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My Point of View by Jennifer Vogt-Erickson

 

“No matter if it rains or snows, the mail must go through.” I learned these song lyrics as a young child growing up in the country, where our mailbox (Rural route 3 Box 620) was a portal to the world. It was like a magic box that anything could arrive in. A valentine from Grandma Hazel, a letter from a friend, a postcard from a cousin at camp. All things I’ve saved.

Today you can buy a 55-cent stamp and mail a letter from anywhere in the U.S. to anywhere else in the U.S. It costs the same amount regardless. The post office, rooted in the Constitution, has been a great democratic leveler in our society for over 200 years.

In 2006, President Bush signed a law passed by the Republican-led Congress, which placed the onerous and unusual burden on the post office of funding its retiree health benefits for decades in advance. The act put the USPS on a path to eventual collapse.

Together with steep losses this year stemming from the pandemic, the USPS is in a dire position and needs a lifeline to keep operating. Republicans are holding it up.

President Trump, for his part, has a personal vendetta against Amazon and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, and he has signaled he would let that override the immediate need for USPS relief, which affects every single American. (Amazon uses the USPS for package delivery. The Washington Post has been highly critical of Trump’s governing decisions and personal business dealings, which makes Trump publicly bellyache and call the press “the enemy of the people,” an abnormal phrase favored by authoritarian despots.)

In February, the House passed the USPS Fairness Act, which repeals the requirement to annually prepay future retirement health benefits, with the support of all three Republican congressmen from Minnesota, including Jim Hagedorn, a pleasant surprise.

The Senate version of the bill, which also has bipartisan support, is stuck in committee. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would be only too happy to smother it.

Why would Republicans target the post office in the first place, when it is literally a lifeline for rural Americans who receive prescriptions through the mail?

It’s not difficult to figure out. Without it, private corporations would be able to scoop up lucrative postal contracts. These are Republicans’ favored constituency, not rural voters like us. Would rural people pay the same postage rates as people in cities if all mail delivery were privatized? Not on your life. The last mile is the most expensive.

The USPS also has one of the strongest public-sector unions, and Republicans want to bust it.

Additionally, the USPS used to offer bank services, which Democrats want to allow it to do again. People without a formal bank account could use it as an alternative to payday lending. Does the banking lobby want the post office to offer this additional public good, which would cut into banks’ profit margins and hinder them from preying on marginalized workers? No, sir.

Last but not least, the USPS is critical for conducting mail-in voting, which may be more necessary than ever this fall for health considerations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans have let the secret out numerous times that voter suppression is a key to their election strategy. Why save something that they perceive is antithetical to their success?

Well, here’s why the rest of us should rise up to save the USPS: Mail delivery is a public good. The USPS offers some of the best wages and benefits in rural communities. It employs more than 600,000 workers across the country, about 100,000 of whom are veterans. It represents nearly a quarter of the federal workforce, and over 12,000 of those jobs are in Minnesota. And, yes, voting by mail is something many more people, especially senior citizens, are likely to depend on to protect their vote given the anticipated COVID-19 threat this fall.

The bottom line is, people trust the post office. The USPS is bar none the most popular government agency.

The need to act is now. The time to stand up for rural America is now. Postmaster General Megan Brennan testified before Congress last month that the USPS could run out of money by September. Democrats are fighting for rural voters while many Republicans are stonewalling, either for personal reasons (Trump) or political ones. Remember that in November. In the meantime, buy more stamps. Please thank your mail carrier(s) and tell them you support them.

The Albert Lea post office was built as part of the New Deal recovery. It’s a massive testimony to the power of government to work for the lasting public good. We must come through for the USPS so it can keep coming through for us.

Jennifer Vogt-Erickson is a member of the Freeborn County DFL Party.