Should Senate pass Postal Service bailout bill?
The U.S. Postal Service this year has seen criticisms on its service by President Trump, questions over whether it can handle millions of mail-in ballots in November’s election, and cuts that have slowed mail delivery. In response, the House of Representatives on Aug. 22 passed a bill authorizing $25 billion in emergency funding for the agency. Should the Senate pass and the president sign that bill?
Postal Service is vital
Yes, the Postal Service should receive emergency funding. Other nations view their postal systems as a vital public utility and so should we.
But problems involving the Postal Service have sources other than Trump’s fear of voting by mail, which he believes will disadvantage him.
The Postal Service has long been in the crosshairs of the Republican Party. It runs its own retirement program for employees, and since 2006 has been required by Congress to prefund this program for 75 years into the future. This precludes turning a profit.
I run a small business that depends on the affordable rates and excellent service that the Postal Service offers. They haven’t lost a package of mine for years.
I dislike Trump for many reasons, but when he goes after the Postal Service, that’s deeply personal.
Lucy Horton
South Whitehall Township
Let states pay, not Congress
House Democrats excel at spending other people’s money; why stop at $25 billion? How about $50 billion or $100 billion? They are all nice round numbers.
The unprecedented scale of voting by mail likely to occur in this year’s general election has been largely promoted by Democrats. Various state governments prescribe a virtual cacophony of rules, regulations and deadlines, many of which are neither internally consistent nor carefully thought through.
Instead of relying on civic-minded citizens to exercise their precious right, and responsibility, to cast a secret ballot at long-recognized polling places, mass mailings can provide unwanted ballots to people who may or may not be legitimate voters. Democrats expect such constituencies to vote overwhelmingly for the Biden/ Harris ticket and rely on the U.S. Postal Service in that effort.
A kind of quasi-public/private organization, the Postal Service faces constraints set by Congress, postal union work rules and changing mail patterns. It cannot produce miracles in delivery and processing time to be sure that vast numbers of ballots mailed just
before Nov. 3 arrive by Election Day. Some states are saying it is OK if ballots do not arrive by Nov. 3, or if they are not postmarked by Nov. 3 or even if they are late and not postmarked at all.
The problem is not with the Postal Service, it is with the Democrat-run states placing this burden on the Postal Service. If money is going to be given to the Postal Service, it is those states that should do so, not the U.S. Congress. James Largay
Upper Saucon Township