Army to start profiting from service!
Whaaaaaaat? Crazy huh. No the Army isn’t going to start charging for services rendered at least for another couple of months. How much money do the armed forces “lose” each year? The Armed forces were never intended nor designed to make a profit. They provide a service to our country.
The Post Office was also created to provide a necessary service to the nation. It was started July 26, 1775 so it has been around awhile. Ben was in charge for a while. It was non-profit then. It’s non-profit now. The post office does generate income. Fees are charged for services rendered.
Filling a need.
While reading an aunt’s diary written during WWII I learned that mail was delivered twice a day. It was that important.
From the very beginning the Postal Service was never intended to make a profit, any more than the military services were. It was to fill a need. It made it possible for citizens to stay connected with anywhere in the country. Mail was their link to loved ones serving in the military.
When I was in Korea I had one phone call home. The Red Cross provided for the call. Letters were my primary contact with my loved ones and friends, including other service members.
Mail has served as a link to loved ones for generations.
The USPS is still providing critical services. More critical in some cases for those of us dependent upon the USPS for our medications.
And voting.
Times change.
A lot of the personal societal needs that letters used to fill are now provided by social media. Service members can now video call friends and loved ones. Even so, many of the needs that have evolved that are filled by the United States Postal Service are critical. Even more so during the current pandemic with so many millions restricting their activities.
The USPS handles:
Ω Medications.
Ω Checks.
Ω Legal documents.
Ω Ballots. (Including the ballots from those in service to our nation and people like Donald Trump.)
Ω Care packages to service members.
Ω Packages—we are ordering a lot more items by mail to save on gas and reduce exposure risk. This is vital to people with compromised immune systems. Cancer patients undergoing chemo.
Ω Payments.
Ω Campaign advertisements by the gazillions
Excellent service
The postal service to customers was excellent in the past and is excellent now. Especially when compared to all the rest of the world. The USPS handles a larger volume of mail than several other countries combined.
Everyone gets mail wherever they live
Unlike for-profit carriers, the United States Postal Service is required to deliver to every single address in America and has over 30,000 post offices. The people living in these communities want post offices and postal services. They’re critical. Especially so in small population communities. There isn’t any way that these can all be profitable. Thousands can’t provide enough income to be self-supporting let alone make a profit. Again, they were not established there to make a profit.
Private industry would eliminate this structure. This is proven by the existence of carriers such as UPS, FedEx, DHL and others. They skim the cream off the top to make their profits, leaving the unprofitable remainder to the USPS. The other carriers also often use the USPS to deliver “the last mile” when it is in an area they don’t find it profitable to deliver to.
Change in the wind.
President Trump has tried to privatize Postal Service. Private industry along with Republicans have tried to crash the USPS for decades. With Trump as President they may finally succeed in administering the coup de grace. Senator McConnell is holding up legislation by the house that would help the USPS. It’s what he does. With hundreds of bills being held up it is really the Do Nothing Republicans that continue to crash government. They have the majority in the Senate. They could vote the bills down. So why don’t they?
They know that citizens would object to them voting down things that would be of benefit to all of society. This way they get to have their cake and eat it, too. They get to accuse the Democratic House of Representatives of being “do-nothing”, when it is in fact Moscow Mitch and his fellow Republican Senators that are dedicated to doing nothing (except forcing through Trump’s judicial appointees).
The umpire’s call.
What have the President, the Republican Party and all Trump’s racist supporters done since he’s taken office to ensure the safety of our elections besides complain and whine?
Ω Just as the President did before he was elected he has tweeted and complained about election fraud countless times. His own committee found that there was no such justification for these claims.
Ω They have worked to ensure that fraud that benefits them takes place.
Ω Closed even more polling places in areas where more minorities live in Republican controlled states.
Ω Done nothing to stop foreign involvement in our elections other than to encourage support for Trump.
Ω Have worked diligently to undermine the USPS in regards to their ability to handle ballots and mail in general.
Ω Sought to make handling mail including packages more expensive.
President Trump is seeking to defraud the American people in order to have more control and sustain his corrupt administration. If he succeeds in crashing the USPS completely his rich friends will sweep in and profit from the ashes by taking control at the expense of the rest of us.