Obama Removed Thousands of USPS Mailboxes While in Office - Media Silence
Such actions took place quite a bit under former president
© press
As President Donald Trump faces unprecedented backlash from the Democrats and the leftwing media over his recent measures to reduce the U.S. Postal Service service, such actions took place frequently under the Obama administration.
During Obama’s second term, people complained that too many mailboxes were taken away.
A pair of USPS inspector general reports provide details:
“Nationally, the number of collection boxes declined by more than 12,000 in the past five years,” an August 2016 report said.
“Some customers have complained the Postal Service has gone too far and removed most collection boxes, except those at the Post Office."
"In addition, they have questioned whether any cost savings result from collection box removals.”
© press
The same report showed that in 17 months during Obama’s second term, hundreds of mailboxes without proper process, as “322 out-of-service boxes were permanently removed from the street without Eastern Area approval or public notification to customers.”
That report and another from September 2017 revealed there are good reasons for eliminating mailboxes, like underuse, and that more mailboxes should have been removed over the years, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
The 2017 report revealed the five-year total of 12,000 removed mailboxes jumped to 14,000.
But like residents in Oregon, who were dismayed when four mailboxes took away in Portland and 27 in Eugene last month, a USPS spokesman Ernie Swanson saif it business as usual.
Swanson said the boxes were removed “because of declining mail volume," adding “since the pandemic came along, people are mailing less for some reason," according to the Willamette Week.
© press
Reducing mailboxes is one of many measures Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has undertaken in the past three months, inclduing clamping down overtime that postal workers had used to clear mail backlogs, and the removal of 671 mail-sorting machines, around 0 percent of the inventory, according to the Washington Post.
Though the move has been revealed as cost-cutting measures, Democrats argue that the mail service reduction is intentional in order to make it harder for Americans to vote.
Neon Nettle reported the United States Postal Service warned voters in 46 different states that they couldn't guarantee that their mail-in ballots will arrive in time to be counted for the election in November.
USPS sent letters warning 46 states and the District of Columbia that ballots cast by mail may not arrive in time
President Trump told FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo that he is loath to give additional funding to the Postal Service because it would make mail-in voting easier.
“Now, if we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money. That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting, they just can’t have it,” Trump said.
Trump has supported absentee voting via mail, so people don't have to risk contracting the coronavirus by voting in person.
The President warned that sending ballots to every registered voter exposes the system to fraud because ballots will be sent to people who have died, move away, or are ineligible to vote.
Trump said he would support giving money to the Postal Service if Democrats agreed to other measures in the new coronavirus stimulus bill.
Trump was asked if he would be willing to offer the $25 billion for the ailing USPS, including $3.5 billion in election resources, if Democrats agreed to Trump's demands.
“Sure, if they give us what we want,” the president said during a press conference.
“And it's not what I want; it's what the American people want.”
