America’s top news continues to touch on the upcoming election. The Friday night news dump was about the United States Postal Service. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump loyalist, has recently created new rules for the agency that have dramatically slowed the delivery of mail just as mail-in voting for 2020 has begun. Today, DeJoy overhauled the USPS, releasing a new organizational chart that displaces postal executives with decades of experience and concentrates power in DeJoy himself. Twenty-three executives have been reassigned or fired; five have been moved in from other roles. The seven regions of the nation will become four, and the USPS will have a hiring freeze. DeJoy says the new organization will create “clear lines of authority and accountability.”
The worries keep mounting! Faith is a little hard to muster up. I hope Americans never become apathetic about politics again. I thought teaching was such a good career path, but politics has even soured that for me! A friend said her 18 year old’s friends are ready to keep up the fight, and all are voting democrat. I sure hope so! Like the girl in Georgia that posted the school picture. She said it was necessary trouble! Go Hannah Waters! 💙
Heather, I can't understand why our Democratic representatives are not on every media outlet letting Americans know exactly what is in the bill they passed in May, contrasting it with the Republican proposal, and hammering at McConnells obstruction in refusing to take it up. Why is this. Why isn't the media reporting more about this? Is there anything we can do to make this more public?
People, especially Republican politicians, have always misrepresented the Post Office as being mismanaged.
In the 1990s when Hillary Clinton made her healthcare proposal, the dispicable Phil Gramm, senator from Texas, thought he was being witty when he said (something like this), "I won't let the greatest healthcare system in the world turn into the U.S. Post Office."
I told everyone I could tell at the time, "PLEASE make our healthcare system like the Post Office. It's service is universal, affordable and they still make house calls."
I've written this here before, but the small nonprofit publisher I work for ships books all over the country and even around the world via the Post Office. The service has always been excellent. We also use UPS, but we find the Post Office is better and faster and cheaper for smaller packages. If you get the address wrong on a UPS package, they don't even try to deliver it, but ship it back to you and charge you for the return. The Post Office often is able to deliver a package with an incorrect address, and if they return it to you they don't charge you.
Every day's news seems to make it more clear that Trump intends to steal this election. This so-called re-structuring of the USPS came just after Congressional Democrats sent a letter to the Inspector General of the Postal Service asking for an investigation. DeJoy is shameless in his pursuit, making it clear that he is trying to force the USPS to fail in order to strengthen the argument for privatization. I hadn't heard the bit about DeJoy's heavy investment in private courier services, but that doesn't surprise me - I would be willing to bet that many people have invested heavily in these services in anticipation of the forced collapse of the USPS, and I certainly wouldn't be surprised if the Trump Organization was one of those investors. The strategy that enables corruption in the Trump era seems to be to throw so many acts of cruelty, profanity, greed, and ignorance at the public that people can't possibly absorb it all, much less respond to it. We are becoming numbed and overwhelmed by the constant assault, and if there is anything that can be labelled genius in Trump's profane, viral existence, this is it.
Trump is a chaos agent. It's incredible to have such a force for instability occupy one of the most important positions of power on our planet. But here we are. He whips up dervishes of disturbance and distraction, then moves purposefully toward his goal while his opponents are off balance or focussed on the wrong issue. It's very effective and difficult to counter.
There are many Trump supporters on my job. Intelligent people I work with every day. Their support seems rooted in the belief that America offers opportunity for anyone and everyone with the initiative to take it. Those who don't are lazy and looking for free handouts. Again, very difficult to counter. We are a land of opportunity. Making the argument that government regulation is needed to ensure transparency and fairness does not resonate. Rather, it is seen as an impediment to innovation and free enterprise. As such it's to be applauded when burdensome regulation is attacked and dispensed with.
I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but Thank God for the choir! I'm continually reaching for ways to effectively counter argue these beliefs. The destruction of norms and processes simply makes it easier for those so prepared to take advantage of loosened controls to enrich and/or empower themselves, generally at the expense of the greater public. This is termed "being smart" by the trumpistas, who seem to congratulate wealth accumulation by any means necessary.
The predicament of the Postal Service horrifies me. Nevermind that reliable mail service is a defining and uniting core of a civil nation, one that has historically provided a path to middle class stability for it's employees. The fact that Agent Orange is attacking its reputation AND functionality at this point in time is shocking. To blatantly meddle in and impugn what is obviously going to be a crucial mechanism in the upcoming election is a travesty. I would think there must be some way to prevent such wholesale unilateral disruption to a critical function of an election this close to its date. If nothing else it appears to be setting up an obvious path to electoral chaos, and is in fact an attempt at fraud.
