USPS Issues

[Belsnickel]

So, I saw a Twitter thread that was very interesting:

I run a small online business and I use the USPS for all my shipping. I probably mail 100 packages a week, and have been doing so for years.

I don't think most people understand the scope of what has been happening over the last month or so in terms of delays.

— Cassie LaBelle (@CassieCeleste) July 23, 2020

Tl;dr: USPS is being forced to close because of efforts to kill it.

Now, that is one particular point of view. I did find this article from WaPo talking about changes implemented by the new PMG.

Now, one of the things that you may be unaware of that was included in the Twitter thread was that the USPS financial issues are really fabricated by legislation that forced them to prefund 75 years of retirement funding. There have been efforts to try to rectify this situation, but they have thus far been unsuccessful.

Anyway, in case anyone was wondering about the delays in mail delivery lately, it is intentional.

[BigPapaKain]

Intentionally delaying the mail is a felony.

The new PMG Trump crony is intentionally delaying the mail.

No charges filed.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

So how are Trump, Ivanka, and Jared planning on profiting from this? They got stock in Amazon or something?

[GMDino]

Already said but it's been a problem created by bad legislation.  I don't know if that can be fixed moving forward but having a Trump croney in charge isn't helping.

[BmorePat87]

I've been selling some old collectibles (already made over $150 bucks in 2 days with 12 more items on ebay with bids on them!)

I'm probably going to take all of these to a post office in the burbs rather than one of the ones here closer to the city.

[*michaelsean*]

(07-27-2020, 11:11 AM)BigPapaKain Wrote: Intentionally delaying the mail is a felony.

The new PMG Trump crony is intentionally delaying the mail.

No charges filed.

For realz?

[*michaelsean*]

I don't really understand how this quasi-government stuff works, but can't the government just absorb them? I mean seems like a drop in the bucket compared to the rate we spend money anymore.

[BmorePat87]

(07-27-2020, 01:54 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I don't really understand how this quasi-government stuff works, but can't the government just absorb them?  I mean seems like a drop in the bucket compared to the rate we spend money anymore.

They currently act as an indepedent, self funded agency, but Congress could pass legislation to change that. 

[BigPapaKain]

(07-27-2020, 01:53 PM)michaelsean Wrote: For realz?

According to my sister and BIL who are both carriers and their union reps.

[BigPapaKain]

Also remember that only the USPS is allowed to carry official government documents (i.e: mail in ballots) and they're the only carrier who will go to any address in the United States; UPS and FedEx (and other 3rd party carriers) won't go somewhere if it isn't profitable.

It's part of Trump (read: GoP's) long game of stacking the elections to ensure they can maintain their gerrymandered districts and voter suppression.

[Belsnickel]

(07-27-2020, 01:54 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I don't really understand how this quasi-government stuff works, but can't the government just absorb them? I mean seems like a drop in the bucket compared to the rate we spend money anymore.

(07-27-2020, 04:02 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: They currently act as an indepedent, self funded agency, but Congress could pass legislation to change that. 

Pat is correct. It should be noted that the USPS is the result of a postal worker strike in 1970 that resulted in the federal agency becoming an independent, quasi-governmental agency. While this reorganization has allowed for labor organization among its employees, it has resulted in some issues. Congress is quite fond of putting constraints on the USPS but they are unwilling to help them out very much.

(07-27-2020, 05:18 PM)BigPapaKain Wrote: Also remember that only the USPS is allowed to carry official government documents (i.e: mail in ballots) and they're the only carrier who will go to any address in the United States; UPS and FedEx (and other 3rd party carriers) won't go somewhere if it isn't profitable.

It's part of Trump (read: GoP's) long game of stacking the elections to ensure they can maintain their gerrymandered districts and voter suppression.

It also should be noted that it is a constitutional role of Congress to establish a postal system. They either have to have a government entity to do it or authorize someone else to do it. Delivering letters (not packages) is solely the purview of the Congressionally established postal system.

[*michaelsean*]

(07-27-2020, 05:15 PM)BigPapaKain Wrote: According to my sister and BIL who are both carriers and their union reps.

No I meant were you for real thinking that’s what that means.

[Benton]

(07-27-2020, 01:54 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I don't really understand how this quasi-government stuff works, but can't the government just absorb them?  I mean seems like a drop in the bucket compared to the rate we spend money anymore.

To add to what's already been said, the financials are good. The USPS problem is, as Matt mentioned, their crazy pre-retirement funding. Anything would look bad on paper if you had to fund every employees retirement for nearly a century.

Lots of 120 years old retirees? Come on.

[BigPapaKain]

(07-27-2020, 11:28 PM)michaelsean Wrote: No I meant were you for real thinking that’s what that means.

Unless you've got some other, higher up the food chain source stating otherwise, I can only go with what I'm told is happening and what I see happening.

[Benton]

(07-27-2020, 08:32 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: It also should be noted that it is a constitutional role of Congress to establish a postal system. They either have to have a government entity to do it or authorize someone else to do it. Delivering letters (not packages) is solely the purview of the Congressionally established postal system.

And I think that's the big push behind dismantling the USPS
 . Somebody realized the money to be made and started pushing to have the USPS system done away with.

[Dill]

(07-27-2020, 10:49 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: Now, that is one particular point of view. I did find this article from WaPo talking about changes implemented by the new PMG.

