You Need the Postal Service and it Needs You
(Disclaimer: La Tonique Media LLC does not represent any political ideology. While we do not espouse any political beliefs, we do seek to provide a balance perspective by incorporating voices from both sides of the political spectrum.)
By Priya Felix
Since its birth in 1775 under the leadership of Benjamin Franklin, The United States Postal Service, better known as USPS, has gone on to become one of the nation's most loved government agencies with a 91% approval rating. Whether it’s the little white truck making its way down the street or the familiar face of the mailman on foot, mail delivery is an essential staple of everyday life in America that is taken for granted too often. What the average citizen does not realize is that the age-old institution has been in hot water for quite some time, running million-dollar deficits consistently since 2007. As the capabilities of virtual communication and the internet's role in the rapid dissemination of information advanced, the volume of first-class mail saw a significant decline. Naturally, this, coupled with restrictions on raising postal rates to offset losses, translated to sharp declines in the USPS's primary revenue area. With e-commerce companies such as Amazon on the rise, the level of package deliveries has experienced a significant increase but still not enough to keep USPS' bottom line afloat. The primary source of the postal service's financial struggles is the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which mandated the service pre-fund all employee retirement and health benefits. In a nutshell, this meant USPS had to generate a $72 billion fund decades in advance of when the money would be used to pay out benefits. Unlike that any other federal agency had ever seen, the financial burden imposed by this law was the weight that made the sunken future of USPS inevitable, accruing over $70 billion in losses and roughly $50 billion in defaulted payments.
While USPS certainly seemed to resemble a sinking ship, one could say all the service needed was a good leader at the helm, which is precisely why the appointment of Louis DeJoy as postmaster general in May was wildly controversial. DeJoy is the first postmaster general in roughly 20 years to have no prior experience with USPS, but instead holds substantial investments in companies that compete with the postal service. A major Republican backer for President Donald Trump, Dejoy has donated $1.2 million to Trump’s campaign since 2016 and historically has strong ties to the Republican Party. To add to the already worrisome political conflict of interest associated with him, Dejoy implemented a series of cost-saving initiatives that seemed to have anything but the USPS's best interest at heart. The changes included rearrangement and removal of essential USPS leadership members, elimination of overtime deliveries, and dismantling of essential high-speed mail sorting machines. To no surprise, these apparent cost-minimizing changes lead to service delays, delivery mix-ups, and overall chaos in the USPS.
As the postal pot began to boil over, one could not help but notice that the timing was all too convenient with a pivotal election on the horizon. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a larger than usual volume of votes in the November election is expected to be sent via mail, which only reinforces the need for a highly efficient and reliable postal service. All signs point to President Trump, who has expressed strong opposition to "universal mail-in voting" due to ostensible concerns regarding voter fraud. what the Trump administration seems to have a problem with, is expanding widespread voting and maintaining one of the cornerstones of the American liberty - the right to vote even amidst a pandemic. It is clear that this was a strategic ploy to dismantle the very agency that will maintain the integrity of the upcoming election. In the words of Nancy Pelosi, it is a threat to the very "lives, livelihoods, and life of our American Democracy."
The silver lining here is that under extreme duress and the threat of legal action, DeJoy has announced a halt on all the cost-cutting measures until after the election. Additionally, the House has passed a $25 million stimulus bill to be funneled in the postal service. However, negotiations remain in a stalemate with the Republican-controlled Senate.
Regardless of the looming financial concerns, USPS executives David Williams and Thomas Marshall have expressed their confidence in the postal service's ability to handle the large in-flow of mail-in ballots that are expected to hit the service, stating that, “The U.S. Postal Service is well prepared and has ample capacity to deliver America's election mail for the upcoming general election in November. On any given day, the Postal Service delivers more than 425 million pieces of mail, and our best estimates are that election mail will account for less than 2% of all mail volume from mid-September until Election Day.” That being said, it is crucial to request absentee ballots as soon as possible and mail ballots in at least a week before state due dates, if not before, to ensure that every vote is counted. While the fate of the centuries-old American institution may dangle in the balance, we, the people, have a vital role to play not only in our obligation to USPS but to our nation – to vote whether it be by mail or in person!
Priya is a political writer for La Tonique. You can follow Priya on Twitter @priya_felix.