*Update…
Trump says he didn’t really mean what he said about not signing the loan to keep the nationals postal service going…
The US Postal Service is in trouble and needs a loan….
But?.. because unlike other company?
Congress passed a law in 2006 making it keep MORE money to cover it’s retiree’s payouts…
Right now?
The Post Office STILL delivers a LOT of packages during the virus ‘stay at home’ period…
With the economy going in a hole?
Trump wants to RASISE prices FOUR TIMES the current amount???
Trump HAS a sore spot for the Post Office because it carries Amazon packages and Trump hates Jeff Bezos , the founder of the company , who also controls The Washington Post …
I doubt that there is gonna be an increase of 4x the current rate right now, nor do I see the Post Office running out of money and shutting down….
I say I ‘doubt’…
ANYTHING is possible with Donald Trump…
Trump recently signed a law that allowed the cash-strapped agency to borrow $10 billion from the Treasury Department. The Post has reported that the White House wants to force changes at the Postal Service as part of the terms of the loan.
Trump confirmed Friday that rates increases would be among those conditions, and that he would not allow Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to approve the loan without them.
“If they don’t raise the price, I’m not signing anything,” he said.
Trump has railed for years against what he sees as mismanagement at the Postal Service, which has been battered by a decline in first-class mail in the Internet age – but which has found profitability with package delivery. The agency’s revenues have plunged about 30 percent during the coronavirus pandemic, though, as business mail has declined….
image..linns.com
James’ surmise doesn’t make much sense to me, because one of the USPS’s main rivals in delivering packages is Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Prime while Amazon also uses a variety of other carriers like UPS and FedEx. Hurting the USPS might in the long run help Amazon as much as hurt it.
Amazon NEEDS the Post Office…
They don’t have the capacity
And The postal service needs the work…
Trump IS checkmated on this…
I think it all depends on the omnibus deal that Amazon reaches with the Post Office.
Yup…..
But remember
Bezos is a hard bargainer and HE has the advantage…
There WILL be an increase in what Amazon’s discount is even if it’s 5 cents a package…
Closing down the Postal Service would seal Trumps doom.
That’s not going to happen.
However, Trump has a point.The Postal Service has been taken for a ride by Amazon and should get more money from these huge bulk customers.
I agree
The threat was just a bargaining ploy
Yeah it doesn’t make any sense! If the post office raised the price of packages 4x it would not be competitive with Fedex & UPS! A box shipped with USPS often costs far more than FEDEX, it all depends on the zip code and weight. Also USPS collaborates with FEDEX and UPS to deliver packages to the home, this way it gets more business it wouldn’t get otherwise. Like FEDEX Smartmail. Also for small packages USPS, such as things that weight under 8 oz, USPS has some very low prices from about $2.70 to $5.90, which help small sellers. If things are very thin and light, you can even ship them in an standard sized envelope for the price of stamps… Things that otherwise wouldn’t be worth paying more for to ship. USPS knows its business and knows how much to charge, ReTurdy has no clue about business, after all he built casinos that went bankrupt because he didn’t seem to realize that the daily income they can generate isn’t enough to cover the loans he took! What kind of a businessman is that? That’s a fool or a swindler, not a businessman! As you mention in the article, it’s very true that CONGRESS put a super high burden on USPS by requiring that they pay billions for health insurance in advance for workers who will retire and workers that WILL be hired in the future! That 20 billion debt means that the post office ends up with around 1.5 billion in deficit every year instead of with about 1.5 billion in the green. The Covid-19 crisis means loss of a lot of mail revenue so the deficit is even greater. ReTardy is a disaster no matter what matter comes before him. Republicans are evil monsters who want to privatize everything as a favor to their rich donor friends who keep them in office. It’s all a sham, America has become a deeply corrupt country, on the level of Russia. BasTurdy has taken corruption to a whole new level, and in the past 3 years he has completely decimated the Federal Government and surrounded himself with “swamp creatures” who are just sycophants who follow him like he is god himself. Anybody who didn’t comply fully with his insanity got fired! If he isn’t sent to hell in November this country is pretty much finished I think…