Trump, Bezos and Ben Franklin: A Chess Game Played in Hell
On July 26, 1775, the Continental Congress appointed Dr. Benjamin Franklin Postmaster General of what would within a year be called the United States of America. Over the past 245 years, America has had 75 Postmasters. The first - and to far only - woman to serve as Postmistress General, Megan Brennan, is scheduled to retire shortly. According to a survey last year by the Pew Research Center, 90% of the American public has a favorable view of the United States Postal Service (USPS), handily outdistancing even such other popular federal agencies as the National Park Service and NASA.
Not only is the Post Office widely popular: it is of immense importance to the well-being of the nation. Establishing “post offices and post roads” is one of the powers of Congress explicitly enumerated in the Constitution, right up there with the power to tax and borrow, declare war, coin money, establish federal courts and issue patents and copyrights. And yet, despite its vast popularity and historic centrality, there are those who have long sought to dismember and then privatize the USPS. Chief among them are the nation’s current Chief Executive and his most doting, most conservative acolytes and financial backers. The question is, of course, “Why? Why do they want to dismember the USPS?” In truth, IMPOTUS’s reasoning is quite a bit different - and more obvious - than that of his political allies. In order to get a grip on the political right’s modus operandi, we must go back in time to the year 2006, when the Republican-controlled 109th Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) which required the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs . . . 75 years into the future. This burden applies to no other federal agency or private corporation. PAEA must have been extremely important to those who introduced, supported and voted for its passage: from its initial introduction into the hopper to presidential signature was a mere 13 days (Dec. 7-Dec. 20, 2006).
Writing in the journal of the Institute for Policy Studies, authors Sarah Anderson, Scott Klinger and Brian Wakamo noted: If the costs of this retiree health care mandate were removed from the USPS financial statements, the Post Office would have reported operating profits in each of the last six years. This extraordinary mandate created a financial “crisis” that has been used to justify harmful service cuts and even calls for postal privatization. Additional cuts in service and privatization would be devastating for millions of postal workers and customers. Again, the question is “Why?” I’m not terribly sure what was behind the original bill and the speed-of-light alacrity which Congress used to get it passed and signed. For Republicans it is understandable: they have a tendency to want to see the federal agencies and programs shrink-wrapped to the point where they are eventually turned over to the private sector. That I can understand even if I am decidedly against it. However, two of the three co-signers of the PAEA (H.R. 6407) joining in with the bill’s author, Virginia Republican Tom Davis - were Democrats . . . one of whom was Henry Waxman (D-CA), one of his era’s craftiest and most universally respected progressives. So when I say “I don’t understand,” believe me . . . I don’t understand!
The part I do understand - minus the Democratic support - is that Congress was setting a future trap for USPS; making it possible to blame them for fiscal incompetence . . . for losing billions upon billions of dollars. Well, if it hadn’t have been for passage of H.R. 6407 in the first place, Ben Franklin’s great great, great, great grandchildren would have been showing sizable profits.
Just about a year ago (April 29, 2019 to be precise) Oregon Democrat Peter DeFazio filed H.R. 2382, the “USPS Fairness Act,” which would eliminate the pre-funding requirement. Advocates claim that it could single-handedly put the Postal Service out of the red and into the black. (At present, it is estimated that unless something is done soon, USPS will run out of money by 2024). Supporters argue the bill makes financial sense, puts the Postal Service on an even footing with literally every other federal agency, and helps ensure the solvency of one the programs that most directly affects ordinary Americans. The bill garnered 301 cosponsors (61 of whom were Republicans, and passed the House on February 5, 2020 by a veto-proof vote of 309-106. It was then sent over to the Senate where it picked up 5 cosponsors and was assigned to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. It has gone no further since and likely will languish . . . especially in light of IMPOTUS’s recent involvement in the issue.
Then there’s IMPOTUS’ line of argumentation. This past Friday he threatened to block an emergency loan to shore up the U.S. Postal Service unless it dramatically raised shipping prices on online retailers, an unprecedented move to seize control of the agency that analysts said could plunge its finances into a deeper hole. “The Postal Service is a joke,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. To obtain a $10 billion line of credit Congress approved this month, “The post office should raise the price of a package by approximately four times,” he said. Several administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said Trump’s criticism of Postal Service rates is rooted in a desire to hurt Amazon in particular. They have said that he fumes publicly and privately at Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, for news coverage that Trump believes is unfair. Of course, raising postal rates “by approximately four times” would likely hurt rural Americans - heretofore among his strongest, most loyal allies - the most.
Delivering packages has been a good business for the Postal Service, making up just 5 percent of the Postal Service’s volume, but accounting for 30 percent of its revenue. And package volume jumped 53 percent last week, compared with the same period in 2019, as a homebound nation dives into e-commerce for groceries, prescriptions and household essentials. As much as IMPOTUS believes this to be the start of a game-winning strategy which will end up in a fifteen-move “check mate,” he is actually playing his to opponent’s game plan. What he likely does not realize is that should USPS raise its shipping rates by 400%, Amazon can easily save money by doing even more of its own shipping . . . which no doubt would be quite harmful to USPS. But far from being able to blame Amazon for the post office’s further economic slide, voters will blame Donald Trump. And there’s not thing one he can do about it.
‘45 has long claimed that he is “the most transparent president in American history.” Goodness knows, he says it at least one a week. And it’s just possible that in this deranged bit of braggadocio, he is telling the truth without really knowing it. How so? For as long as he’s been in the public eye - whether in real estate, on television, in the air at the head of some eponymous wine, water, airline or tie - he has clearly massaged those who massage him and attempted to pummel those who will not praise him. Cases in point: his obsessive ridding - if not eradicating - virtually every accomplishment of Barack Obama and his administration. His belittling, deprecating and re-tagging people who do not, will not and cannot go along with him. In these things, he is both obvious and transparent. (One of the latest is his renaming Amazon founder - as well as publisher of the Washington Post and wealthiest person on the planet - Jeff Bezos “Jeff Bozo.”) It must really be galling for IMPOTUS to have to play someone else’s game only to realize that he’s getting closer and closer to hearing the words “check mate.”
189 days until the next election.
Copyright©2020 Kurt F. Stone