The recent attempts by the Trump administration to interfere with the 2020 elections by falsely demonizing the use of mail-in ballots has led to a more aggressive attempt to dismantle the U.S. Postal Service.
Attempts to discredit the U.S. Postal Service have been ongoing as far back as the George W. Bush presidency when the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act was enacted by the 109th United States Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush Dec. 20, 2006.
It reorganized the Postal Rate Commission, compelled the USPS to pay in advance for the health and retirement benefits of all of its employees for at least 50 years, and stipulated that the price of postage could not increase faster than the rate of inflation.
The Bush administration threatened to veto the legislation unless the provision regarding funding the employee benefits in advance with the objective of using that money to reduce the federal deficit was included.
The result of that legislation was that between 2007 and 2016, the USPS lost $62.4 billion; the inspector general of the USPS estimated that $54.8 billion of that was due to prefunding retiree benefits.
According to Bloomberg, prefunding the health benefits of retirees “is a requirement that no other entity, private or public, has to make.”
These facts are cited in many places and have had a negative impact on one of the most valuable services that Americans use every day; a service that is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution.
The Trump administration has used this artificially created funding crisis to impugn the reputation of the U.S. Postal Service and hinder its ability to deliver mail on a timely basis at an affordable cost. Trump’s thinly veiled attempt to stop mail-in voting and suppress voting rights has led to new and more prominent displays of animus toward the postal service.
All Americans should rise up in unison to challenge and reject such obviously authoritarian attempts to compromise our great democracy and demand that the U.S. Postal Service be appropriately funded and recognized as the valuable asset it is.
On Oct. 8, 2018. I was privileged to join post office workers rallying to oppose Trump’s plan to privatize the United States Postal Service. I was pleased and privileged to join scores of postal workers at the Newark Post Office on Ogletown Road for a full display of unity against such a foolhardy move.
Privatization of any government entity has historically resulted in inefficiencies and fewer services for the people. Privatization allows a third party to profit from the efforts of the workers and inevitably results in fewer employees and dwindling wages.
Further enriching business speculators at the expense of hardworking men and women is a horrible imposition of capitalism that will only benefit the rich while further destroying middle-class America.
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.
