Neither Snow nor Rain, but Political Interference: Voter Suppression and the USPS
(Source) In a year of unprecedented events, among the most unexpected is Trump’s ongoing attempt to erode public faith in the United States Postal Service (“USPS”) and its ability to ensure a free and fair election through mail-in ballots. How exactly did we get here? Money Talks Congressional Republicans passed the Postal Accountability Enhancement Act (“PAEA”) in 2006 to reform USPS operations after its business model was deemed no longer viable, but PAEA’s passage was perceived as hostile to the USPS’ efforts to stay in business. PAEA, among other things, set up a pre-funding requirement that the USPS make annual payments, which amounted to between $5.4 to $5.8 billion a year, into a retirement healthcare benefits fund through 2016 to cover its obligations to current and retired employees; the USPS defaulted on these payments beginning in 2012. However, this was only one strain on the USPS’s finances. Another is the long-running decline in first-class mail volume since 2001. After 2006, the USPS went into debt and stayed in the red for 13 consecutive years. In February, the House passed the USPS Fairness Act with some bipartisan support to alleviate needless burdens on the USPS by undoing the prefunding [read more]