Save the US Postal Service

[sugar magnolia]

My sister lives in Memphis, 150 miles from here. She mailed her Christmas cards on Dec 17. We got it yesterday.

[RTH10260]

What's the complaint? Well in time for the 2022 holidays...

[Volkonski]

My sister lives in Memphis, 150 miles from here. She mailed her Christmas cards on Dec 17. We got it yesterday.

This is why I paid the taxes on our North Fork cottages online using a credit card the past two Decembers. Couldn't be sure a mailed check would arrive before the due date.

[pipistrelle]

Picture me seeing this and turning into the Tenth Doctor saying, “ What? WHAT?”

[RTH10260]

Yeah - print a postage stamp, one single unit, freshly issued, then place an NFT on it that folks can participate in the ownership of this unique object.

[pipistrelle]

Yeah - print a postage stamp, one single unit, freshly issued, then place an NFT on it that folks can participate in the ownership of this unique object.

I liked the responses like, "Surprise me by delivering my prescriptions."

[keith]

WHEN WILL THE USPS LIFT THE EMBARGO AGAINST AUSTRALIA?

[MN-Skeptic]

WHEN WILL THE USPS LIFT THE EMBARGO AGAINST AUSTRALIA?

I just talked to my sister the other day who is an author. She sells her books on her website and got orders last month and shipped them off. The ones headed for Australia came back to her. She's frustrated. An expensive lesson.

[keith]

WHEN WILL THE USPS LIFT THE EMBARGO AGAINST AUSTRALIA?

I just talked to my sister the other day who is an author. She sells her books on her website and got orders last month and shipped them off. The ones headed for Australia came back to her. She's frustrated. An expensive lesson.

I've got a package of CD's sitting at the vendor in Seattle since September 4.

USPS placed the embargo on September 3

[tek]

The initial shutdown was apparently due to delivery issues once in-country, but the current blockage is due to lack of scheduled airline cargo capacity. Pay (a lot) more, USPS will put it on dedicated cargo flights.

UPS, FedEx, DHL appear to be surcharging and extending delivery times but have some 'economy' transport capacity.

International logistics are pretty screwy these days. One of my clients finds it far easier to ship (internationally) a dozen racks of servers than a box of spare parts.

[Volkonski]

[raison de arizona]

BREAKING: The U.S. Postal Service has finalized Louis DeJoy’s plans to purchase a mostly gas-powered delivery fleet, defying both the EPA and the White House. The USPS will spend up to $11.3 billion on a fleet of 90% gasoline-powered trucks and only 10% electric trucks.

[AndyinPA]

[RTH10260]

Such a contract is long running, production takes time. I guess DeJoeys successor can specify different propulsion on parts of the fleet, eg more electic where sensible.

[Volkonski]

[raison de arizona]

Biden signs Postal Service reform bill into law

President Biden on Wednesday signed into law legislation reforming the U.S. Postal Service in a bid to increase transparency and stabilize the financial footing of what he called an essential agency.

Biden listed off the critical functions of the Postal Service at a bill signing ceremony in the State Dining Room, which was packed with dozens of mostly mask-less guests. He noted mail carriers help deliver prescription drugs, bill payments for small businesses and the votes of millions of Americans.

“This bill recognizes the Postal Service as a public service and we’re ensuring that it can continue to serve all Americans for generations to come,” Biden said.

https://thehill.com/news/administration ... -into-law/

[Reality Check]

Why is DeJoy still running the USPS?

[raison de arizona]

[keith]

Why is DeJoy still running the USPS?

Because the board still has Trump majority. Till the middle of next year, ithink

[raison de arizona]

Why is DeJoy still running the USPS?

Because the board still has Trump majority. Till the middle of next year, ithink

Biden could have appointed board members that would have replaced DeJoy, he chose not to. I don't know why.

[Kriselda Gray]

Why is DeJoy still running the USPS?

Because the board still has Trump majority. Till the middle of next year, ithink

Biden could have appointed board members that would have replaced DeJoy, he chose not to. I don't know why.