Now, one of the things that you may be unaware of that was included in the Twitter thread was that the USPS financial issues are really fabricated by legislation that forced them to prefund 75 years of retirement funding. There have been efforts to try to rectify this situation, but they have thus far been unsuccessful.

Anyway, in case anyone was wondering about the delays in mail delivery lately, it is intentional.

How can we have mail in balloting for a national election when the Post Office is suddenly unreliable??

Mail Delays Fuel Concern Trump Is Undercutting Postal System Ahead of
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/us/politics/trump-usps-mail-delays.html

Members of Congress and state officials in both parties rejected the president’s suggestion and his claim that mail-in ballots would result in widespread fraud. But they are warning that a huge wave of ballots could overwhelm mail carriers unless the Postal Service, in financial difficulty for years, receives emergency funding that Republicans are blocking during negotiations over another pandemic relief bill.

At the same time, the mail system is being undercut in ways set in motion by Mr. Trump. Fueled by animus for Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and surrounded by advisers who have long called for privatizing the post office, Mr. Trump and his appointees have begun taking cost-cutting steps that appear to have led to slower and less reliable delivery.

In recent weeks, at the direction of a Trump campaign megadonor who was recently named the postmaster general, the service has stopped paying mail carriers and clerks the overtime necessary to ensure that deliveries can be completed each day. That and other changes have led to reports of letters and packages being delayed by as many as several days.

If the USPS cannot handle its current volume, they how could they hand mail in balloting?

Time for Congress to consider postponing the election!!

[Vas Deferens]

Good to come here and see fellow members I often agree with coming to the same ballot related conclusion. Highly doubt daddy came up with the idea, but he loved it and claimed it as his own the moment it finally stuck.

[Belsnickel]

https://connectingvets.radio.com/articles/veterans-affairs-mail-order-prescription-usps-delays

Quote:The vast majority of Department of Veterans Affairs prescriptions are fulfilled by mail. But as U.S. Postal Service delays mount, more and more veterans are reporting long wait times to receive critical medication and VA staff says the problem is only growing.

In fiscal year 2016, VA's mail-order pharmacy processed nearly 120 million outpatient prescriptions and VA provides about 80% of all its outpatient prescriptions to veterans by mail using seven "highly automated pharmacies," according to the department. The other 20% are filled at local VA medical facilities.

VA's mail-order pharmacy system, the Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (CMOP), processes nearly half a million prescriptions daily and each working day, more than 330,000 veterans receive a package of prescriptions in the mail. Veterans who live further from VA medical facilities, especially in rural and remote areas of the country, often depend on mail-order prescriptions.

More than two dozen veterans and more than half a dozen VA employees who work in department pharmacies nationwide reported delays for mail-order prescriptions to Connecting Vets. Those veterans and staff spoke on condition of anonymity because they said they feared retaliation from the department or stigma for the medications they use. They provided documents showing medication shipping delays.

VA's website says prescriptions "usually arrive within three to five days" of being ordered or even an average of "60 hours from filling to delivery," and advises veterans to request refills at least 10 days in advance of running out. That estimate appeared consistent with the normal wait times veterans described to Connecting Vets, and some vets said they have yet to see significant delays.

But in recent weeks, dozens of veterans said they faced wait times that have doubled, tripled or worse. Some reported wait times as long as three weeks or more for prescriptions that previously took a few days. None of them have been contacted by VA with an explanation, they said.

"What used to take days now takes weeks," one said.

"We depend on these medications," another veteran said. "This could be devastating. I can't go without."

"I received my life-saving medication 20 days late," another said.

"I ordered five weeks early, expecting delays," another veteran said. "My meds were still late."

Others said they saw delays in delivery of medical equipment, in addition to medications.

Veterans said they were worried about going to VA facilities to refill prescriptions because of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for those at higher risk.

"I'm immunocompromised and am trying to avoid going out at all, especially into a clinic," one veteran said.

"VA is telling us to stay home and canceling appointments, but wants us to come in to refill prescriptions?" another veteran said. "I wouldn't feel safe."

Some veterans said their healthcare providers told them in recent telehealth appointments that their only option to receive their medication was through the mail, since VA is still steering veterans away from in-person visits to some of its facilities during the pandemic.

A VA pharmacy chief described the USPS delays for prescriptions as "critical breaks in veterans' therapy," adding, "we are swamped with patient complaints over delivery delays."

There is more at the link. This is infuriating to me. My father was reliant on this system for his medications for a little over 17 years until his passing in December. I feel for these folks because I know what it can mean to have this problem.

[Benton]

(08-07-2020, 10:58 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: https://connectingvets.radio.com/articles/veterans-affairs-mail-order-prescription-usps-delays


There is more at the link. This is infuriating to me. My father was reliant on this system for his medications for a little over 17 years until his passing in December. I feel for these folks because I know what it can mean to have this problem.

It's the same with a lot of insurance companies.

My wife's company (a hospital) has a policy you can fill at any of their pharmacies or they'll mail it to you. My wife works out of a satellite office, not the main hospital (which is their only pharmacy for a couple hundred miles). So she can either have it mailed in 3 month supplies (and wait weeks) or she can drive an hour one way.

It's a hassle.

For veterans, that's a huge disservice. In our area, were so far from a va, a few counties have partnered together to buy a 'va can't to get them to appointments since many can't drive the two hours to one.

[BmorePat87]

Most of my sales shipped fine, but one item I sent to Kansas City got there in 3 days before being sent back to Baltimore and then back to Kansas City. 9 days later, the buyer still hasn't gotten it.