Friends -
In the midst of the pandemic and economic collapse, it is easy to forget about a major and vital American institution that is under attack by the Trump administration and on the verge of collapse. And that is the United States Postal Service.
Today, while more than 600,000 postal workers in the U.S. are putting their lives on the line delivering mail and packages, the institution itself is at risk of going bankrupt as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
The USPS is expected to lose about 50% of its revenue due to a loss of mail volume during the pandemic. And what most people do not know is that the USPS does not run on taxpayer dollars — it relies completely on revenue created by postage and postal services.
With such a significant drop in revenue, the USPS will be unable to carry out its work.
If we can bail out large corporations, we can damn well help the Postal Service — the most popular government agency in America — from going bankrupt because of this horrific pandemic.
That is why I am asking you today:
It is an outrage that Trump recently blocked an agreement to save the Postal Service. If Trump had it his way, he would allow it to go bankrupt and then privatize it, jeopardizing more than 600,000 decent paying jobs.
We absolutely cannot — and will not — let that happen.
The Postal Service is our country's only universal delivery network that employs hundreds of thousands of people. For so many families, a job at the USPS has been their path to the middle class.
Unlike privatized delivery services, the Postal Service is required by law to deliver all mail and packages to everyone nationwide, regardless of where they live. And each year it is responsible for delivering 1.2 billion packages of medicine to those who need it.
How will people get their prescription drugs and, once they become available, their coronavirus test kits? How will we allow people to vote by mail in an election that is facing unprecedented hurdles to getting voters out to the polls? How will these things be possible if we do not have a fully functioning Postal Service?
Without relief or intervention, the United States Postal Service will not be able to sustain itself for the long term, which means it will not be able to deliver mail and packages to 160 million addresses all over the country.
That is why we must do everything we can to protect the Postal Service, which is at serious risk as a result of the economic crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic.
If the Postal Service goes under, universal and affordable delivery would no longer be a guaranteed public service.
During this public health emergency and horrific pandemic, the Postal Service is needed now more than ever. Thank you for adding your name to demand immediate action from Congress.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
Paid for by Friends of Bernie Sanders
PO BOX 391, Burlington, VT 05402
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