US postal service

[Jockey]

To some defenders, the “fraud” is allowing brown people to vote.

Things have gotten pretty bad when you and others are stealing my mantle of being the “far lefty” here on Scoop. 

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

The postal service shenanigans are as old as government itself. The M/O: Go to the legislative and executive branch, hold something of vital importance (i.e., mail in ballots) hostage unless you get the funding you want.

The Postal Service is doing to Congress what school districts in Illinois have done for years: "Give us more tax dollars or we'll defund football. Or we won't be able to teach English and History. Or..."

The postal service is the same way. It's one of the most incredibly inefficient organizations in America. It's payroll is padded and its operation is horse and buggy in a fan jet era.

Time for Congress to call their bluff, as the President did, and tell them, "do your job and quit your complaining!"

The postal service can certainly get more efficient while providing the same level of service. It’s been true for decades and is true in any org. 

Why choose the middle of a pandemic when people are relying more on their service (essentials & prescriptions) and governments as well with ballot delivery?  Why is now time to call ‘their’ bluff?

Edit: seems like a really dumb labor relations strategy if you are trying to reform that side of the equation. 

[dgies9156]

Party line ideology, in other words, you don't care.  Don't bother with the rationalizations and propaganda, just be honest and say, hay man, I don't care.

To clear the record:

1) I voted by mail in Florida for our primary. It is Tuesday. I voted over a month ago to be sure my ballot arrived on time. It did because I can monitor it on the county supervisor of elections website. If you are going to vote by mail, the system works. You just have to mail your ballot in early enough to ensure counting.

2) It is not partisan, by a long shot. In fact, I doubt you have any idea who I voted for President over my life. You would be surprised.

3) I am in favor of overhauling government procurement, regardless of agency. Yeah, I am just as aggravated by defense procurement that goes billions over budget as I am at the postal service. I would like to see pay to troops raised significantly and post-service health care improved, as our soldiers, sailors and airmen are doing the toughest job in this country. If it comes at the cost of multi-billion dollar defense systems, so be it. I used to work as a Director of Financial Analysis for Amtrak and I have come to the belief that Amtrak should be gassed and replaced, where necessary. Amtrak is like the Postal Service,  a Government Sponsored Enterprise or GSE (which also includes Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, both of which also should be privatized and the government should be out of mortgage lending), that has a economic objective for a political mission. It does not work. You are either one or the other.

4) Before you start regulating what you call corporate greed, are you prepared to regulate how much you can earn in your 401(k) or pension, if you have one? Millions of Americans benefit from corporate profits through 401(k)s, IRAs, Pensions and direct market investment. If you have a pension, the money to support your retirement payments for the rest of your life has to come from somewhere. Your 401(k) and whatever you get in Social Security has to carry you to your death. Higher corporate profits means a better retirement.

To go back to the Postal Service, nobody at a GSE gets compensated for taking risk that will alienate politicians. You lay off 100 postal workers somewhere as part of an efficiency or out-sourcing program and I promise you will never hear the end of it. Unless Congress tells the Postal Service NO and orders them to be efficient and improve operations (including outsourcing), they wont. They will be back playing on fears of vote suppression to gain more appropriations.

[Jockey]

3) I am in favor of overhauling government procurement, regardless of agency. Yeah, I am just as aggravated by defense procurement that goes billions over budget as I am at the postal service. I would like to see pay to troops raised significantly and post-service health care improved, as our soldiers, sailors and airmen are doing the toughest job in this country. If it comes at the cost of multi-billion dollar defense systems, so be it. I used to work as a Director of Financial Analysis for Amtrak and I have come to the belief that Amtrak should be gassed and replaced, where necessary. Amtrak is like the Postal Service,  a Government Sponsored Enterprise or GSE (which also includes Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, both of which also should be privatized and the government should be out of mortgage lending), that has a economic objective for a political mission. It does not work. You are either one or the other.

First off, comparing USPS to the military is comparing apples to orangutans. One is a "service"; the other is a necessity.

