Trump admits (today) that he’s trying to sabotage vote-by-mail.

Recent Forum Topics Forums The Public House Trump admits (today) that he’s trying to sabotage vote-by-mail.

Viewing 30 posts - 1 through 30 (of 34 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #119227
    Avatar photoBilly_T
    Participant

    Of course, we already knew he was doing this, but he’s not even trying to hide it now. He’s actually bragging about it.

    https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-admits-he-wants-block-usps-funding-sabotage-mail-voting-2020-8

    Trump admits he’s refusing to fund the US Postal Service to sabotage mail-in voting
    Grace Panetta
    3 hours ago

    President Donald Trump told Fox Business on Thursday morning that he would block additional funding and election assistance for the US Postal Service to sabotage mail-in voting.

    On Wednesday and Thursday, Trump said he would not sign off on any relief bill that includes emergency federal funds for the USPS and more money to process election-related mail.

    “They want $25 billion — billion — for the post office. Now they need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said on Thursday, adding, “But if they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting.”

    Under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the cash-strapped USPS has implemented cost-cutting measures that experts say could harm the delivery of election-related mail.

    To make this so much worse, DeJoy, a mega-donor to the GOP and the Trump campaign, has a direct conflict of interest even beyond all of that. He stands to benefit, personally, if the Postal Service is killed off or knee-capped, as has been the desire of the GOP for decades. Trump, of course, added several new rationales of his own for why this is needed, the most important being he needs to win reelection to avoid jail . . . But he also wants to use USPS to get back at Bezos, cuz the WaPo has been critical of our batshit crazy, ultra-malevolent president.

    Goddess, please wake me up from this nightmare!

    #119229
    JackPMiller
    Participant

    Not a shock. He says that he is willing to cheat out loud, & the Republicans in Congress won’t do nothing. He does not know, it will affect senior citizens medications, plus bills getting there on time as well. Of course Trump does not care as long as he can stay in power, by any means necessary.

    #119242
    JackPMiller
    Participant

    https://www.postaltimes.com/postalnews/postal-workers-union-says-up-to-80000-letters-were-held-back-monday-in-southern-maine/

    Postal workers’ union says up to 80,000 letters were held back Monday in southern Maine
    August 11, 2020

    Customers across southern Maine will be waiting on as many as 80,000 pieces of mail that will arrive late because of new U.S. Postal Service policies, the president of a local postal workers’ union said.

    Rather than wait an extra 10 minutes for the mail to be ready, the trucks left the postal service’s Southern Maine Processing and Distribution Center in Scarborough exactly on time Monday morning, leaving behind roughly 80,400 letters that will be delivered late as a result, said Scott Adams, general president of the American Postal Workers Union Local 458. He estimated the processing center sorts approximately one million pieces of mail on a typical Sunday night.

    Adams sent the Portland Press Herald information Monday morning outlining the amount of delayed mail broken down by destination. He said all the letters left behind had been sorted the previous night and just needed to be loaded onto mail carriers’ trucks for delivery.

    A postal service spokesman said Monday evening that the union’s 80,000 figure was overblown. He also said the delayed letters were distributed later in the day and were not held until Tuesday.

    #119353
    JackPMiller
    Participant

    #119354
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    #119356
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    #119357
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    #119361
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    #119420
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    from Facebook

    Steve Buhler

    The United States Postal Service is under direct threat, along with the many communities and institutions that it serves, due to the partisan and financially self-serving actions of its current Postmaster General. The USPS Board of Governors has the authority to remove the Postmaster General; Americans have the responsibility to ask the Board to protect the USPS.

    A dear friend has done not only that but also gathered the Governors’ email addresses and shared her statement. I have used this information and model in sending my own messages and I encourage everyone who has not already communicated with the Board to do the same.

    Here are the email addresses: mduncan@inezdepositbank.com; barger.jm@gmail.com; ron.bloom@brookfield.com; roman@rmiv.com; lee.moak@moakgroup.com; DirectorAccessMailbox@cigna.com.

