Yes! Republicans want to privatize the Post Office and have manufactured a crisis to do just that.
44%
No! American will push back - privatizing the Post Office is the ultimate assault on the commons.
56%
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Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
At Mondragon - both the mountain and the cooperative city - in Spain (written about in "Threshold" book)
Mueller's favorite place to pray (written about in "Prophet's Way"), and the roof of the room where the Last Supper is reputed to have happened.
From Unequal Protection, 2nd Edition:
"Beneath the success and rise of American enterprise is an untold history that is antithetical to every value Americans hold dear. This is a seminal work, a godsend really, a clear message to every citizen about the need to reform our country, laws, and companies."
From Cracking the Code:
"No one communicates more thoughtfully or effectively on the radio airwaves than Thom Hartmann. He gets inside the arguments and helps people to think them through—to understand how to respond when they’re talking about public issues with coworkers, neighbors, and friends. This book explores some of the key perspectives behind his approach, teaching us not just how to find the facts, but to talk about what they mean in a way that people will hear."
From Unequal Protection, 2nd Edition:
"If you wonder why and when giant corporations got the power to reign supreme over us, here’s the story."
There are some changes that need to be made in the Postal Service. Absolutely no bonus for any employee, none nada zip. Companies should have to pay more for the magazines, papers, any bulk mail. Should limit the number of stamps made. Now that there are forever stamps, people should use them. Up until 2006 (when I retired) they were destroying unused stamps every quarter, which is a huge expense, and quite unnecessary. Also, when I worked there a lot of overtime was being paid on a nightly basis...The work schedules should be evaluated to ensure that they have appropriate coverage, and don't have to pay overtime. They are top heavy with supervisors...positions should be eliminated. The Postal Service pays a lot of money on greviences, and management continues to do the same things again and agin against the employees. Maybe the Post Office shops should be closed, not sure how much money they bring in. There are many things that can be done to save money, without cutting out Saturday delivery, or closing Post Offices. They continue to process a lot of mail, so I think all the propaganda is bull. GOP won't be satisfied until the whole country is completely ruined.
What about the personal touch? It might be quicker to call someone or email them, but I was thinking it might still be cheaper to write a letter on a nice greeting card bought or handmade, put a stamp on it and mail it. At the very least it seems more personal to share thoughts or send a short warm greeting written by your own hand every so often.
With 600,000 USPS employees, it is one of the largest grass roots organizations being singled out for annihilation and securing the billions spent by the poor class, as over 50% of Americans are unemployed, underemployed or working for the same wages they have for almost 40 years, will now be expected to pay exorbitant prices for paper communications through corporate citizen's like FedEx, UPS, and any number of 100's more that will be cropping up under hidden corporations similar to that which gave Romney $1,000,000 campaign contribution and was only in business for several months with no "real" individual to contact, or real office for that matter. We are being scammed from every wannabe capitalist with a twisted Republican or Christian Right Wing ideology, which is the norm for a society that has fallen into the muck of a capitalist run government, which, by the way, if anyone's proven it doesn't work, America has! Yet, there must be over 1 million people who will be directly effected by the demise of USPS, besides it's over 300 million customers, if we don't fight for the true blue of the US Postal Worker and their services, well, only the rich can go live in another country! Since I'm victim as most Americans are who believe it or don't, I'll just have to stand my ground in my country and fight for what I know constitutes a Constitutional Democracy growing its way into a more perfect union! By the way, that CAN'T include corporate "citizens"! Impeach the Supreme court, or please, President Obama, tie the so and so's up with additional appointees, it'll be just a distraction but perhaps it'll give you time to close Guantanamo and reverse your decision on that dirty rotten lousy pipeline you've convinced yourself is a "good idea"?
I made and posted these videos concerning the attack on Postal Employees and mail service for the public.
I am a former Postal Employee.
I understand that HR2309 will be on the House Floor sometime this August
.Just because Issa made considerable profits as a business owner doesn’t qualify him to dictate how the Post Office should be run particularly when his solutions promoted as saving the Post Office, if enacted, would do the exact opposite.
If Issa wants to save the USPS he should look at what expenses can be deleted without disrupting the service.
#1. The Postal Accountable and Enhancement Act needs to be rescinded. In 2006 the PAEA ,signed by Bush, mandated that the USPS fund 75 years of retiree health benefits in 10. As the USPS was solvent before the PAEA (HR6407) was passed it stands to reason that the USPS would once again become solvent if this law was rescinded.
#2. Overpayments the USPS has made to the Civil Service Retirement Service should be returned.
#3. Overpayments the USPS made to FERS need to be retrieved.
#4. Charge more for delivering UPS parcels that UPS has the Post Office deliver to places they don’t.
#5. Adjust the ratio of managers to workers .
But Issa, in HR2309 hasn’t proposed that any of these things .
Issa’s solution is to cut the workforce by at least 100,000. Issa’s solution is to weaken the unions, so that Postal Workers’ wages and benefits would depend on a separate board when a contract wasn’t agreed upon by the USPS and a union.
This is a case where Issa’s cure would cause the death of the USPS as a public service and have it revived as a business with lower paid workers, higher rates and less service.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09ybkkiH2Ho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am4wez1ShPY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsPIY9bFFZY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-chx0j3_8IU