Call these a farewell gift, if you will. Donald Trump implanted the time bomb called Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and his 10-year plan for the U.S. Post Office to go off after the left. But legislators have defused it by taking the plan and codifying many of the better parts to ensure the very survival of the Post Office.
The Post Office “processed 150,000 ballots after Election Day” during the pandemic. So when the Postal Service Reform Act emerged, President Biden said this:
‘There it is. President Biden has signed the Postal Service Reform Act, a $107 billion overhaul of the USPS’s finances, into law. Today. we enshrine in law that the Postal Service is fundamental.’
Americans like their mail service, but Republicans have long wanted to get their hooks into the Post Office and privatize it, saying that it was filled with “waste and incompetence,” according to The Washington Post.
While in the majority, they forced the agency to pay employee retirement funds upfront when no other part of the U.S. government was required to do so. Plus, the Post Office was never intended to be profitable. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Almost “half of all 2020 electoral votes” were done by mail.
The bipartisan bill passed 79 to 19 in the Senate. The purpose of the Postal Service Reform Act was to provide a strong enough foundation to sustain another blow such as the pandemic.
The bill gave the Post Office $107 billion for financial relief, more efficient service, and modernization. In its final slimmed-down form, the bill removed the Post Office’s money problems but did not delve into its more basic problems. It will:
- ‘Remove $57 billion in past-due postal liabilities
- Eliminate $50 billion in payments over the next 10 years
- Save six-day delivery
- Force retirees to enroll in Medicare
- Codify new timely-delivery transparency requirements for the Postal Service
- Replace failing equipment
- Remodel post office buildings
- Use package shipping centers as core to the agency’s future
- Open package-specific processing plants.’
On the downside, the bill was the cornerstone of DeJoy’s 10-year restructuring plan. According to CBS News, it will:
- ‘Slow the delivery of the mail
- Scrap 671 high-speed mail-sorting machines and public mailboxes.
- Include longer delivery windows
- Raise postage prices
- Close 18 mail sorting plants
- Cut post office hours and
- Buy 148,000 mail delivery trucks run on gasoline.’
This bill’s top Democratic sponsor Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) of Michigan released this statement explaining:
‘[It will] overcome burdensome requirements that threaten their ability to provide reliable service to the American people.’
Representative Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA) intends to introduce a bill in the House to halt the Post Office from enacting its $11 billion contract with Oshkosh Defense. The proposed legislation would force the company to provide the Post Office with 75 percent electric vehicles.
Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) said:
‘The Postal Service has a postmaster general right now who is absolutely committed to … making the post office more effective, more efficient.’
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) said:
‘The Post office usually delivers for us. Today we’re going to deliver for them.’
President Biden cannot fire DeJoy, only a panel can do so. Trump loaded it with Republicans. Our president was finally able to add one Democratic individual.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
Three White Lions is Gloria Christie’s new serialized book available in episodes on Amazon. Go to Kindle Vella and insert her name. She also writes for the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Gloria Christie Report her newsletter for people on the go. Written in her own unique style with a twist of humor in a briefer version of Bipartisan Report. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery. Find her here on Facebook.