Democrats are pushing a massive bailout of the United States Postal Service (USPS) for purely partisan reasons. They want to use tax dollars to purchase the votes of mail carriers by giving the USPS more money for overtime and to keep pay over market value.
Even though the USPS was provided $10 billion in relief on July 29, 2020, and they originally asked for $75 billion, they are making the argument that a second $25 billion bailout is necessary in the next coronavirus relief bill to keep the service running. The postal service is known to have mismanagement that has racked up tens of billions in losses for the U.S. taxpayer that will not be solved by throwing money at the problem.
Leave it to liberals to claim a violation of voting rights to demand this cash. Democrats have come up with the spin that voting rights would be infringed if mail in voting was slowed because of an underfunded USPS. They have no shame in using the bogus voting rights argument as an excuse to spend $25 billion in taxpayer money on the second bailout of the post office this year.
One of the big problems with prompt mail delivery today is not a lack of funds — it is Amazon.
Amazon has organized a number of online retailers to coordinate a public relations campaign to provide the $25 billion to the postal service in a way that directly benefits these companies. If the postal service does not have to raise rates on packages because of the bailout, these companies will continue to pay below market rate for deliveries. The New York Times reported that these groups have poured $2 million into an “advertising blitz on Wednesday opposing President Trump’s demand that the beleaguered United States Postal Service ratchet up its package delivery rates to avoid bankruptcy amid the coronavirus crisis.” These groups hope the $2 million investment in the campaign gets them a slice of the $25 billion in relief in the form of below market value rates. It seems they were already successful in pitching the New York Times to write a propaganda piece promoting the voting rights argument.
If Congress wants to investigate a real potential voting rights problem, they might want to look into a situation that has developed in Portland, Maine. The Portland Press Herald reported that “the delivery of first-class and priority mail is being intentionally delayed so that letter carriers can prioritize the delivery of Amazon packages, according to letter carriers at the Portland post office and an official complaint lodged with the Office of Inspector General.” A possible reason why there will be delays in Maine ballots being counted is a delay thanks to Amazon prioritizing their packages over regular mail.
The New York Times has adopted the Democrats party line that Trump, not USPS mismanagement, is the cause of a lack of confidence in ballots in the mail making it to the counting authorities to be tabulated. The New York Times reported that a bailout was necessary to deal with “a huge wave of ballots” expected leading up to election day and “could overwhelm mail carriers unless the Postal Service, in financial difficulty for years, receives emergency funding.” In other words, the Times is pushing the argument that failing to use taxpayer money to bailout the USPS is a violation of Americans’ collective voting rights.
The facts speak to the idea that the USPS is a money pit for taxpayers. Romina Boccia of The Heritage Foundation wrote in USA Today in May “the U.S. Postal Service is approaching bankruptcy following 13 consecutive years of multi-billion-dollar deficits. Instead of a bailout, USPS needs structural reforms to return to solvency and to operate competitively in the digital age.” According to data from a White House task force studying the USPS’s financial problems in 2018, “the USPS is forecast to lose tens of billions of dollars over the next decade. Further, as of the end of FY 2018, the USPS balance sheet reflects $89 billion in liabilities against $27 billion in assets – a net deficiency of $62 billion.” The postal service need reform, not a bailout.
When Democrats come crying and claiming that they need $25 billion in taxpayer money to allow all Americans to vote, don’t believe them. They care more about pleasing Amazon lobbyists and the postal workers in an attempt to corner the market on the votes of USPS workers.