Trump is committed to destroying the machinery that makes our government run. All to benefit himself and his cronies, and to force a model of governance based on unfettered capital above all on a population that knows better, but is too busy trying to get by to be effectively united against an entrenched oligarchy. Here's hoping we can put this beast back in its cage!
Several reactions are intermingled on reading Heather's account of what Trump and his minions are up to, over and above gratitude for her fortitude and clarity, and i can't decide which takes precedence. "A bull in a china shop" , "children in a candy store" "Disney's Devil's Apprentice" or "Captain Hook in Peter Pan". The scale of their duplicity, arrogance and immorality leave me flabergasted. Where should one turn one's head to see through the murk of their corruption? The only bulwarks of any use in the short term given the complicity of the Senate are firstly the judges and then the vote. November is still a long way off and January 20 is even further.
When I first read that Trump wants to eliminate the payroll tax, I was absolutely shocked at the people I know who support him and don't realize that this could mean the end of their Social Security monthly check. And these are retirees who depend on that monthly check!
Another stunning, and thoughtful, wrap-up, Heather. Thank you BIGLY! So many thoughts sprang to mind, reading it.
Aldona Vos made waves here in NC when she was put in charge of DHSS and thoroughly screwed it up. I had no idea who her husband was, just that they are multi-millionaires, living in Greensboro.
Re: the USPS, I recently called my small town PO to ask about a package that the tracking email said was out for delivery. My regular carrier had been and gone, no package. I know they sometimes run two deliveries, one just for packages. But I also know there have been balls dropped, like once when my husband's medicine order got stuffed in a cubbie for some reason, and was only found when I raised enough hell. But I digress.........I told the employee who took my call that I am aware the new boss is working to sabotage the system, and her first reaction was agreement, then she caught herself and realized she might incriminate herself, so she turned very businesslike. Turns out they were running two deliveries (how efficient is that?) and if I hadn't received it by late afternoon to call her back.
I believe some of the rank and file employees are going to be mounting a counter-offensive, if they haven't already. They are the ones who are getting the irate phone calls and tongue-lashings over the mailbox, after all. Mr. DeJoy surely isn't.
As for the wrangling over the extended emergency benefits, the GOP is cutting their own throats (Mark Meadows, this one's for you). Not only are the youngish cohort of unemployeed furiously trying to find a way to survive, but they have PARENTS and grandparents who may be in the same boat AND are worried sick about their kids. I am one of them. And we vote. Even if some haven't voted in years, or voted for Trump in'16, they aren't keen on seeing their kids lose everything they have, or their grandkids end up in homeless shelters.
The GOP, especially the Freedom Caucus, are not even on the same planet with the real people out here in the real world. And that goes double for McConnell and his henchmen.
Not sure I can make it to November without being heavily medicated..............😒
We "ain't seen nuthin' yet." 87 more days to go and every single new one is going to be worse than those that came before. The horse hockey is going to multiply and expand. Think of the last hour of "The Return of the King," that had your heart pounding as it looked like Sauron's Orcs and the other forces of darkness would overwhelm and prevail. That's what we're in for, with hopefully a similar end.
People, especially Republicans, forget that the post office is a service and not a business. The new rule that mail in ballots will now require 55 cents to be mailed instead of 20 cents in some states is a prime example. The post office is providing a service to US citizens. It doesn't consider whether it's making a profit or not. Another aspect that hasn't been talked much about if the post office is privatized is that the post office is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. They cannot disclose "information of a commercial nature, including trade secrets, whether or not obtained from a person outside the Postal Service, which under good business practice would not be publicly disclosed". They have not disclosed any such information. Do you really think a private company would do the same? I think not.
The Republicans think people are staying home because people are making more money on unemployment and are thus de-incentivized from returning to work. I fear, in *red states* this could possibly be true. I searched to see state minimum wages nationally. Not shockingly, I found that *blue states* generally have a minimum wage $3+ higher than the federal minimum wage. While *red states* are either at the federal minimum wage or slightly above it. Not that it’s an excuse for their actions, but, it’s a rationale for their cruelty.
The irony of all of this is that THESE BENEFITS are keeping the economy running. If the Feds stop pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy by way of individual people’s wallets, this entire *recovery* is going to fall flat on its face before it ever even starts recovering.
It is hard not to be totally disheartened by the continued onslaught of news of the disfunction of our government. That McConnell sits out the talks makes my blood boil. His abuse of his position should not be forgotten come Nov. That the repubs have "forgotten" how to negotiate, and then turn failure to come to an agreement on dems, increases my rage as well as my feeling that there is nothing left except to VOTE, VOTE VOTE. And make sure everyone I know votes as well.
Ballot distribution will represent one of the biggest crises leading into the election, and everyone here should be calling their local officials to ask what their plan is (and encouraging everyone else to do the same).
