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Reports of protests are overblown. A few incidents around the country, but nothing major.

5 (45.5%)

A few major incidents in capitals, but nothing much in DC.

5 (45.5%)

A major incident in DC, but nothing much around the country.

0 (0%)

More than 10 capitals have major upheavals, but nothing much in DC.

0 (0%)

A major incident in DC plus more than 10 capitals with significant upheavals.

1 (9.1%)

More than half the capitals around the country have problems with protesters, but DC is quiet.

0 (0%)

DC has major problems, while more than half the capitals around the country also have considerable trouble with protesters.

0 (0%)

Huge disruption to the day.

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 9

Voting closed: January 19, 2021, 10:49:21 PM

[bodiddley]

Sometimes there's just a fitting coda that sums up the state of things:

Trump's younger brother, the nice Trump, died
“He was not just my brother, he was my best friend."  - D Trump

You know when your only friend dies that things are not exactlygoing your way.
(Michael Cohen says Trump has no friends, not a one).

There was one season circa 1991 when the Mets finished in dead last, had an awful season, and then something like two days after the season William A Shea died.
Seemed like a message.

Big surprise: when they were kids Donald bullied his younger brother Robert.
Lingerign Q: did Robert Trump die form CV-19 or something else?
And yes, it's relevant whether your own policies killed your family member.

[bodiddley]

Trump's little foreign policy victory with the the UAE was just trumped by his failure to get almost anyone to extend arms sale sanctions on Iran.  The Dominican Rep. voted with the US, while China and Russia opposed, and everybody else abstained.  Iran mocking the US regime for getting exactly one vote after months of preparation. 

Trump Admin plans on trying to snapback full economic sanctions on Iran, but since the US left the nuclear accord they don't even have the standing to try to do that.  Another failure to come.  China for one excited about doing business in Iran.  Really so were France and Germany but they've stayed on the sidelines in the face of the US 3rd party sanctions regime.

[barton]

Who says the USPS has to turn a profit?

what the P-L look like for Dept of Defense, or HHS, or?

Its a bullshit argument and one more 3-card Donnie distraction from the real issue of voter suppression through dismantling the government infrastructure.

Out source the USPS and make it profitable, and how many people would lose needed services.

Make it profitable through higher rates could theoretically kill the USPS as it has imbedded costs (like govt pensions) that new competitors don't have....

His cut/pasted points are largely irrelevant given that the country needs full postal service in the time of corona,  when more ballots are mailed, and given that the postal service is constitutionally mandated.   

EDIT -- posted that before I saw Diddley's post.   What he said.   

[barton]

Someone should ask her and she should be made answer and define all her beliefs clearly and in a detailed manner.

Joe Stalin,  is that you?   

[barton]

You just get a dropdown menu when you click Modify, not a screen.   You select Ignore/Buddies from that,  and then get a screen with two tabs.   You then select the Ignore tab.

[oilcan]

Oversight committee moving the hearing up to August 24.  Good.   

And i see Meadows is stsrting the backpedaling this morning. 

And White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that it would also halt sorting-machine removals.

Meadows also said the White House is open to Congress passing a stand-alone measure to ensure the U.S. Postal Service is adequately funded to manage a surge in mail voting in November, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said.

Maybe still a few functioning neurons on the Republican brain that fired when they realized lots of older white people out in the sticks depend on "the last mile" service. 

[REDSTATEWARD]

Who says the USPS has to turn a profit?

what the P-L look like for Dept of Defense, or HHS, or?

Its a bullshit argument and one more 3-card Donnie distraction from the real issue of voter in suppression through dismantling the government infrastructure.

Out source the USPS and make it profitable, and how many people would lose needed services.

Make it profitable through higher rates could theoretically kill the USPS as it has imbedded costs (like govt pensions) that new competitors don't have....

His cut/pasted points are largely irrelevant given that the country needs full postal service in the time of corona,  when more ballots are mailed, and given that the postal service is constitutionally mandated.   

EDIT -- posted that before I saw Diddley's post.   What he said.

The USPS is a mess and Congress won’t face the facts.
The service is mandated by law and is, in effect, a non- profit.
So making it “ profitable” is not a concern.
Making it efficient  is.
The coronavirus has little to do with the USPS problems. It has lost tens of billions of dollars this century because it is hamstrung in developing a business plan to survive in changing times.
Rates are too low and expenses are too high while the number of addresses needing servicing are increasing. Any money Washington wants to grant under the guise of “ COVID-19 relief” is needed
for long term viability. Any argument it is needed for the 2020 election is just political noise.

[LarryBnDC]

Who says the USPS has to turn a profit?

what the P-L look like for Dept of Defense, or HHS, or?

Its a bullshit argument and one more 3-card Donnie distraction from the real issue of voter in suppression through dismantling the government infrastructure.

Out source the USPS and make it profitable, and how many people would lose needed services.

Make it profitable through higher rates could theoretically kill the USPS as it has imbedded costs (like govt pensions) that new competitors don't have....

His cut/pasted points are largely irrelevant given that the country needs full postal service in the time of corona,  when more ballots are mailed, and given that the postal service is constitutionally mandated.   

EDIT -- posted that before I saw Diddley's post.   What he said.