This article at Slate is from Feb 2021, so it's over a year old, but it lays out how the Post Office Board of Governors and the Postmaster General are chosen and how they can be removed from office. It's a pretty complicated system, but I've tried to pick a few choice points to share. I'd recommend reading the whole thing, though: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/202 ... dejoy.html

[...] While the president can fire other high-ranking executive officials at will, federal law bars the president from terminating the postmaster general under any circumstances. Biden can attempt to oust DeJoy indirectly, but that option is fraught with legal uncertainties, and certain to trigger Republican complaints of norm busting. Unless the president is willing to take a significant legal risk, DeJoy will remain in control for months or years to come.

[...] If DeJoy served at the pleasure of the president, Biden surely would’ve fired him on Day One. But he doesn’t. The problem, ironically, originates from Congress’ desire to insulate USPS from politics. For most of American history, the Postal Service played an integral role in the spoils system, and postmaster general was a plum post for an ally of the president. In 1970, Congress overhauled the structure of the Postal Service to end this sordid tradition of patronage by giving the agency substantial independence. To oversee USPS’s activities, Congress established a nine-member board of governors who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. No more than five members of the board may belong to the same political party. Once confirmed to the board, governors can only be removed by the president “for cause”; that means their jobs are safe unless the president can show that they engaged in malfeasance or extreme neglect of duty. The board of governors, in turn, selects the postmaster general, who is not subject to Senate approval. And once appointed, the postmaster general can only be removed by the board, though it need not justify its decision.

This structure, in short, is why Louis DeJoy remains postmaster general under Biden. The board of governors is dominated by Trump appointees; Senate Republicans refused to confirm President Barack Obama’s nominees to the board, leaving vacancies that Trump promptly filled. Today, there are four Republicans and two Democrats on the board, plus three vacancies. One Democrat, Ron Bloom, is serving a holdover term, which means Biden can replace him at any time. Thus, Biden can fill four seats on the board of governors—a move that would flip the board, giving Democrats a 5–4 majority. The new president can then urge the Democratic members to remove DeJoy, which they can do by a majority vote.

Filling these vacancies is the simplest way for Biden to get rid of DeJoy, though there is no guarantee that it will actually work. The new board would include five Democrats—but one of them, Donald Lee Moak, is a Trump-appointed moderate who, along with the rest of the board, backed DeJoy when he came under fire for his alleged corruption. It appears unlikely that Moak would choose to oust a postmaster general whom he supported through this summer’s controversy. And if Moak declined to join Biden’s nominees in firing DeJoy, the postmaster general would retain his position indefinitely.

The article then goes on to look at the risks and problems involved in trying to fire the Board of Directors since they have to be fired "for cause," as well as looking at ways Biden might be able to get around then "for cause" requirement and the possible ramifications (big ramifications) that could have. It also notes that a Dem Representative has suggested that a "cause" for firing the board might be to claim that by leaving DeJoy in power, they have been negligent in their duty to serve the best interests of the people, but it's very much unclear if that would even begin to fly.

Like I said, the article is over a year old so some things will obviously have changed since then, but apparently not enough yet to get DeJoy taken out by the Board of Directors. The most recent thing I saw while searching was that Ron Bloom, the hold-over the article says Biden can replace at any time has now been replaced, but I didn't see anything beyond that.

[raison de arizona]

Since then Biden appointed two Democrats that weren't enthused with replacing DeJoy and... a Republican that was against replacing him. Biden literally appointed a Republican that worked in the Trump admin.

[Kriselda Gray]

Since then Biden appointed two Democrats that weren't enthused with replacing DeJoy and... a Republican that was against replacing him.

That seems rather stupid.



(NOTE: I'm not calling BIDEN stupid, just noting that this decision seems particularly stupid to me.)

[raison de arizona]

I mean, there must have been a reason, but I haven't ever learned what it is.

[Kriselda Gray]

I mean, there must have been a reason, but I haven't ever learned what it is.

I got nothin' on that point....