    This is based on what my friend wrote:

    Dear USPS Governor,

    As your fellow citizen, I implore you to remove the partisan Postmaster General from office. The United States Postal Service is an independent agency, like the military, and as such is obligated to run regardless of financial profit. As a result of the current Postmaster General’s irresponsible directives, veterans and others in need are not receiving their medication on time and bills paid on time are not being received on time. Americans’ precious right to vote is vulnerable to interference and interruption. No administration’s agenda is more important than our right to vote, which is fundamental to our country’s existence as a democratic republic. The proper functioning of the USPS is not a partisan issue; it is an issue of national interest and well-being.
    I ask that you follow your conscience, act upon your personal integrity, and enable ALL Americans to participate fully in the American system with the infrastructural support and service of the non-partisan United States Postal Service.
    You have a heroic role to play: saving lives with delivered medicines, saving hope with letters between generations who can’t be together now, protecting commerce during an economic crisis, saving free and fair elections. Please do the right thing and remove an administrator who has demonstrated callous and selfish disregard toward these vital functions and benefits of the USPS.

    #119421
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    #119423
    Avatar photoZooey
    Moderator

    Los Angeles last night.

    #119426
    Avatar photowv
    Participant

    Even if you drop ballots off in person — you still have to RECEIVE the ballots by mail, right?

    w
    v

    #119429
    Avatar photoZooey
    Moderator

    Even if you drop ballots off in person — you still have to RECEIVE the ballots by mail, right?

    w
    v

    Yes, unless you go to the precinct on Nov. 3. In WV, you can request your ballot right now, and voters will begin to be receive them on Sep. 19. You will get it in time. And probably WV is not going to be screwed with that much anyway as…you know.

    It’s MI, NC, FL, PA, WI, and TX that are going to be screwed with. And apparently IL, CA, NY, and MA just because. It’s kind of pointless screwing with CA because even if they eliminated all of Los Angeles, Biden would still win this state by 3 million votes.

    Absentee ballot request period begins Tuesday

    • This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by Avatar photoZooey.
    #119435
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    #119449
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    ==

    #119450
    Avatar photoZooey
    Moderator

    Destroying the Post Office is really not a thing I expected to see. This is just surreal.

    #119473
    Avatar photoZooey
    Moderator

    #119474
    Avatar photoZooey
    Moderator

    #119489
    Avatar photoBilly_T
    Participant

    Keep an eye out for an article by Jason Johnson this week (tomorrow?) at the Grio:

    Home

    He teased it a bit on TV today. Apparently, Trump and company used detailed voter info, gathered for the (failed) voter fraud investigation, to help them target where to fook up the mail for this election. I kinda figured they’d find a nasty way to weaponize that data, but didn’t see this coming.

    In general, the Dems will ask for info in this or that investigation, and rarely get it, cuz Republicans say “Hell no!” . . . the Dems then say “Not fair!” and leave it at that. The GOP, on the other hand, tends to get the stuff they ask for. Asymmetric warfare.

    One side is playing by the Marquis of Queensbury rules, and the other side says Fook off. It’s long past time the Dems act like Republicans when it comes to stuff like this.

    Inklings and green shoots. But not nearly enough, especially in the Age of Trump Outrage Fatigue.

    #119535
    Avatar photoZooey
    Moderator

    #119570
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Postmaster General DeJoy suspends changes to Postal Service to avoid any impact on election mail

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/postmaster-general-dejoy-suspends-changes-usps-until-after-election-n1237122?fbclid=IwAR3WjupA1iBocHLquRWGcEuAA7AMOyYCv2zA0jKrOm7aArfEW36n7Ke6b24

    The U.S. Postal Service will suspend any policy or operational changes until after the presidential election, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Tuesday.

    Critics claimed that DeJoy was hindering the agency’s ability to accommodate an expected surge in mail-in voting, which he denied.

    DeJoy, a close ally of President Donald Trump and a longtime Republican donor who was appointed in May, said that he had come to the federal agency to make changes that would allow for “its long-term sustainability” but that he intended to delay the efforts as scrutiny of the practices has grown — despite his view that the Postal Service needed a significant overhaul.

