I don't know about you - but I never know when I'm being lied to or told the truth any longer.
Partisans are tribes warring on truth. I decided to see what I could find out historically and this is what I've come up with. My points of reference are at the bottom. I would appreciate if you point out any errors I've made inadvertently.
GOING POSTAL on the POSTAL SERVICE - “What really happened?”
1. Back in 1967 Democrat President Lydon Johnson CHANGED the Postal Service from a Cabinet-level Agency of the Federal Government into a Public-Owned CORPORATION.
WHY?
It prevented the Workers Union from striking for better working conditions. Johnson outlawed strikes and forced binding Arbitration instead.
2. Fast forward to 1980. By the 1980s, the USPS was cut off from all federal funding, forcing it to rely solely on revenue from its own products and services.
THE WORST was yet to come.
3. A crippling blow struck with a Senate Bill : H.R.6407 - Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act in 12/20/2006. It’s ulterior purpose was to dry up any access to money.
Who sponsored this bill?
One Republican and Two Democrats.
Who passed the bill?
It was passed almost unanimously in the House of Representatives with 201 Democrats voting Yes and one abstaining. Bernie Sanders voted “Yes.”
Among Republicans, 208 voted Yes, 20 No, and two abstained.
-----LET’S PAUSE right here__
The Postal Service’s budget crisis started in 2006, with the landmark Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act passed by the George W. Bush administration with almost UNANIMOUS consent by the Democrats.
How did this “Accountability and Enhancement” cripple the Postal Service???
First, know this: NO OTHER existing entity has ever been required by law to LOSE $5.6 Billion dollars of operating funds thus forcing cutbacks, loss of employees creating a chokehold under the pretense of future funding for retirement.
What is going on here?
The POSTAL SERVICE WAS REQUIRED TO PRE-FUND for 80 years ahead it’s retirement benefits. That’s right, all the money available had to get locked away and inaccessible.
The act required the pre-funding of the health benefits of retirees, a requirement no other entity, public or private, has to make.
This required putting away an extra $5.6 billion per year, strongly contributing to the USPS’ loss of over $62.4 billion between 2007 and 2016.
A direct consequence of this action was the reduction of the USPS workforce by over 65,000 postal workers in 2009 and the start of yearly budget deficits.
And so?
Put a cat in a bag, tie off the opening, throw the bag in the river. The cat will drown - right?
Well this cat has been holding its breath for over a decade!
4. As if this was not deadly enough - Democratic President Barack Obama continued and accelerated the assault on USPS workers. In 2011, under the pretext of reducing the federal budget deficit, the Obama administration outlined a plan to restructure the Retiree Health Benefit Fund and “refund” $6.8 Billion from the fund to the federal government.
Obama nominated a Republican board of governors, and the management pushed through severe restructuring. During his term, over 3,700 post offices were shut down and over 150,000 career employee positions were cut.
Now get this:
Richard Blum, the husband of California Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein, won the contract to sell off the post offices.
Corruption? Cronyism?
Notice carefully the clever wording of this official pronouncement:
On July 27, newly appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy declared: “The Postal Service is in a financially unsustainable position, stemming from substantial declines in mail volume, and a broken business model.”
DeJoy continued: “We are currently unable to balance our costs with available funding sources to fulfill both our universal service mission and other legal obligations. Because of this, the Postal Service has experienced over a decade of financial losses, with no end in sight, and we face an impending liquidity crisis.”
Did you catch the wording: “We are currently unable to balance our costs with available funding sources…”??
Now you know why the funding sources are UNavailable.
The current outrage against the USPS is only brought to light as SOLELY the work of the Trump Administration.
Everything Trump is trying to do has ...wait for it ...wait for it...BIPARTISAN SUPPORT.
The so-called opposition is smoke and mirrors.
The USPS Board of Directors has been PACKED with --ready? UPS cronies! (United Parcel Service). This took place by appointments by the President APPROVED by the Senate.
Big Donors showering the Republican Party with lavish cash donations resulted in these appointments. No doubt about it.
MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT: USPS is headed by former Wall Street and corporate executives, whose collective millions are derived from decades of corporate raiding and financial speculation, ramping up corporate profits at the expense of the working class.
Every single one of these predatory Banker Vampires and all of the current members received overwhelming BIPARTISAN support in the Senate which demonstrates that regardless of their pretensions, BOTH Democrats and Republicans are united in their assault against postal workers and the social rights of the working class.
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Culled from:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/house-bill/6407/actions
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/demo-a15.html
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/04/usps-a04.html