"Hi, with all of the delays happening in mail delivery, I'd like to know what your office is planning on doing to make sure that absentee ballots arrive on time."
The worries keep mounting! Faith is a little hard to muster up. I hope Americans never become apathetic about politics again. I thought teaching was such a good career path, but politics has even soured that for me! A friend said her 18 year old’s friends are ready to keep up the fight, and all are voting democrat. I sure hope so! Like the girl in Georgia that posted the school picture. She said it was necessary trouble! Go Hannah Waters! 💙
Heather, I can't understand why our Democratic representatives are not on every media outlet letting Americans know exactly what is in the bill they passed in May, contrasting it with the Republican proposal, and hammering at McConnells obstruction in refusing to take it up. Why is this. Why isn't the media reporting more about this? Is there anything we can do to make this more public?
People, especially Republican politicians, have always misrepresented the Post Office as being mismanaged.
In the 1990s when Hillary Clinton made her healthcare proposal, the dispicable Phil Gramm, senator from Texas, thought he was being witty when he said (something like this), "I won't let the greatest healthcare system in the world turn into the U.S. Post Office."
I told everyone I could tell at the time, "PLEASE make our healthcare system like the Post Office. It's service is universal, affordable and they still make house calls."
I've written this here before, but the small nonprofit publisher I work for ships books all over the country and even around the world via the Post Office. The service has always been excellent. We also use UPS, but we find the Post Office is better and faster and cheaper for smaller packages. If you get the address wrong on a UPS package, they don't even try to deliver it, but ship it back to you and charge you for the return. The Post Office often is able to deliver a package with an incorrect address, and if they return it to you they don't charge you.
Trump is a disgrace!
Every day's news seems to make it more clear that Trump intends to steal this election. This so-called re-structuring of the USPS came just after Congressional Democrats sent a letter to the Inspector General of the Postal Service asking for an investigation. DeJoy is shameless in his pursuit, making it clear that he is trying to force the USPS to fail in order to strengthen the argument for privatization. I hadn't heard the bit about DeJoy's heavy investment in private courier services, but that doesn't surprise me - I would be willing to bet that many people have invested heavily in these services in anticipation of the forced collapse of the USPS, and I certainly wouldn't be surprised if the Trump Organization was one of those investors. The strategy that enables corruption in the Trump era seems to be to throw so many acts of cruelty, profanity, greed, and ignorance at the public that people can't possibly absorb it all, much less respond to it. We are becoming numbed and overwhelmed by the constant assault, and if there is anything that can be labelled genius in Trump's profane, viral existence, this is it.
Trump is a chaos agent. It's incredible to have such a force for instability occupy one of the most important positions of power on our planet. But here we are. He whips up dervishes of disturbance and distraction, then moves purposefully toward his goal while his opponents are off balance or focussed on the wrong issue. It's very effective and difficult to counter.
There are many Trump supporters on my job. Intelligent people I work with every day. Their support seems rooted in the belief that America offers opportunity for anyone and everyone with the initiative to take it. Those who don't are lazy and looking for free handouts. Again, very difficult to counter. We are a land of opportunity. Making the argument that government regulation is needed to ensure transparency and fairness does not resonate. Rather, it is seen as an impediment to innovation and free enterprise. As such it's to be applauded when burdensome regulation is attacked and dispensed with.
I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but Thank God for the choir! I'm continually reaching for ways to effectively counter argue these beliefs. The destruction of norms and processes simply makes it easier for those so prepared to take advantage of loosened controls to enrich and/or empower themselves, generally at the expense of the greater public. This is termed "being smart" by the trumpistas, who seem to congratulate wealth accumulation by any means necessary.
The predicament of the Postal Service horrifies me. Nevermind that reliable mail service is a defining and uniting core of a civil nation, one that has historically provided a path to middle class stability for it's employees. The fact that Agent Orange is attacking its reputation AND functionality at this point in time is shocking. To blatantly meddle in and impugn what is obviously going to be a crucial mechanism in the upcoming election is a travesty. I would think there must be some way to prevent such wholesale unilateral disruption to a critical function of an election this close to its date. If nothing else it appears to be setting up an obvious path to electoral chaos, and is in fact an attempt at fraud.
Trump is committed to destroying the machinery that makes our government run. All to benefit himself and his cronies, and to force a model of governance based on unfettered capital above all on a population that knows better, but is too busy trying to get by to be effectively united against an entrenched oligarchy. Here's hoping we can put this beast back in its cage!