    “In the meantime, there are some longstanding operational initiatives — efforts that predate my arrival at the Postal Service — that have been raised as areas of concern as the nation prepares to hold an election in the midst of a devastating pandemic,” he said. “To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded.”

    DeJoy said the hours of post offices would not change, mail processing equipment and blue mailboxes would not be removed, all mail processing facilities would remain open and the Postal Service would again allow overtime to be “approved as needed.”

    The announcement included DeJoy’s intention to expand the agency’s leadership task force on election mail to include members of postal unions and management associations.

    DeJoy, a former logistics executive, faced intense scrutiny for nationwide shipping delays after he made a number of policy changes that included eliminating overtime and restricting postal carriers from taking on additional routes to deliver mail on time.

    Questions also rose over the removal of blue Postal Service mailboxes, as well as the decommissioning of 671 letter-sorting machines at Postal Service facilities, removals that predated DeJoy’s appointment.

    Nevertheless, the delays and the optics have roiled Democrats who accused DeJoy and Trump of hamstringing the agency to undermine mail-in voting. Postal workers across the country added their voices, asserting that the policies adopted by DeJoy — which he said are intended to cut costs and increase efficiency — have caused the holdup in deliveries, including prescription drugs, Social Security checks and other pieces of essential mail.

    Trump denied intentionally slowing the Postal Service, telling reporters Monday that he “encouraged everybody to speed up the mail, not slow the mail.”

    DeJoy is set to testify before Congress this week.

    Concerns over the Postal Service’s ability to handle election mail grew when numerous states received letters from the Postal Service last week that warned that the agency would not be able to fulfill requests for mail-in ballots.

    The potential delays are a significant concern for many, as millions of Americans are expected to send in their votes through the Postal Service this year because of concerns over the coronavirus.

    Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, both Democrats, shared their intention to file lawsuits against the postmaster general over his policy changes. At least 18 states are involved in the lawsuits.

    When asked by reporters about DeJoy’s announcement, both men laughed and said their lawsuits would proceed.

    “I’ll believe it when I see it,” Shapiro said. “Hopefully the American people can breathe a sigh of relief, but I will not let my foot off the gas so long as the postal officials continue to violate the law through their procedural steps.”

    #119654
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    DeJoy said the hours of post offices would not change, mail processing equipment and blue mailboxes would not be removed, all mail processing facilities would remain open and the Postal Service would again allow overtime to be “approved as needed.”

    What’s happening with mailboxes and mail-sorting machines?

    https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/aug/19/whats-happening-mailboxes-and-mail-sorting-machine/?fbclid=IwAR3r1vTy8qojOqHlpaNAEKQtgDKCfQ96CXu_hanGTkc6dsh320oPVOB_JUU

    • Recent removals of both mail collection boxes and mail-sorting machines stoked fears that the Trump administration is trying to jeopardize the collection of mail-in ballots.

    • Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced on Aug. 18 that mail processing equipment and collection boxes would stay where they are. He did not address whether equipment that had already been removed would be reinstalled.

    • Postal union leaders said that most of the mail-sorting machines scheduled for removal had already been dismantled by the time DeJoy released his statement.

    One Twitter user claimed that it was “cheating 101.” Another used the hashtag “#TRUMPSTEALINGELECTION.” Social media posts are populating feeds with images of the blue mailboxes being loaded into trucks.

    Why is the removal of mailboxes across the country provoking such controversy? Many fear that the operation is related to President Donald Trump’s efforts to restrict voting by mail at a time when large numbers of Americans are turning to the mail-in option.

    Trump frequently targets the U.S. Postal Service in interviews and press conferences and has said he is refusing to provide election aid funding or emergency bailout dollars to assist the struggling agency because of the role it plays in delivering mail-in ballots.

    Faced with mounting criticism over federal handing of USPS operations, Trump political ally and U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Aug. 18 said he would roll back plans to remove mail collection boxes and sorting machines. However, postal union leaders say that DeJoy’s announcement came too late, and much of the equipment slated for removal has already been dismantled.

    The post office issue has been confusing. Some social media posts about it are missing context, repeating old news, or just plain wrong. Here’s what we know about the plan to remove some equipment, and DeJoy’s statements describing a plan to reverse the measures .

