It's a political axiom that Rethuglicans win when voter turnout is suppressed. That's why they put enormous energy into closing polling stations in Democratic districts, establishing ID requirements that are best met by older white voters, restricting early voting, and other tactics meant to reduce the Democratic vote. Their latest crusade, led by their cult leader and Kremlin asset Donald "COVID Donnie" Trump, is to sabotage the U.S. mail system to undermine voters' ability to vote by mail, despite its overwhelming public support in the midst of a worsening pandemic. Numerous states have "no excuse" absentee ballot provisions; some conduct elections almost entirely by mail. Of course, Trump has recently voted by mail in Florida, something that doesn't keep him from trying to deny that ability to others.
Trump has frequently railed against the Postal Service losing money, supposedly for it's low rates on packages for big shippers like Amazon, despite the fact that shipping packages are the Postal Service's biggest money generator. Some see typical Trump vindictiveness:
"....critics say Trump is merely looking to punish Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in retaliation for unflattering coverage in The Washington Post, which the billionaire Bezos also owns."More and more, however, Trump sees the Postal Service as an enemy combatant in his re-election bid, since voting by mail is viewed by him as a threat:
"Trump has acknowledged larger political calculations are at work, tweeting that expanding vote by mail will “LEAD TO THE END OF OUR GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY.” Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has suggested the Republican president’s opposition to absentee voting and criticism of the Postal Service may help him “steal” the election." (our emphasis)The main reason the Postal Service is struggling financially goes back to a Rethuglican legislative mandate aimed at eventually privatizing it, namely that the Postal Service fund its retiree health benefits for 75 years, something that no other enterprise is required to do. Trump has threatened to veto any relief for the Postal Service, even if it's tied to COVID-19 economic relief. That's how fearful he is of mail-in voting. That's why Dems need to do everything they can to thwart him and support the Postal Service now and going forward.
2 comments:
One way to help the post office- buy their products. If you are employed, by a bunch of stamps. If lots of us do this, we can save them without getting past McConnell and Trump's veto.
The managed to deliver all those stimulus checks to dead people. That's pretty impressive.
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