Several reactions are intermingled on reading Heather's account of what Trump and his minions are up to, over and above gratitude for her fortitude and clarity, and i can't decide which takes precedence. "A bull in a china shop" , "children in a candy store" "Disney's Devil's Apprentice" or "Captain Hook in Peter Pan". The scale of their duplicity, arrogance and immorality leave me flabergasted. Where should one turn one's head to see through the murk of their corruption? The only bulwarks of any use in the short term given the complicity of the Senate are firstly the judges and then the vote. November is still a long way off and January 20 is even further.
When I first read that Trump wants to eliminate the payroll tax, I was absolutely shocked at the people I know who support him and don't realize that this could mean the end of their Social Security monthly check. And these are retirees who depend on that monthly check!
Another stunning, and thoughtful, wrap-up, Heather. Thank you BIGLY! So many thoughts sprang to mind, reading it.
Aldona Vos made waves here in NC when she was put in charge of DHSS and thoroughly screwed it up. I had no idea who her husband was, just that they are multi-millionaires, living in Greensboro.
Re: the USPS, I recently called my small town PO to ask about a package that the tracking email said was out for delivery. My regular carrier had been and gone, no package. I know they sometimes run two deliveries, one just for packages. But I also know there have been balls dropped, like once when my husband's medicine order got stuffed in a cubbie for some reason, and was only found when I raised enough hell. But I digress.........I told the employee who took my call that I am aware the new boss is working to sabotage the system, and her first reaction was agreement, then she caught herself and realized she might incriminate herself, so she turned very businesslike. Turns out they were running two deliveries (how efficient is that?) and if I hadn't received it by late afternoon to call her back.
I believe some of the rank and file employees are going to be mounting a counter-offensive, if they haven't already. They are the ones who are getting the irate phone calls and tongue-lashings over the mailbox, after all. Mr. DeJoy surely isn't.
As for the wrangling over the extended emergency benefits, the GOP is cutting their own throats (Mark Meadows, this one's for you). Not only are the youngish cohort of unemployeed furiously trying to find a way to survive, but they have PARENTS and grandparents who may be in the same boat AND are worried sick about their kids. I am one of them. And we vote. Even if some haven't voted in years, or voted for Trump in'16, they aren't keen on seeing their kids lose everything they have, or their grandkids end up in homeless shelters.
The GOP, especially the Freedom Caucus, are not even on the same planet with the real people out here in the real world. And that goes double for McConnell and his henchmen.
Not sure I can make it to November without being heavily medicated..............😒
We "ain't seen nuthin' yet." 87 more days to go and every single new one is going to be worse than those that came before. The horse hockey is going to multiply and expand. Think of the last hour of "The Return of the King," that had your heart pounding as it looked like Sauron's Orcs and the other forces of darkness would overwhelm and prevail. That's what we're in for, with hopefully a similar end.
How is it possible for DeJoy to destroy the USPS this way? Is there anything Congress can actually do to stop him? This is terrifying.
People, especially Republicans, forget that the post office is a service and not a business. The new rule that mail in ballots will now require 55 cents to be mailed instead of 20 cents in some states is a prime example. The post office is providing a service to US citizens. It doesn't consider whether it's making a profit or not. Another aspect that hasn't been talked much about if the post office is privatized is that the post office is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. They cannot disclose "information of a commercial nature, including trade secrets, whether or not obtained from a person outside the Postal Service, which under good business practice would not be publicly disclosed". They have not disclosed any such information. Do you really think a private company would do the same? I think not.
The Republicans think people are staying home because people are making more money on unemployment and are thus de-incentivized from returning to work. I fear, in *red states* this could possibly be true. I searched to see state minimum wages nationally. Not shockingly, I found that *blue states* generally have a minimum wage $3+ higher than the federal minimum wage. While *red states* are either at the federal minimum wage or slightly above it. Not that it’s an excuse for their actions, but, it’s a rationale for their cruelty.
The irony of all of this is that THESE BENEFITS are keeping the economy running. If the Feds stop pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy by way of individual people’s wallets, this entire *recovery* is going to fall flat on its face before it ever even starts recovering.
It is hard not to be totally disheartened by the continued onslaught of news of the disfunction of our government. That McConnell sits out the talks makes my blood boil. His abuse of his position should not be forgotten come Nov. That the repubs have "forgotten" how to negotiate, and then turn failure to come to an agreement on dems, increases my rage as well as my feeling that there is nothing left except to VOTE, VOTE VOTE. And make sure everyone I know votes as well.
Ballot distribution will represent one of the biggest crises leading into the election, and everyone here should be calling their local officials to ask what their plan is (and encouraging everyone else to do the same).
"Hi, with all of the delays happening in mail delivery, I'd like to know what your office is planning on doing to make sure that absentee ballots arrive on time."
I am weeping.
Thank you for your hard work, Heather. You promised a bumpy ride...I have a feeling, this ain’t nothing.