Two different problems

You can blame Donald Trump for some things but the United States Postal Service (USPS) problem is not one of them.

First: Donald Trump is correct about voting by mail in the states that don’t have it already established. Many states with vote-by-mail still have problems. Three months is not enough. California is a good example where they threw away over 100,000 returned ballots because of irregularities with the ballot. (CA Globe Aug. 16, 2020) and PBS NewsHour, July 13, 2020). Washington has seen its own in 2004 when King County “found” ballots in the “back room.”

Second: the USPS fiscal problems are not a ”voting by mail” issue.

This should only be about the USPS. As far back as 2009, the U.S. Government Accountability Office has been warning Congress, the president and the nation: “USPS must fix their fiscal house.” GAO says on their website that: “U.S. Postal Service’s Financial Viability - High Risk Issue.” Three financial challenges that include the following:

Poor financial situation: USPS has lost $69 billion over the past 11 fiscal years — including $3.9 billion in fiscal year 2018. USPS’s total unfunded liabilities and debt ($143 billion at the end of fiscal year 2018) have grown to double its annual revenue.

Insufficient cost savings: The savings from USPS cost-reduction efforts have dwindled in recent years

Unfavorable trends: USPS’s expenses are now growing faster than its revenues.

Work each issue on its own merit.

John Van Dalen

Everett