Second, referring to your earlier post that USPS should be run as a profitable business is nonsense. Do you expect the military (which you used as a comparison) to be run as a business?

USPS could be run as a profitable business only if we no longer run it as a national service. We would have to eliminate rural delivery. Hence, it would no longer be a national service. USPS has been a staple of the USA basically as long as we have been a country. By its nature, it is not going to be profitable.

[D'Lo Brown]

The amount of time people are willing to spend arguing on the internet with a completely insincere person astounds me.

Just let it die. The issue isn't that they simply need to be schooled up by you. A 2,000 word essay doesn't change the fact that they already know & choose to play a game on the internet or elsewhere.

[dgies9156]

First off, comparing USPS to the military is comparing apples to orangutans. One is a "service"; the other is a necessity.

Second, referring to your earlier post that USPS should be run as a profitable business is nonsense. Do you expect the military (which you used as a comparison) to be run as a business?

USPS could be run as a profitable business only if we no longer run it as a national service. We would have to eliminate rural delivery. Hence, it would no longer be a national service. USPS has been a staple of the USA basically as long as we have been a country. By its nature, it is not going to be profitable.

Brother Jockey, you missed the point. First, I believe the USPS should be run efficiently. I know better than anyone that an entity with a political mission cannot run with a GAAP-based profit. It is just not possible.

What I did say and, again, for the record, is I think the request for more appropriations is an election year ploy in which postal unions are trying to hold a national election hostage. To be clear, I do not think the USPS needs it and should operate efficiently. It is not political. It is a belief that they simply do not need it.

Finally, on the military, I was responding to an assertation that I was singling out the postal service over other wasteful elements of government. The commentor suggested I was myopic when it came to the USPS. I hate waste of tax dollars, no matter where it is. That is not partisan!

[shoothoops]

Brother Jockey, you missed the point. First, I believe the USPS should be run efficiently. I know better than anyone that an entity with a political mission cannot run with a GAAP-based profit. It is just not possible.

What I did say and, again, for the record, is I think the request for more appropriations is an election year ploy in which postal unions are trying to hold a national election hostage. To be clear, I do not think the USPS needs it and should operate efficiently. It is not political. It is a belief that they simply do not need it.

Finally, on the military, I was responding to an assertation that I was singling out the postal service over other wasteful elements of government. The commentor suggested I was myopic when it came to the USPS. I hate waste of tax dollars, no matter where it is. That is not partisan!

How many times are you going to post in this thread without acknowledgement of some of the reasons beyond its control that challenge USPS efficiency in the first place? It is extremely disingenuous to repeatedly say that something is inefficient without considering some of the highly unusual, if not ridiculous reasons why.

For many, there is a current sense of urgency to help the USPS maximize voter quantity regardless of voting preference. For many there is a current sense of urgency that veterans don’t have to keep waiting weeks or longer for their meds. For many there is a sense of urgency to help small businesses. I can’t find the posts and threads about all of the other current and recent wastes of tax dollars.

It is what it is, an administrative self serving gaslighting distraction to the muddy the waters, and now you are seeing not bipartisan pushback. None of it is surprising.

[Pakuni]

What I did say and, again, for the record, is I think the request for more appropriations is an election year ploy in which postal unions are trying to hold a national election hostage.

So despite the order of a Trump appointee to slow service and remove/take offline machines, and despite the president saying his motive for not funding the USPS is to deter mail-in voting ... you believe this is really all just a ploy by the union?
Huh.

[jesmu84]

Brother Jockey, you missed the point. First, I believe the USPS should be run efficiently. I know better than anyone that an entity with a political mission cannot run with a GAAP-based profit. It is just not possible.

What I did say and, again, for the record, is I think the request for more appropriations is an election year ploy in which postal unions are trying to hold a national election hostage. To be clear, I do not think the USPS needs it and should operate efficiently. It is not political. It is a belief that they simply do not need it.

Finally, on the military, I was responding to an assertation that I was singling out the postal service over other wasteful elements of government. The commentor suggested I was myopic when it came to the USPS. I hate waste of tax dollars, no matter where it is. That is not partisan!