The USPS is a mess and Congress won’t face the facts.
The service is mandated by law and is, in effect, a non- profit.
So making it “ profitable” is not a concern.
Making it efficient  is.
The coronavirus has little to do with the USPS problems. It has lost tens of billions of dollars this century because it is hamstrung in developing a business plan to survive in changing times.
Rates are too low and expenses are too high while the number of addresses needing servicing are increasing. Any money Washington wants to grant under the guise of “ COVID-19 relief” is needed
for long term viability. Any argument it is needed for the 2020 election is just political noise.

Shut up.

Stop making it fund the retirement of workers yet to be born.

[bankshot1]

Who says the USPS has to turn a profit?

what the P-L look like for Dept of Defense, or HHS, or?

Its a bullshit argument and one more 3-card Donnie distraction from the real issue of voter in suppression through dismantling the government infrastructure.

Out source the USPS and make it profitable, and how many people would lose needed services.

Make it profitable through higher rates could theoretically kill the USPS as it has imbedded costs (like govt pensions) that new competitors don't have....

His cut/pasted points are largely irrelevant given that the country needs full postal service in the time of corona,  when more ballots are mailed, and given that the postal service is constitutionally mandated.   

EDIT -- posted that before I saw Diddley's post.   What he said.

The USPS is a mess and Congress won’t face the facts.
The service is mandated by law and is, in effect, a non- profit.
So making it “ profitable” is not a concern.
Making it efficient  is.
The coronavirus has little to do with the USPS problems. It has lost tens of billions of dollars this century because it is hamstrung in developing a business plan to survive in changing times.
Rates are too low and expenses are too high while the number of addresses needing servicing are increasing. Any money Washington wants to grant under the guise of “ COVID-19 relief” is needed
for long term viability. Any argument it is needed for the 2020 election is just political noise.

Red drops his profit motive and privatitation when challenged on it.

Now he's switched to playing the efficiency card.

Efficiency is a fine goal for any organiation.

But how is throwing away mail-sorting equipment, automated equipment to make a laborius task more efficient, an efficiency-seeking goal?

How is inconvencing customers who are increasingly dependent upon the mail a best business practice in efficiency?

The answers of course is they are not seeking efficiencies.

In a period when more consumers are using the internet to shop for fear of covid and staying home, and as retail establishments have closed and demand for deliveries via mail have increased dramatically, what is the rational for crippling the needed services the USPS provides?

Efficiency?

thats just Red playing 3-card Donnie again. 

Trump has outlined  his goal to suppress the vote and his desire to steal the election.

And do it by crippling the USPS

Now thats an EFFICIENT abuse of power to turn a presidency into a dictatorship

[kiidcarter8]

Kushner killing it today on Face the Nation - even though Ms Brennan wouldnt let him talk.

Leader of the party indeed

It will be a shame when he can't run on even level for being a Jew.

[REDSTATEWARD]

Shut up.

Stop making it fund the retirement of workers yet to be born.

That decision made long ago. Typical of government mentality it was very inefficient.

[Echo4]

1, The USPS is a mess and Congress won’t face the facts.
2. The service is mandated by law and is, in effect, a non- profit.
3. So making it “ profitable” is not a concern.
4. Making it efficient  is.
5. The coronavirus has little to do with the USPS problems. It has lost tens of billions of dollars this century because it is hamstrung in developing a business plan to survive in changing times.
6. Rates are too low and expenses are too high while the number of addresses needing servicing are increasing.
7. Any money Washington wants to grant under the guise of “ COVID-19 relief” is needed for long term viability.
8. Any argument it is needed for the 2020 election is just political noise.

I agree with points 1-3.

4. It's unclear to me that the USPS is inefficient and without the legislative and regulatory changes they need, it is impossible to tell what is organizational inefficiency vs. governmental failure. And yes, it is an important distinction.

5. The first half of this is bullshit. The virus has had a huge impact on the amount of mail being sent, While the bulk of increase in loss from 2018 to 2019 came from a change in Workers Compensation expenses outside their control, the bulk of the jump from almost $9 billion in losses to over $13 billion in losses is directly attributable to the virus.

6. This is certainly true if breaking even is important. How important is it?

7. I think these are two separate discussion.

8. And this is would have been utter bullshit, except that the notion that causing the post office to be slower and less capable was an intentional goal and therefore, as noted, totally political.

Just as the clerks' offices around the country are going to have a higher volume of non-in person votes to handle during the election, so too will the post offices have a greater volume of mail than they would ordinarily get at any time but Christmas. Having to hire extra staff for a big increase in volume during an extra period seems pretty certain to be a valid expense.

And directly connected to the virus.

[Echo4]

Kushner killing it today on Face the Nation

If only you were an honest reporter, we would be able to know if there was something worth seeing.

But you have consistently reported such results when the subject you were praising was... flailing and failing. I'll wait for other reviews before deciding if it was worth watching.

[barton]

Rates are too low and expenses are too high while the number of addresses needing servicing are increasing. Any money Washington wants to grant under the guise of “COVID-19 relief” is needed for long term viability. Any argument it is needed for the 2020 election is just true.

FIFY

The argument for need in 2020 is obvious,  so obvious you keep evading it with other issues.   Lots of people voting by mail when there's a pandemic.   So prompt high-volume logistics are needed.   Now.   No one's disputing that deeper systemic repairs should come after,  which ensure timely delivery of necessities to people in remote rural areas and aren't dependent on a profit center for some private courier.   But fixing things now requires both Congress and a President who isn't subverting the USPS mission with a crony appointment  and a publicly stated contempt for full enfranchisement.   

[Echo4]

Email subject from DonaldJTrump.com today:

"Help Us CRUSH Hillary"

Living in the past.