By Ellie Kaufman, Marshall Cohen, Jason Hoffman and Nicky Robertson / CNN / August 13, 2020
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he opposes much-needed funding for the United States Postal Service because he doesn’t want to see it used for mail-in voting this November.
By directly linking USPS funding to mail-in voting, Trump is fueling allegations that he is trying to manipulate the postal system for political gain. The pandemic has led to record-shattering levels of voting-by-mail, but Trump has tried to restrict the voting method because he says it will hurt his re-election and Republicans across the board.
During an interview on Fox News, Trump said that if USPS does not receive the additional $25 billion funding request that Democrats included in the ongoing stimulus negotiations, then he believes the Post Office won’t be able to handle the influx of mail-in ballots in the upcoming election.
“They want three and a half billion dollars for something that’ll turn out to be fraudulent, that’s election money basically. They want three and a half billion dollars for the mail-in votes. Universal mail-in ballots. They want $25 billion, billion, for the Post Office. Now they need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said, repeating his false claims that mail-in voting would be “fraudulent.”
“But if they don’t get those two items that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting because you they’re not equipped to have it,” Trump added.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
This is just too much! I have been having trouble with my mail for about the last 6 weeks. Informed Delivery is not functioning properly. I either don’t get that mail, get it the next day, or the previous day and in some cased don’t get it at all! I have NEVER had problems with the USPS like this.
This is hurting the very people it proposes to help. USPS employs tens of thousands of Veterans. Prescription and income cheeks are vital not to mention the letter carriers are sometimes the only contact some people have.
The new Postmaster General has no postal experience. The USPS was a well oiled machine that got the mail out DAILY no matter what! Even at the beginning of the Pandemic, the USPS was there for us. This leadership is failing us miserably!
It is a shame the USPS must pre-fund their ENTIRE retirement. No one else is required to do this. I believe they could be profitable if not for this provision.
I am seeing news articles from all over the country with the same complaints so I know this isn’t just a local issue.
In 2006 legislation was put in place to pre-fund future retiree medical promises. 10 years, $5B/year. Yes, it was extremely costly, but not applied to the ‘ENTIRE’ retirement. The PO even defaulted payment, at least in 2009.
Many factors have contributed to the Postal Service running a deficit. Even though it is a stand alone agency, it is regulated, which often means politicized. Where in the world can you get more bang for your $.50 than with a 1st class stamp? And yet rates can’t be raised and actions can’t be taken to reduce the losses.
Concerning what this narcissistic man-child of a president and the Post Master general lackey are doing IS criminal. And no surprise. And all the complicit lemmings in his party are just as responsible for one of the foundations of our democratic republic being in jeopardy. The USPS is even in the Constitution. No wonder so many of us feel helpless.
The Constitution says that Congress has the power to establish post offices, but in no way requires the government to keep them going.
The Post Office actually predates the “republic.”
Title 39 of the U.S. Code defines its mission:
“The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities.”
True, that is in the U.S. Code which provides rules and regulations for government agencies. The assertion was that USPS is guaranteed by The Constitution, which it is not. The U.S. Code provides guidelines for existing agencies. I am not sure why quoting it makes an argument for our right to a post office funded by the government. It is like going to court to show ownership but instead of bringing a title, you bring the instruction manual. The date of creation of postal service doesn’t bestow any rights either.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the post office. They just seem to miss out on taking advantage of opportunities. I remember during the Clinton administration first hearing of people wanting to privatize poatal service. Then malls and email were killing them. A couple of years later the internet sales boom hit and we were ordering things by mail again. It continues to boom. They just need to make better business decisions to cut costs. Go to Kobeys sometime and see vendors unloading truckloads of their merchandise with free Priority Mail boxes. I quit using them for important packages because of their lack of accuracy. I sent a package to Seattle from San Diego and it spent over a week in Hawaii.
Thanks for letting me comment. When you don’t belong to either side of the political poles and stay in the middle, you are either unpublished or given replies with juvenile name calling or off topic information. Especially since Ocean Beach feels like a “you are free to be who you are as long as you are exactly like me” community.
Blue skies.
Article 1, Section 8, Section 7 of the USC is known as the Postal Clause, an enumerated power of Congress. Such powers are preponderantly (historically, traditionally, judicially) taken as obligatory powers to be exercised by the designate.
True again. The powers are to designate postal routes and once (no longer) used to regulate what could be sent through the mail. It in no way obligates the government to maintain a national postal service. This subject and speech limited by a nongovernmental entity were always the freebie you right both in Constitutional Law and bar prep if you listened in class. It seems like there is a right to these things but that is not how it is written.
If it was decided the post office was to be taken over by a private entity tomorrow, it wouldn’t be something that could take effect by the election. If it was 100% bailed out, it is hard to see what service improvements they could implement in time to make a difference in service by election day. The only guarantee is the party that loses the election will have something to blame for their loss.
Have a great day.
And Post Offices. Indeed, it does obligate. Enumerated powers of Congress are to be expressed by Congress. That is the intent and long time interpretation of such powers. Essential logic also dictates. If enumerated powers were not such, Congress could well be said to have none at all.
Why was it necessary to throw in a dig at OB in the middle of an interesting discussion like this? If that is how OB “feels” to you, why are you here?
Korla, I also noticed informed delivery no longer functions as in the past if at all.
Since the Donald won’t fund the post office….where is one of those billionaires that benefited from the tax cuts and the results of COVID (there are many billionaires) say screw, here is $42 Billion and now you are funded but dump the do do Donald put in charge.
Another point to keep in mind, the Post Office is obligated to serve all Americans. That means they have to deliver to places that UPS and FedEx do not have to. The private companies can charger whatever they like and deliver wherever they like. The Postal rates are controlled by the government, they have to request increases and they cannot refuse to service anywhere. This is a service provided by the government that does not include financial assistance and it should.