    USPS removes collection boxes and sorting machines

    Spokespeople from the USPS claimed that the post office was removing “redundant/seldom used” boxes because of a decline in paper mail. The operation generated vocal blowback on social media, and Senator Jon Tester wrote a concerned letter to DeJoy demanding an explanation. One day later, the Postal Service announced that it would suspend the removals until after Election Day.

    In an Aug. 16 statement to CNN, USPS spokeswoman Kim Frum wrote that the Postal Service would “postpone removing boxes for a period of 90 days while we evaluate our customers’ concerns.”

    Mail-sorting machines were also targeted for cuts. Mail-sorting machines process paper mail at distribution centers, speeding delivery and distribution. Each mail-sorting machine can sort 36,000 pieces of paper mail per hour. But in mid-June, USPS contract administration manager Rickey Dean sent a letter to American Postal Workers Union president Mark Dimondstein notifying the union that 671 of these machines would be taken offline over the course of “the next several months.” That reduction would amount to roughly 10% of the Postal Service’s mail sorting machine inventory, a shut-down that could reduce the post office’s sorting ability by nearly 600 million pieces of mail per day.

    On Aug. 16, two months after that notice was given, however, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told CNN’s Jake Tapper that “sorting machines between now and the election will not be taken offline.”

    Left unsaid by Meadows: exactly how many of these machines had already been shut down or destroyed.

    Across the nation, postal workers have reported machines have already been eliminated from operating: a dozen in Massachusetts, seven in Charlotte, 15 in the Syracuse, NY, area, and more.

    In Boston, postal union leader Scott Hoffman told WGBH that nine machines were removed from Boston’s Dorchester Avenue post office. Chris Bentley, a postal union leader, said that seven mail-sorting machines had been removed in offices in Missouri and Kansas.

    June Harris, president of a Chicago postal union, told PolitiFact she was “concerned” about how the loss of these machines would affect the election.

    “The mail is already backlogged due to COVID,” she said. “The work is being impacted, the workforce is being impacted, and taking these machines offline is making things even worse.”

    DeJoy reverses course

    On Aug. 18, in response to rising concern that the post office was not prepared to meet the challenge of the election, DeJoy announced that he would suspend “longstanding operational initiatives” to avoid “even the appearance of any impact on election mail.”

    In his statement, DeJoy wrote that “mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are.”

    He did not, however, address whether equipment that had already been removed would be reinstalled.

    Kevin Tabarus, president of a postal union in New York City, said that DeJoy’s announcement came too late. “Just about every processing machine slated for removal in (June) was removed before (Aug. 18),” he told PolitiFact.

    Tabarus estimated that of 38 mail processing machines scheduled for removal in his area, more than 30 had already been dismantled by the time of DeJoy’s statement. He noted that many of the machines that had been destroyed before Aug. 18 would have been used to sort paper ballots, while many of the machines saved by DeJoy’s order were used to sort larger packages and envelopes.

    #119658
    Avatar photoZooey
    Moderator

    I read today that there isn’t time to reinstall them, that the installation takes quite a long time.

    So…that article says mailboxes were removed because people are mailing fewer letters.

    But it doesn’t explain why the sorting machines were removed.

    #119806
    Avatar photoZooey
    Moderator

    Good summary of the chain of events:

    10 Things to Know About Trump’s Post Office Scandal

    #119808
    Avatar photoBilly_T
    Participant

    Thanks, Zooey for the link.

    Ya got some mail. Old, infrequently accessed address?

    #119809
    Avatar photoZooey
    Moderator

    Thanks, Zooey for the link.

    Ya got some mail. Old, infrequently accessed address?

    Junk folder. Never, ever would have seen that email if I hadn’t seen this post.

    #119816
    Avatar photowv
    Participant

    #119846
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    #119851
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator
    #119854
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Leaked USPS email tells postal workers not to reconnect or reinstall sorting machines ‘that have been previously disconnected’

    https://news.yahoo.com/leaked-usps-email-tells-postal-183434321.html

Viewing 30 posts - 1 through 30 (of 34 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

Comments are closed.