Summary

Donald Trump is considering privatizing the US Postal Service due to its financial losses, a move that could disrupt shipping and push hundreds of thousands of federal workers out of government.

Citing the USPS’s financial losses, Trump argued the agency should not rely on government subsidies.

While his specific privatization plans remain unclear, Trump previously clashed with the USPS during his first term, attempting to shift control of key functions like labor relations and rate-setting to the Treasury Department.

This move could significantly alter the structure and operations of the USPS if implemented.

  • CitricBase@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    The postal service doesn’t lose money, it costs money.

    By this logic, the interstate highway system and the military both lose billions! Is Trump going to privatize them too?

    • MyPornViewingAccount@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Thats not even a true statement.

      The postal service makes money, but any surpless is automatically taken by Congress.

      In the early 2000s the GOP passed a law requiring the postal service to upfront load the retirement funds of new employees, creating a massive debt burden.

      Also, Congress has removed their ability to modernize equipment and fleets, forcing them to continue repairing aged equipment.

      Not to mention, DeJoy, Trump’s installment during his first term, has done everything he can to dismantle any modernization because he wants the Post Office sold at rock bottom prices so he can buy it, get this, because he owns competing companies.

    • enbyecho@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Don’t forget National and State parks - public lands in general. WhY ArEn’T tHeY tUrNiNg a PRooooFiT??

  • PenguinMage@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Every thing the gop has done to the usps had hurt it more… but everytime I hear “it doesn’t make money” well it did before the absolutely idiotic idea to make sure pensions were super funded forward. Ontop of that. Why the fuck does a government organization need to make money? I hate this whole “run a country like a business” bullshit so much. Money makes everything worse.

    • Sippy Cup@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      USPS doesn’t lose a dime. It’s a service. It costs money to run.

      You know, like a government office does.

    • tb_@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Same for public transit.

      A bit of compensation isn’t a crazy idea, but it doesn’t have to break even with the money it does bring in. It’s not like we have a ton of toll roads either, it’s not an issue to spend billions on another lane or two.

  • kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    4 months ago

    Its almost funny how cartoonishly evil the Republicans are. They literally are shutting down all public utilities, giving contracts to the rich, spending trillions in the name of “cutting spending”, kicking out random people, and im pretty sure a Republican has openly decared friendship to be his greatest enemy (because “woke” or smth). If this was a simulation the developers are getting extremely lazy with this plotline, the villans are literally just evil.

  • Atrichum@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Fuck the fascists. We fought the British over less tyrannical shit than what Trump is promising.

  • Freefall@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    It isn’t a business, it is a service, it costs money that our taxes pay, so we don’t have to pay shitty private companies. (And it still makes money) “Let’s make the Mail just like ISPs” is a stupid take.

      • towerful@programming.dev
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        4 months ago

        Google says University of Technology Sydney.
        Adding “medical” to the Google search returns… University of Technology Sydney, and a health consultant in Australia.

        So… I’m going to go with University of Technology Sydney.
        While Google results have tanked the past few years, I can’t find a combination of keywords that even suggests some sort of sexual/urinary (“naughty bits”) infection.

        DuckDuckGo returns Ultimate Tennis Showdown.
        Adding “medical” suggests to add “syndrome” and got me to “Ulnar Tunnel Syndrome” (“ulnar neuropathy at the wrist where it passes through the ulnar tunnel”)… So, too much masturbation? I’m struggling to make it naughty

        • binary45@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Yeah… I looked it up on Wikipedia and got similar results, plus a river… IDK what they were trying to go for.

  • yesman@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I’m not an accelerationist, but what’s left to do now except bathe in the worm glow of our country burning down?

    There is no arguing that America doesn’t deserve all the bad things, and maybe a good old fashioned conflagration would straighten the survivors out for a generation or two.

    • blackbelt352@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Because a lot of mostly innocent people get hurt the most when it all collapses around us, and most likely you’ll also be hit by the effects of the collapse. It’s why it’s so important we work to fix the broken things and change what is wrong, and to be there for other people when things do break down rather than just wipe our hands and let the whole thing fall uncontrolled and unprepared.

  • Hatshepsut@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    The Postal Service is in the United States Constitution, Article I:

    Section. 8.

    The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

    Clause 7:

    To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

    US Constitution text / archive.gov

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Does everything have to be a business to this guy? Some things are government services bcz they need to be done, and private businesses wouldn’t make money off it. Not everything needs to be an attempt at making money off people.

  • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    And how would you privatize an entity that’s in the Constitution? I wonder how that’d look…

  • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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    4 months ago

    Meanwhile in France

    “Post offices are everywhere, private banks don’t have locations outside cities… How about we create our own bank linked to the postal services!”

  • Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works
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    4 months ago

    There’s a HUGE real estate incentive here. Yeah the service can make tons of money for whatever company comes in but the real estate imo is the big one.