to try to vote in person, as that does not rely on the post office, and if you, for health or other reasons can’t do that, then vote by mail as soon as possible and send it off today, so that it will be counted towards the future of our democracy.
In addition to the removal of machines I talked about earlier, DeJoy has made some other organizational changes to the post office, which have gone over poorly. Due to the financial troubles that I referenced earlier, one of the first changes made by the new postmaster general was to eliminate overtime for postal workers. Normally, post office workers work eight hour days, but they often end up with ten-hour workdays, both due to the sheer volume of mail to deliver, and wanting to get two hours of overtime, which is often important for the postal workforce, which is 40% minorities and employs over 100,000 veterans. These veterans often rely on this extra money in order to help them afford expenses and live the middle-class life that they deserve. It isn’t just the workers who are getting shortchanged by this change, as many Americans have experienced delays in mail service. And for people who live in rural areas, where companies like Amazon and FedEx won’t deliver, they have no other option. Ohio Senator Rob Portman told a heartbreaking story about one of his constituents, a veteran who was waiting on his prescription inhaler "Due to delays, he ran out of it while waiting for it to arrive and then his insurance said, 'You know what, we're not going to pay for another refill to be filled because it's already been shipped through the Postal Service.' That is unacceptable. After all that this man has given to our country, the least he should expect is that the mail will arrive on time, bringing him the inhaler that will allow him to breath in the freedom he has provided all of us with.