2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumSanders’s passion for the prosaic — or why the Post Office is part of what makes America great
In a race where many candidates for president are pressing flashy, headline-grabbing issues like immigration, the fight against terrorism, abortion rights and education, Bernie Sanders is offering a passionate defense of the prosaic.
His message of economic populism and the ills of inequality includes a pledge to save the mail carrier’s door-to-door visit to every home, six days a week — a ritual in American life that’s increasingly viewed as quaint, outdated and unsustainable.
Sanders’s crusade to save the struggling U.S. Postal Service from extinction, which long predates his campaign for the Democratic nomination, is a powerful emblem of what he says can work in government as he fights against big banks, for a higher minimum wage and for more taxes on wealthy households and corporations.
“It’s the most visible symbol of government, every day,” says Warren Gunnels, Sanders’s policy director. “He strongly supports postal jobs, but overall he wants to maintain and improve the quality of service that has improved the lives of the American people for more than 200 years.”
<snip>
He doesn’t sit on any committees that oversee postal affairs. But Sanders has proposed legislation in the last two congresses to waive the prepayments for retirees. He’s pushing for the post office to be able to offer Americans basic financial services to raise revenue. He’s fought big delays to mail delivery as plants have closed.
He’s even blocked a slate of nominees to the agency’s governing board because he believes they would slash jobs and outsource one of America’s oldest institutions to private companies.
The morning after he debated his Democratic rivals for president in Las Vegas in October, Sanders gave a standing-room-only address at the Bally’s Hotel to 2,000 postal workers.
“The beauty of the Postal Service is that it provides universal service six days a week to every corner of America, no matter how small or how remote,” he told the American Postal Workers Union’s all-craft meeting, which was held in Las Vegas. “It supports millions of jobs in virtually every sector of our economy. It provides decent-paying union jobs to some 500,000 Americans, and it is the largest employer of veterans.”
<snip>
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/11/09/bernie-sanderss-passion-for-the-prosaic-or-why-the-post-office-is-part-of-what-makes-america-great/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
merrily
(45,251 posts)The Constitution and the Post Office
In June 1788, the ninth state ratified the Constitution, which gave Congress the power “To establish Post Offices and post Roads” in Article I, Section 8. A year later, the Act of September 22, 1789 (1 Stat. 70), continued the Post Office and made the Postmaster General subject to the direction of the President. Four days later, President Washington appointed Samuel Osgood as the first Postmaster General under the Constitution. A population of almost four million was served by 75 Post Offices and about 2,400 miles of post roads.
The Post Office received two one-year extensions by the Acts of August 4, 1790 (1 Stat. 178), and March 3, 1791 (1 Stat. 218). The Act of February 20, 1792 (1 Stat. 232), continued the Post Office for another two years and formally admitted newspapers to the mails, gave Congress the power to establish post routes, and prohibited postal officials from opening letters. Later legislation enlarged the duties of the Post Office, strengthened and unified its organization, and provided rules for its development. The Act of May 8, 1794 (1 Stat. 354), continued the Post Office indefinitely.
The Post Office moved from Philadelphia in 1800 when Washington, D.C., became the seat of government. Two horse-drawn wagons carried all postal records, furniture, and supplies.
https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100/pub100_005.htm
Not to mention--given we are almost at that time of "the rolling year" (and speaking of classic):
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Our precious USPS, whose guy recently delivered my 103-year-old aunt's birthday card into her hand (with a smile and a chat about how heavy all her birthday cards were) for less than the cost of a candy bar.
