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Trump orders Postal Service review after blasting Amazon deal

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Re: Trump orders Postal Service review after blasting Amazon deal

#21
Short term bump in the road for Amazon. They will not need USPS in the long run anyway:

- Build out own network (AMZL, Amazon Flex)

- Buy UPS/Fedex/etc

- Drone delivery

It is unfortunate that AMZN is taking the fall for whatever this executive order is actually trying to accomplish.

Re: Trump orders Postal Service review after blasting Amazon deal

#22
post #12

It's a government service, not a business. It's not supposed to be profitable. It's supposed to provide a service.

As a voter and taxpayer, then I demand an end to this service. The last time I received an actual piece of valid mail was probably years ago. The USPS has become an ad-delivery network subsidized by my tax dollars. Perhaps charging bulk-mailers full price could end the problem of junk mail or create financial solvency. Why should junk mail literally nobody wants be subsidized? For official notices, the government cou…

They don’t get any of your tax money.

Re: Trump orders Postal Service review after blasting Amazon deal

#24

The package delivery business side of the USPS is a profitable venture. The USPS is in the state it is in not because of Amazon or last mile delivery that is doing for other businesses. The core problem is Congress and the requirement they put is the USPS that they prefund 75 years of pensions. A requirement placed on no other institutions in the US.

There's no debate that the delivery business is profitable for USPS. The issue is that there is money being left on the table. So yes. The Post Office is "losing money" in the economic sense.

Re: Trump orders Postal Service review after blasting Amazon deal

#25
post #21

Short term bump in the road for Amazon. They will not need USPS in the long run anyway: - Build out own network (AMZL, Amazon Flex) - Buy UPS/Fedex/etc - Drone delivery It is unfortunate that AMZN is taking the fall for whatever this executive order is actually trying to accomplish.

Politics always needs a enemy.

So is the next question: should USPS be merged with AMZN? What happens if a high volumn of packages disappears from the USPS revenue stream?

If AMZN delivers it can also pick up. Feels like a new Prime add-on, doesn't it?

Re: Trump orders Postal Service review after blasting Amazon deal

#26
post #17

What they should do is review the subsidization of Chinese companies shipping to U.S. customers, often at the expense of makers and merchants in the U.S.: According to the terms set out in Universal Postal Union treaty, the USPS in 2014 gets paid no more than about $1.50 for delivering a one-pound package from a foreign carrier, which makes it hard to cover costs. [1] The USPS inspector general’s office estimated tha…

I'm curious what you mean by "makers" here. To me the term means end users who tinker and build their own gadgets for fun, education, or because nobody produces the thing they want. Cheap parts from China are a benefit to that group, not an expense, although shipping should be priced sustainably.

Re: Trump orders Postal Service review after blasting Amazon deal

#27
post #3

This is the kind of authoritarian bullshit that putin does to keep the oligarchs in line. You can be sure that if trump remains in office, he’ll keep going after wealthy people that criticize him using any lever he can reach in the federal government, and there are a lot of levers. And he’ll use different levers to reward people that fall in line. It’s bullying, mob-boss tactics.

In an ironic twist, complaining about the wealthy has been the Democrats’ rhetoric for as long as I can remember. Here’s some pre Trump complaints I recall...

The wealthy don’t pay their fair share. Trump: New tax plan just took away a huge source of federal tax deductions.

The wealthy ship jobs oversees. Trump: attempting to put reciprocal tariffs in place to level the playing field.

The wealthy use the government to subsidize their business. Trump: let’s stop subsidizing companies doing bulk mail and abusing the system.

The wealthy use cheap labor and we need to bolster unions. Trump: cuts work visas and attempts to remove undocumented workers that depress unskilled labor wages.

I guess this goes to show that the medium is the message. LTDVB.

Re: Trump orders Postal Service review after blasting Amazon deal

#28
post #18

I wonder if he's trying to distract people from other news that makes him look bad. Can anyone think of any news or investigations he'd want to distract people from? If this attack doesn't work, he may start a war, which is guaranteed to distract.

Um. We're engaged in 5-7 foreign conflicts at the moment. No one I know is distracted.

Tweets are cheaper and far more effective. That said, Stormy Daniels was one of the best distractions yet. Sex sells...and it distracts? :)

Re: Trump orders Postal Service review after blasting Amazon deal

#29
Slimy hit piece at Trump. But it does raise some interesting points for discussion.

As a consumer, I love Amazon. The convenience and selection are incredible.

But jobs have clearly suffered. (This is a point often raised by those on the left side of the political aisle).

What's the right thing to do, regardless of who's president?

Re: Trump orders Postal Service review after blasting Amazon deal

#30

The package delivery business side of the USPS is a profitable venture. The USPS is in the state it is in not because of Amazon or last mile delivery that is doing for other businesses. The core problem is Congress and the requirement they put is the USPS that they prefund 75 years of pensions. A requirement placed on no other institutions in the US.

> The core problem is Congress and the requirement they put is the USPS that they prefund 75 years of pensions. A requirement placed on no other institutions in the US. Why is this? Did the USPS have some kind of retirement funding scandal, or was someone trying to smother it?

Two reasons... it’s tranfers postal revenues to federal cash flow via bonds, and key GOP lawmakers want to make the service unsustainable to enable privatization.
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