So you believe this all started with the USPS asking for more money?

[MU82]

The president of the United States came right out and said he wants to starve the USPS specifically to hurt the process of mail-in voting during the middle of a global pandemic that has millions of Americans afraid to go to the polls. It is a calculated, cruel attempt to steal the election - one polls suggest he will lose handily - and he admits it.

There is nothing else necessary to analyze. Even if one believes that the USPS is horribly inefficient and needs to be changed/updated/gutted/whatever, you enact those changes after an election that is about to take place during a global pandemic.

It's like trying to take away health care that covers pre-existing conditions from millions of Americans during a global pandemic -- an unnecessary, cruel, self-serving, evil act that the president also is trying to do.

I know there are policy issues pushed by this president that can be defended -- his obsessive support of the 2nd Amendment, his anti-abortion rhetoric, his trade wars, etc. I happen to disagree with some of those, but I understand why others defend them.

I don't see how any American can defend gutting the U.S. Postal Service just months before this most unique election in our nation's history.

[vogue65]

The president of the United States came right out and said he wants to starve the USPS specifically to hurt the process of mail-in voting during the middle of a global pandemic that has millions of Americans afraid to go to the polls. It is a calculated, cruel attempt to steal the election - one polls suggest he will lose handily - and he admits it.

There is nothing else necessary to analyze. Even if one believes that the USPS is horribly inefficient and needs to be changed/updated/gutted/whatever, you enact those changes after an election that is about to take place during a global pandemic.

It's like trying to take away health care that covers pre-existing conditions from millions of Americans during a global pandemic -- an unnecessary, cruel, self-serving, evil act that the president also is trying to do.

I know there are policy issues pushed by this president that can be defended -- his obsessive support of the 2nd Amendment, his anti-abortion rhetoric, his trade wars, etc. I happen to disagree with some of those, but I understand why others defend them.

I don't see how any American can defend gutting the U.S. Postal Service just months before this most unique election in our nation's history.

They/he know/knows the game, they/he doesnt/don't care.  Awkward, D-.
It's just an intentional foul to them, it's strategic to win.
It's like the Wisconsin player running around punching people in the jewels. 
They know it's wrong, they don't care.
It's their only play at this point.

[🏀]

Dear Typical St Louis person,

If this is a union poly, why are physical mailboxes being removed by the hundreds?

[shoothoops]

USPS annual costs $9 billion.

Total U.S. annual budget $4.79 trillion.

Let's take a look at the pie chart below:

[vogue65]

To clear the record:

1) I voted by mail in Florida for our primary. It is Tuesday. I voted over a month ago to be sure my ballot arrived on time. It did because I can monitor it on the county supervisor of elections website. If you are going to vote by mail, the system works. You just have to mail your ballot in early enough to ensure counting.

2) It is not partisan, by a long shot. In fact, I doubt you have any idea who I voted for President over my life. You would be surprised.

3) I am in favor of overhauling government procurement, regardless of agency. Yeah, I am just as aggravated by defense procurement that goes billions over budget as I am at the postal service. I would like to see pay to troops raised significantly and post-service health care improved, as our soldiers, sailors and airmen are doing the toughest job in this country. If it comes at the cost of multi-billion dollar defense systems, so be it. I used to work as a Director of Financial Analysis for Amtrak and I have come to the belief that Amtrak should be gassed and replaced, where necessary. Amtrak is like the Postal Service,  a Government Sponsored Enterprise or GSE (which also includes Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, both of which also should be privatized and the government should be out of mortgage lending), that has a economic objective for a political mission. It does not work. You are either one or the other.

4) Before you start regulating what you call corporate greed, are you prepared to regulate how much you can earn in your 401(k) or pension, if you have one? Millions of Americans benefit from corporate profits through 401(k)s, IRAs, Pensions and direct market investment. If you have a pension, the money to support your retirement payments for the rest of your life has to come from somewhere. Your 401(k) and whatever you get in Social Security has to carry you to your death. Higher corporate profits means a better retirement.

