[IMC] Fwd: Will our USPS be sold out?

Thu Feb 21 16:46:18 UTC 2013

Sign to save the USPS. - Danielle

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rashad Robinson, ColorOfChange.org <info at colorofchange.org>

    *House Republicans are trying to bankrupt the post office — so they can
privatize it.*

[image: postal worker sorting
mail]<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2263?t=1&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

*Tell Congress: Stand up for postal workers and the public. Hands off our
Postal Service!*

[image: Join Us]<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2263?t=2&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

Dear Danielle,

House Republicans are jumping at the chance to put the U.S. Postal Service
— one of America’s most widely-used and well-trusted civic institutions1 —
on the chopping block, and to throw a half million largely Black and female
unionized workers out of a job.2,3

*It's a scandal. By most mainstream news accounts, the USPS is broke and
beyond repair.* The media is now parroting what used to be far-right
talking points about actually selling off, or privatizing, the postal
system outright.4

Except the post office isn't broke — and hasn’t taken a dime of taxpayer
money since 1971.5 *Congress created the USPS's financial crisis, and they
could end it today*. A Bush-era requirement that the Postal Service
pre-fund its retiree benefits 75 years into the future — a burden imposed
on no other government agency or private employer — has been digging the
otherwise profitable Postal Service deeper and deeper into the
red.6,7Instead of working to fix the problem, Republicans in the House
are taking
advantage of the post office's financial vulnerability to try to shut it
down.

*Please join us in urging Congress to enact postal reform that drops the
USPS's unfair 75-year pre-funding burden and keeps the post office in
service to the public.<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2263?t=3&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>
*

Due to its exceptional efficiency,8 the Postal Service has managed to turn
a profit on postal sales in the worst economy since the Great Depression.
But the massive pre-funding payments required by Congress have added up,
and the *USPS’s financial situation is now so dire that the Postmaster
General is threatening to cut Saturday mail delivery*.9 Such a move would
immediately slash 18% of the postal workforce10 and create delays for
Veterans' and Social Security checks, putting people who are already
struggling to make it to the end of the month at even greater risk.11

Because of its obligation and responsibility to provide affordable,
universal service, *only the USPS can be counted on to reach every home in
America, rain or shine*. After Superstorm Sandy, which severed public
transportation links and shuttered retail for weeks in the worst-hit areas,
the Postal Service was all many had to rely on for access to life-saving
medicines.12 Live in an urban neighborhood “too dangerous” for UPS and
FedEx, or down a remote rural lane? Without the USPS you’d receive no
service at all.13

*The public sector is under relentless right-wing attack*14 *— and Black
working women are bearing the brunt*. Nationwide, 40% of postal workers are
women and 20% are Black, although in cities like Chicago, Black letter
carriers can comprise upwards of 75% of the local USPS workforce.15 When
the country is still experiencing nearly 8% unemployment — and Black
unemployment has climbed back up to 14%16 — any deliberate effort to put
even more of us out of work is indefensible.

*The Postal Service must continue to work for all of us. Please join us in
urging Congress to stop bankrupting the USPS’s future and adopt real postal
reform that respects workers and our
communities.<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2263?t=4&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>
*

Claims that mail delivery has been made obsolete by the advent of email and
online bill payment ring hollow for the *46% of Black Americans without
access to high-speed Internet in their homes*.17 And making financial
transactions online isn’t an option for the more than 37 million American
households — over 60% of whom are Black or Latino — without a bank account
or access to formal credit,18 for whom inexpensive post office money orders
meet a vitally important need.

*Congress will make a decision on ending Saturday delivery as early as next
Friday*, setting the stage for a showdown on the larger question of retiree
benefits in March. To that end, Congress is now working on competing
proposals for postal reform that will result in either further punishing
and privatizing the Postal Service, or in removing obstacles to innovation
and expanding USPS's flexibility to meet additional critical needs —
including by offering public Internet access, community banking and
expanded vote by mail.19,20,21

*Please join us in urging Congress to stand up for postal workers and the
public, by adopting postal reform legislation that rejects privatization
and puts the post office back on solid financial
ground.<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2263?t=5&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>
* And when you do, please tell your friends and family to do the same.

Thanks and Peace,

--Rashad, Matt, Arisha, Kim and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
  February 21st, 2013

*Help support our
work.<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/205?t=6&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>
* ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no
money from lobbyists or large corporations that don't share our values, and
our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way.
 <http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2266?t=7&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>
<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2269?t=8&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

References

1. “The Postal Service is struggling, but not because of the mail,”
Washington Post, 07-19-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2245?t=10&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2245?t=9&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

2. “Postal Workers: The Last Union,” Truthout, 09-08-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2246?t=12&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2246?t=11&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

3. “USPS’s Largely Black and Female Workforce Rallies to Save Jobs,”
Colorlines, 09-28-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2255?t=14&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2255?t=13&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

4. “Post Office Privatization Is Probably a Huge Real Estate Deal,” 08-02-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2244?t=16&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2244?t=15&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

5. “The Post Office is not broke—and it hasn’t taken any of our tax money
since 1971,” Hightower Lowdown, 03-01-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2259?t=18&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2259?t=17&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

6. “Congress Can Block Postal Austerity, and Save Saturday Delivery,” The
Nation, 02-13-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2248?t=20&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2248?t=19&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

7. “Mandate pushed Postal Service into the red for first quarter,”
Washington Post, 02-08-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2249?t=22&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2249?t=21&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

8. “Why the Postal Service Is Going Out of Business,” Forbes, 12-06-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2258?t=24&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2258?t=23&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

9. See reference 6.

10. “Dead Letter Blues,” Jacobin, 02-11-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2272?t=26&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2272?t=25&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

11. “Nader, Bernie Sanders Slam Postal Service for No Sat. Delivery,” The
Progressive, 02-06-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2251?t=28&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2251?t=27&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

12. “Do We Really Want to Live Without the Post Office?” Esquire, 01-22-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2254?t=30&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2254?t=29&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

13. See reference 2.

14. “The collateral damage of cutting postal service,” Washington Post,
02-12-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2247?t=32&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2247?t=31&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

15. “U.S. Post Office cuts threaten source of black jobs,” Reuters, 01-21-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2256?t=34&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2256?t=33&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

16. “Black Unemployment Rate Shoots Up from 12.9% to 14%,” Politic365,
01-04-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2257?t=36&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2257?t=35&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

17. “Pew Internet: Broadband,” Pew Internet & American Life Project,
05-24-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2252?t=38&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2252?t=37&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

18. “Black, Latino Consumers Severely Under-Banked,” Atlanta Black Star,
12-07-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2253?t=40&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2253?t=39&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

19. “Issa’s Postal Service Reform Bill Includes Hidden Union Busting,”
ThinkProgress, 07-14-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2260?t=42&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2260?t=41&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

20. “End of Saturday Mail Delivery Gets Conservative Support,” Roll Call,
02-06-2013
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2261?t=44&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw<http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2261?t=43&akid=2820.707733.q9cWyw>

21. See reference 6.

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