Thursday, December 26, 2024

Trump Says He’s Looking Into Privatizing US Postal Service (Connecting the Dots: The U.S. Postal Service (USPS), BAE Systems Inc., The Third Way & Soros Funding, All Networking)

Trump Says He’s Looking Into Privatizing US Postal Service (Connecting the Dots: The U.S. Postal Service (USPS), BAE Systems Inc., The Third Way & Soros Funding, All Networking)

The U.S. Postal Service has been struggling financially for years.

The Epoch Times

By Zachary Stieber 12/17/2024 Updated:12/17/2024

U.S. Postal Service employees work during the start of the holiday mail rush inside the Los Angeles Mail Processing & Distribution Center in Los Angeles, Calif., on Dec. 3, 2024. Mario Tama/Getty Images

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trump-says-hes-looking-into-privatizing-us-postal-service-5777812

President-elect Donald Trump said on Dec. 16 that it’s possible that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) could be privatized.

“There is talk about the Postal Service being taken private,” Trump told reporters at an unrelated press conference, after being asked about his thoughts on the USPS. “Not the worst idea I’ve ever heard, really isn’t.”

A reporter mentioned Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as someone who could take over the USPS and streamline the operation.

“It’s a lot different today between Amazon and UPS and FedEx, and all the things that you didn’t have,” Trump said. “But there is talk about that, it’s an idea that a lot of people have liked for a long time. We’re looking at it.”

During Trump’s first term, the White House in a government reform plan noted that the USPS has repeatedly defaulted and called the agency’s current model unsustainable.

“Major changes are needed in how the Postal Service is financed and the level of service Americans should expect from their universal service operator,” the plan stated. “One successful model of Postal reform internationally has been to transition to a model of private management and private or shared ownership.”

The benefits of transitioning the USPS to the private sector would include a greater ability to adjust pricing and negotiate pay and benefits for workers.

President Joe Biden opposes privatization. In 2022, he signed legislation providing USPS with about $50 billion in financial relief over 10 years.

The USPS also received a $10 billion loan in 2020 for pandemic-related expenses, which was later forgiven.

The American Postal Workers Union, which represents USPS employees, is among the entities that have said that privatization would cause problems, including making it more difficult to send and receive mail.

Trump at some point in his second term is set to receive recommendations from the Department of Government Efficiency, an outside group led by businessmen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. The men have said the panel will focus on ways to make the government more efficient by cutting waste.

The USPS, which has about 525,000 workers, lost $9.5 billion in fiscal year 2024, which ended on Sept. 30. The service also has more than 700,000 retirees relying on its pensions and has tens of billions in liabilities.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who was appointed by the USPS Board of Governors in 2020, told members of Congress during a Dec. 10 hearing that he’s implemented some changes aimed at modernizing the USPS. “Moving forward, we will aggressively focus on cost control, revenue growth, and innovative service offerings that meet the needs of our customers at reasonable prices,” he said.

DeJoy also asked Congress to lower the service’s costs for retiree benefits, revise the agency’s pricing scheme, and give the agency more funding.

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Accountability Committee, said during the hearing that he thinks it would be too difficult to privatize the entire USPS because “nobody wants to deliver the mail to every house in America, six days a week, and to operate all of those retail postal facilities.”

Some tasks, such as mail sorting, can be handed off to private companies, he added.

DeJoy said he'd work with the incoming administration and Congress to consider various options.

“The goal of the Postal Service is to break even,” he said. “And we’re not doing that.”

Connecting the Dots:

Margaret D. Noyes is the art director & designer for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and married to Gregory B. Craig.

Gregory B. Craig is married to Margaret D. Noyes, a trustee at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank), a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, was the White House counsel for the Barack Obama administration and a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

German Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank) was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and the Brookings Institution (think tank).  

Lee H. Hamilton is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and a director at the BAE Systems Inc.

D. Michael Bennett is the SVP for BAE Systems Inc., and a member nominee for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

Margaret D. Noyes is the art director & designer for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and married to Gregory B. Craig.

Gregory B. Craig is married to Margaret D. Noyes, a trustee at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank), a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, was the White House counsel for the Barack Obama administration and a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Antoinette Cook Bush was a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s stepdaughter.

Christina M. Tchen was a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and is the chief of staff to the first lady (Michelle Obama) for the Barack Obama administration.

Gregory B. Craig is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, married to Margaret D. Noyes, a trustee at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank), was the White House counsel for the Barack Obama administration, and a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

German Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank) was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Margaret D. Noyes is married to Gregory B. Craig and the art director & designer for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

D. Michael Bennett is a member nominee for the U.S. Postal Service and the SVP for BAE Systems Inc.

Lee H. Hamilton is a director at the BAE Systems Inc. and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).  

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle and Antoinette Cook Bush’s stepfather.

Antoinette Cook Bush is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s stepdaughter, and was a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

Christina M. Tchen was a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and is the chief of staff to the first lady (Michelle Obama) for the Barack Obama administration.

Gregory B. Craig is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, married to Margaret D. Noyes, a trustee at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank), was the White House counsel for the Barack Obama administration and a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

German Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank) was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Margaret D. Noyes is married to Gregory B. Craig and the art director & designer for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

Preston R. Tisch was the postmaster general for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and Laurence A. Tisch’s brother.

Laurence A. Tisch was Preston R. Tisch’s brother and Andrew H. Tisch’s father.

Andrew H. Tisch is Laurence A. Tisch’s son and a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).  

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle and Antoinette Cook Bush’s stepfather.

Lee H. Hamilton is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and a director at the BAE Systems Inc.

D. Michael Bennett is the SVP for BAE Systems Inc. and a member nominee for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

Thurgood Marshall Jr. was a board of governor’s member for the U.S. Postal Service and is a trustee at the Third Way.

Bernard and Irene Schwartz Foundation was a funder for the Third Way, the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation and the New America Foundation.

Bernard L. Schwartz is the chairman emeritus for the Third Way, a co-founder for the Bernard and Irene Schwartz Foundation, was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation and a funder & director for the New America Foundation.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society FoundationsJonathan Soros’s father and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.   

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the New America Foundation.

Jonathan Soros is a director at the New America Foundation and George Soros’s son.

Resources: Past Research

How The USPS Loses Money Despite Government-Granted Mail Monopoly (Past Research on the U.S. Postal Service)

Friday, April 1, 2016

https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2016/04/how-usps-loses-money-despite-government.html

Going Postal (Past Research on the U.S. Postal Service)

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2013/10/going-postal.html

New USPS Whistleblower in Philly suburb Elkins Park Details Orders To Stop Delivering Pro-Trump Mail (Past Research on the U.S. Postal Service)

Friday, November 13, 2020

https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2020/11/new-usps-whistleblower-in-philly-suburb.html

No comments: