Fogbow

sugar magnolia wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 3:40 am My sister lives in Memphis, 150 miles from here. She mailed her Christmas cards on Dec 17. We got it yesterday.

RTH10260 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 2:32 pm 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.

keith wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 5:37 pm WHEN WILL THE USPS LIFT THE EMBARGO AGAINST AUSTRALIA?

MN-Skeptic wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 6:39 pm

keith wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 5:37 pm 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.

Jon Cooper @joncoopertweets wrote: 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.

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.

Reality Check wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 6:34 pm Why is DeJoy still running the USPS?

keith wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 6:37 pm

Reality Check wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 6:34 pm Why is DeJoy still running the USPS?

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

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 6:42 pm

keith wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 6:37 pm

Reality Check wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 6:34 pm 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.

[...] 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.

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 7:13 pm Since then Biden appointed two Democrats that weren't enthused with replacing DeJoy and... a Republican that was against replacing him.

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 7:15 pm I mean, there must have been a reason, but I haven't ever learned what it is.