Dear Friend,
Donald Trump's campaign to destroy the post office is working.
Since Trump's new Postmaster General instituted new cuts designed to slow
the mail, deliveries are languishing at postal hubs. More than 330,000
veterans are waiting weeks for prescriptions.^1 Paychecks and bill
payments are missing deadlines.^2
And unless Congress acts right now, millions of mail-in ballots could be
delayed and left uncounted in the November election. The post office must
get emergency funding to ensure that it has the capacity to support
vote-by-mail, and we're driving thousands of letters from constituents to
ensure Congress acts.
[ [link removed] ]Will you donate to help demand that Congress fund the U.S. Postal
Service in the new coronavirus bill?
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your
donation will go through immediately:
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Since Congress established the U.S. Postal Service in 1775, "neither rain
nor heat nor gloom of night" has stopped the postal workers from
delivering the mail.^3 The mail has been one of the mainstays of
democracy, an always-dependable service that has connected even the most
remote residences to submit taxes, vote, and pay bills.
But a combination of a Bush-era law designed to bankrupt the post office
and Trump's postmaster general's draconian budget cuts have put the mail
on the brink of extinction.
The 2006 law requires the U.S. Postal Service prepay 75 years' worth of
its employee pension and healthcare costs—a requirement no other
government agency has.^4 To balance these costs, post offices relied
heavily on overtime for its current employees to get the mail to us on
time—but the Postmaster General, a Trump megadonor, has prohibited any
overtime mail delivery, causing letters and packages to remain behind at
the post office for days to weeks.^5
This mail delay comes as election boards across the country are processing
millions of requests for absentee ballots as people try to ensure they can
vote safely during the pandemic.^6 And if these delays continue to worsen,
the post office won't be able to turn around ballots on time, and an
untold number of votes might not be counted in November.
The House of Representatives has already voted to overturn the 2006 law
and provide funding to the postal service, but the Senate has so far
refused to act. Congress is debating a new coronavirus bill and could vote
any day now, so right now we need to demand that the post office is funded
in that bill.
[ [link removed] ]Will you rush an emergency donation to help save the post office?
Thanks for standing with us.
Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress
[ [link removed] ]DONATE
Source:
1. Connecting Vets, "As veterans and VA staff report USPS prescription
delays, officials say to order early," [ [link removed] ]August 5, 2020
2. The New York Times, "Mail Delays Fuel Concern Trump Is Undercutting
Postal System Ahead of Voting," [ [link removed] ]July 31, 2020
3. U.S. Postal Service, "Postal Service Mission and 'Motto'," [ [link removed] ]accessed
August 7, 2020
4. The Week, "How George Bush broke the Post Office," [ [link removed] ]April 16, 2018
5. NPR, "Pending Postal Service Changes Could Delay Mail And Deliveries,
Advocates Warn," [ [link removed] ]July 29, 2020
6. Business Insider, "How to vote by mail in your state in the November
presidential election," [ [link removed] ]July 28, 2020
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