When I originally took these pictures with Kayla a few weeks ago, I had no idea what was going on with the USPS. But I feel like you would probably have to be living under a rock to not know now. It’s been causing me a lot of stress and anxiety (but that’s pretty normal now whenever I follow the news), so I’ve been doing a lot of research to fully grasp what is happening. I’ve also been seeking ways that I can help. It is so major for all of us to support the Postal Service right now. Speaking from a personal note, My Opa worked for the Postal Service for 35 years. So clearly the USPS is near and dear to my heart, but it’s also a crucial public service that we need to protect!
I won’t pretend I’m an expert on this. I’ve done some research but I am just a concerned citizen trying to figure out what I can do to help this situation. I advise anyone who is reading this blog to click the links I include in this to learn more.
What’s the Problem Here?
Here is what I have gathered about the situation: During this pandemic, Trump and the Senate have rejected emergency funds/grants to the USPS. Trump is also trying to say that voting by mail is fraudulent to try to discourage mail-in voting. The new Post Master General is a huge Trump/GOP donor and has implemented measures to intentionally undercut the effectiveness of the postal service like removing sorting machines. This will make it harder for postal workers to do their jobs effectively. Since there will be such an influx of mail-in ballots this year because of the pandemic, undermining the USPS would ignite voter suppression in certain areas of our country.
The Postal Service is a public service that helps and benefits millions of Americans, especially in rural America. We need the Postal Service now more than ever, especially in this election year.
Here are a few articles that I’ve looked to for more information about the situation:
Why Does It Matter?
It’s pretty obvious to me that the USPS is a necessary public service we need to protect, but incase you didn’t know: The USPS handles 48% of the world’s mail. USPS employs 600,000 people (many of them veterans), and provides Americans with the most cost-efficient way to send packages and letters. This benefits small businesses, folks who require medications by mail, indigenous and rural communities, low income communities and incarcerated folks. I was surprised to learn the Postal Service does not receive tax dollars for operating expenses. It relies on the sale of postage, products and services to funds its operations. Back in 2006, Congress passed a directive that the USPS pre-fund all retirement healthcare benefits for the next 75 years, within 10 years. This has placed a huge financial burden them that no other agency has, thus giving USPS a competitive disadvantage (against the likes of FedEx and UPS for example).
The fate of the Postal Service ultimately rests in the hands of the lawmakers on Capitol Hill, but there are small steps you and I can take right now to show our support and use our voices:
- Sign this petition
- Sign this petition, too
- Text “USPS” to 50409 (this will send a message from Resistbot to your local rep)
- Write to the USPS Board of Governors
- Email or call or tweet at your local representative and tell them how much the Postal Service means to you
- Educate yourself daily on what is happening in real time to the Post Office (like checking out DeJoy’s recent testimony to Congress)
- Buy stamps and other USPS merch (here is the link to the USPS online store!)
- Mail your friends and family letters (I’ve been trying to mail out at least 2 letters a week)
- Request your mail in ballot early! Here is a link for more info for overall absentee voting
What You Need To Know About Voting
There are several reasons why these problems have blown up in the news lately, but ultimately it is because we are in an election year in the middle of a pandemic. Trump all but confessed he is trying to sabotage the USPS so that we can’t have universal mail-in voting. The voting process will vary for every state, so here is where you can find more information for where you live. For my fellow Marylanders, here is the information I found on how to get your mail-in ballot in time for it to be counted:
- If you want to do mail-in voting, you must request a ballot by October 20, 2020
- Here is the link to do so
- You must have a valid MD license or MVA issued ID
- If you don’t want to do it online, here’s another link to a PDF but it must be postmarked by October 20th (so you need to mail it in prior to that date)
- For more info on voting by mail in Maryland, click here
- Here is an article by the Washington Post about Maryland voting
- Here is an article by the Baltimore Sun about Maryland voting
- If you’re not yet registered to vote in the state of Maryland, click here
- If you are still trying to vote in-person this election, click here for more info. If you request a mail-in ballot but decide to go in-person instead, you need to let your election officials know so they can get you the proper ballot.
This is just one of the MANY issues I have with this country right now. I’ve been feeling pretty helpless in this situation, and even if the solutions I mentioned above are minimal to the actual change we want to see happen, at least you can walk away from this post with more information than you originally had on the issues. At the end of the day (and if you’ve made it this far in this post) I hope show some support to the USPS in any way you can.
Thanks for reading! xx