To go back to the Postal Service, nobody at a GSE gets compensated for taking risk that will alienate politicians. You lay off 100 postal workers somewhere as part of an efficiency or out-sourcing program and I promise you will never hear the end of it. Unless Congress tells the Postal Service NO and orders them to be efficient and improve operations (including outsourcing), they wont. They will be back playing on fears of vote suppression to gain more appropriations.

With all due respect:
1.)  I agree, vote early.
2.)  I might be suprised, but I don't care.  My history of voting over the years has been very eclectic.  As I have grown, I have changed.
3.)  Not so easy.
       Government procurement is very complex, as Trump said about health care insurance, who knew?
Major weapon ststems take decades, they start contracting before they have the cutting edge technology even nailed down.  Costing of technology that has not been developed is beyond difficult.  They are just budget estimates.  I have know major weapon system project managers, they have teams of very smart people working these issues for decades.

I use the V.A., no problem.  In some respects they are cutting edge because they have mega data to work with.  Lots of willing subjects.  I also use concierge medicine, it can sometimes leave a lot to be desired.  I use the Italian health care system, very interesting.  In many respects better than ours.  For example, they use less meds..   

Amtrack, now we are talking policy.  Problem is nobody wants to talk policy, just ideology and  culture wars.  Europe has solved the problem of mass transit high speed trains.  We never will because of the auto, aircraft, oil, even rubber lobby.   Our culture does not value the common good, we value individual rights.  Therefore, no national high speed rail service. 

You can talk unions, taxes, politics, costing of right of way maintenance, whatever, but national rail will never happen in our life time.  No will. 

Privatizing the GSE's is totally ideology.   The sharp people have found a way to make millions off Fanny, Freddy etc.. 

You failed to mention deregulation, it goes along with privatization, totally ideology.  Sure, deregulate the banks, FAA, FDA, SEC, and what do you have?  Another Enron, S&L debacle, stock market bubble and crash, MAX 8, Madoff, or Florida investment advisor scams.

4.)  Yes I have 401(k)'s, trust funds, pensions, reale estate, S.S., stocks, C.D.'s, and T bills and bonds.  I don't leverage.  No more putts and calls, day trading, financial advisors, life insurance, get rich quick schemes. 

You make a case for the ownership society.  The same economic philosophy as the trickle down economy.  Same unfounded ideology.   Risk has been transfered from the corporations to the uninformed, uneducated workers.   The so-called financial advisors aren't much better, if not worse in a self serving way.  And I won't even broach fees.

I understand most people have to rationalize there situation, actuarial science notwithstanding.
Long term rate of return (like gravity), fiduciary responsibility, mortality, morbidity, comutation, all out the window.

Now we play on the ego of the "informed" investor.  Buyer be ware, "it is what it is".  We create a pseudoscience of investing and a worship of Wall Street where greed is god.

Finally let me close in agreement that the left is being hyperbolic also. 

The P.O. is efficient, and has been over politicized.   It is more like the Military than not.   They were the first to use the airlines for freight.  They really created the airline industry as we know it.  They still use air cargo, UPS, Fedex in a big way.  They use automation, high speed readers and sorters, and have even tried retail sales of cards, boxes, stamps, etc..  Not unlike defense conversion (rip stop nylon, tubless tires, night vision, heads up display, jet engines, noise canceling headphones, emergency medical procedures, radar, global positioning, paints and coatings, game theory, microminiaturization, simulators), in fact our entire modern civilization.   

Think the private sector did all that if you wish, but know they capitalised on government RD&D.

It is easy to come up with simple bumper sticker solutions like ,Government is the problem not the solution, another to come up with solutions to complex problems. 

Sleep well, good night.

[MU82]

USPS annual costs $9 billion.

Total U.S. annual budget $4.79 trillion.

Let's take a look at the pie chart below:

Yep. Billions of dollars could be found - in the Pentagon budget, as it turned out - to build a wall that we had been told 1000 times Mexico would pay for.

Indeed, some of the money, intended for schools on bases, was stolen from military families.

But not a penny can be found to protect the votes of Americans during a global pandemic.