Mitch and the USPS
Following Mitch's Money, Presentation by Doug Price on August 24, 2020.
This week’s episode will be about a very current topic: what is going on with the US Post Office and how is Mitch intertwined in this mess? Remember Mitch’s memoir The Long Game? Did this plan start several years ago? You be the judge!
The Postal Service is overseen by the USPS Board of Governors. The Chair of this Board is Robert M. Duncan of Inez, KY. Mr. Duncan is an accomplished person well known in the Republican Party on a State and National level.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edky/meet-us-attorney
His son, Robert M. Duncan, JR., is the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Duncan has contributed over $20,000 to the Republican Natl committee, $6,000 to Mitch, and $65,000 to the Republican Party of Kentucky.
Outside of government service, he served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2007 to 2009. As RNC Chairman, he raised an unprecedented $428 million and grew the donor base to 1.8 million — more donors than at any time in RNC history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postmaster_General
https://www.opensecrets.org/trump/inauguration-donors
The Postmaster General of the USPS is Louis DeJoy, a North Carolina native who contributed $100,000 to Trumps inauguration and over $1.4 million to inauguration funds from 1989–2017.
Additionally, he has contributed over $2.6 million to the Republican National committee among others.
How did DeJoy get hired in the Trump administration? Mitch understands this process: Money Talks.
The Board of Governors stated in October 2019 they were going to do a nationwide search to replace the retiring Postmaster General and subsequentially noted they had reviewed 200 candidates. However, I believe the hire was set in September when Trump appeared at a rally in North Carolina where he mentioned his great relationship with DeJoy.
In a news release, U.S. Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin said under DeJoy’s leadership, “this historic and cherished American institution will experience a bright future.”
Well, that was in May and now USPS is in shambles. The Trump Administration has once again failed to provide leadership and our Senator Moscow Mitch McConnell has once again gone missing. He adjourned the Senate and won’t be back until September 8, 2020.
So what if we have multiple real life concerns: the Postal Service failing, stoppage of unemployment benefits, people going to be tossed out on the streets, evicted because they can’t pay their rent, people dying due to the failure of the Government to handle the C-19 pandemic, businesses failing. What is important is for Mitch to be back in Kentucky making the pre-election rounds to deliver funding for various projects. Buying votes?
So other than non-action what has been Mitch’s role in the USPS debacle? Is all of this a well-planned out strategy to disrupt the upcoming Presidential election? You decide: The USPS Board of Governors consists of 11 members 9 of whom are supposed to have staggered nine year terms and to have representation from both parties. President Obama re-nominated most of the existing Board for a second nine year term including those members appointed under Bush. Those six members should be on the Board, but none of them are.
How did that happen? McConnell blocked those nominations in the Senate — similar to what he has done with judges. When Trump became President all of his nominations have been approved. 6 of the eleven positions, including the chair have been appointed by Trump and DeJoy sits on the Board by virtue of his position. My best estimate is that the Trump appointees are 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats. Those numbers provide a margin of 5 Republicans and 2 Democrats.
Mitch controlled the nominations, Trump controls the Postmaster General and now there is a real concern that USPS will not be able to handle mail-in balloting that needs to happen across the US due to the Covid-19 pandemic. States have proven that mail-in balloting encourages people to vote. The Republican Party is not a fan of the One Man, One Vote. This Party is often called the Voter Supression Party and Mitch is right in the thick of things!
From an article in the Lexington Herald Leader. The United States Postal Service will play a critical role in the 2020 election. But its depleted cash reserve and new leadership have some worried.
Mail in Lexington is taking a long time to get delivered and there’s a good reason: Two sorting machines have been removed from the U.S. Postal Service headquarters on Nandino Boulevard. This is not just a Kentucky problem, this is a nationwide problem. Slowdowns in delivery are standard issue now. Is this the new norm? Are Trump and McConnell working together to take down the Postal System?
Trump and Mitch initiated this crisis. Trump tweets Save the Post Office and then pledges to veto any funding bills for the postal system. Mitch goes home and pledges to table any funding bills. As John Berman from CNN said the other day: “we have a clusterfork.”
The words “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” have long been associated with the American postal worker.
But if Mitch has his way the USPS will not be able to complete its job. It is time to rain, snow, and apply the heat to the Grim Reaper and Retire Mitch on November 3, 2020.
Doug Price is a member/treasurer of the MMRC and a regular participant on the #MoscowMitchMonday live stream, discussing Mitch and Money. Doug is an advocate of governmental change on the State/Federal level and has periodically worked on Democratic campaigns dating back to the 80s. Follow Doug on Twitter @ PriceDoug
