USPS

[rydra_wong]

Why you should be alarmed:

The Guardian: Trump admits he is undermining USPS to make it harder to vote by mail: The president says he opposes providing additional money to the postal service to help it deliver mail-in ballots

“They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo. “If they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting because they’re not equipped to have it.”

Calling your representatives, with suggestions on what you should be demanding they do:

https://elphabaforpresidentofgallifrey.tumblr.com/post/626369583646900224/if-you-want-to-save-the-usps-i-am-begging-you-call

The APWU are keeping it simple:

https://apwu.org/savepostoffice

Call your Senators urgently. Tell them to support at least $25 billion in stimulus funding for our public Postal Service.

Contact details for the USPS Board of Governors, with suggested e-mail and phone scripts:

https://chaotic-archaeologist.tumblr.com/post/626574244031184896/jomiddlemarch-finally-a-pressure-point-to

Comments

[shirou]

Thanks for this important post. I'd like to add that the assault on USPS has implications beyond the election. Here are a few salient points:
- Trump has long threatened to raise postal rates in an attempt to hurt Amazon, part of an ongoing feud between Trump and Bezos;
- Many people now rely on delivery services to shop safely, and an increase in postal rates or decrease in reliability could force some shoppers—probably the most vulnerable—back into stores, worsening the pandemic;
- Similarly, many businesses—including small businesses, not just Amazon—now rely on delivery services more than ever;
- USPS serves remote areas that private carriers such as FedEx do not, delivering medication and other critical supplies.