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Mail delays hit Philadelphia residents, short staffed USPS struggles to keep up

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Re: Mail delays hit Philadelphia residents, short staffed USPS struggles to keep up

#231

Post by phkahler »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #48
throwaway5752 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not a point about government effectiveness or efficiency. They kneecapped the USPS when they forced prefunding of pension liabilities ( https://www.cnbc.com/2011/10/24/the-truth-about-the-post-off... ). They had more legislative leverage prior to 2018, so they could have done all this much earlier. It is not possible to honestly discuss this in a meaningful way without acknowledging it's 3 months out from a presi…

Retirement benefits should be funded as they are accrued. That is not the problem. The problem is the USPS doesn’t have the power to price their products appropriately in order to pay for their expenses (including payroll which includes retirement benefits). If anything, all entities promising retirement benefits should be forced to do it the way USPS does. In fact, non government entities were forced to via the Pens…

>> The problem is the USPS doesn’t have the power to price their products appropriately in order to pay for their expenses

Technically that shouldn't matter. It's a government service and if postage doesnt cover the cost the federal government should.

But I'd be happy to see first class mail stop subsidising other stuff.

Re: Mail delays hit Philadelphia residents, short staffed USPS struggles to keep up

#232

Post by johnchristopher »

pstuart wrote: post #195
johnchristopher wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm. Wasn't that referendum settled in 2016 ? Trump is 30 years in the making. Unless there's a swing back to restoring democratic norms there's no reasons the coming years are going to be much different, no matter who is elected president.

No, this is different. Trump at that time was a "why the fuck not" to people who hated the current climate and wanted "change". He was an "unknown" as far as the governance he would provide. If Biden is able to take office I expect work to be done to try to salvage things.

> No, this is different. Trump at that time was a "why the fuck not" to people who hated the current climate and wanted "change". He was an "unknown" as far as the governance he would provide.

But that climate, the white collar criminality, the nation wide rampant electoral schemes, the inequality haven't changed. What gave birth to Trump winning the 2016 election is still there. If I understand correctly, there's no reason republicans would support a democrat president trying to salvage thing considering they didn't prevent the swift acceleration in deterioration during the last four years.

Maybe Trump was an unknown as far as the governance he would provide but it was known what kind of individual he was (and to an extent what would happen if elected, in broad lines).

I don't know, I am in the final chapter of Sarah Kendzior "Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America" and things do look grim indeed.

Re: Mail delays hit Philadelphia residents, short staffed USPS struggles to keep up

#233

Post by phkahler »

throwaway5752 wrote: post #110
lotsofpulp wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retirement benefits should be funded as they are accrued. That is not the problem. The problem is the USPS doesn’t have the power to price their products appropriately in order to pay for their expenses (including payroll which includes retirement benefits). If anything, all entities promising retirement benefits should be forced to do it the way USPS does. In fact, non government entities were forced to via the Pens…

I wish I hadn't mentioned the pension, because it takes away from the immediate and much worse problem that the governing party is trying to stay in power by preventing members of the other party from voting.

How are dems more likely to vote by mail? And what are the percentages for each party?

Re: Mail delays hit Philadelphia residents, short staffed USPS struggles to keep up

#234

Post by jb775 »

chillwaves wrote: post #205
jb775 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> by preventing members of the other party from voting This is so absurdly dramatic. Just about everything is back open and ppl agree that wearing a mask basically removes all risk. If ppl want to vote, they can get off their ass and go vote. And from a security standpoint, how can you say this with a straight face? Some of the hardest modern struggles in the tech industry revolve around security...and you're over he…

You will need to find some evidence of voter fraud for mail in ballots. Many states have it as an option and it hasn't happened. The military regularly votes by mail and it hasn't happened. It's funny you open your reply about "absurdly dramatic" then lay an equally absurd claim about vote-by-mail having a problem with fraud. Your reply also conveniently ignores the historical pattern of voter suppression coming from…

You realize the polling places WILL BE OPEN. No one is taking away anyone's constitutional right, you're just playing the victim card.

The left only cares about this bc they want the votes of the bottom-feeders of society, who are too lazy to vote. It's also why the left wants criminals in jails to be able to vote. Chasing those votes shows you right there the misguided mindset of the democratic party.

Re: Mail delays hit Philadelphia residents, short staffed USPS struggles to keep up

#235

Post by newsclues »

throwaway5752 wrote: post #110
lotsofpulp wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retirement benefits should be funded as they are accrued. That is not the problem. The problem is the USPS doesn’t have the power to price their products appropriately in order to pay for their expenses (including payroll which includes retirement benefits). If anything, all entities promising retirement benefits should be forced to do it the way USPS does. In fact, non government entities were forced to via the Pens…

I wish I hadn't mentioned the pension, because it takes away from the immediate and much worse problem that the governing party is trying to stay in power by preventing members of the other party from voting.

The idea that we would be voting in 2020 by mail is crazy.

I cannot believe that no one foresaw an election in a pandemic and said, “let’s build an app for this”

Re: Mail delays hit Philadelphia residents, short staffed USPS struggles to keep up

#236

Post by oehtXRwMkIs »

skuhn wrote: post #139
augustt wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 2. Disenfranchise voters (a relatively recent campaign) Recent as in it started the instant the 15th amendment was passed.

I'm referring to disenfranchisement by way of disrupting the operation of the mail, which I don't think has been a major focus for quite that long. Jim Crow laws were much more effective means of disenfranchisement during Reconstruction.

Jim Crow laws were after Reconstruction.

Re: Mail delays hit Philadelphia residents, short staffed USPS struggles to keep up

#237

Post by kryogen1c »

ianleeclark wrote: post #226
kryogen1c wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the governing party is trying to stay in power by preventing members of the other party from voting. since trump lost the popular vote in 2016, isnt your grand republican conspiracy both categorically false and totally meaningless if it werent?

How would a vote 4 years ago invalidate the very real and observable means of voter suppression we see today?

Because he had less votes and won, so im not sure what this alleged widespread voter suppression is supposed to accomplish.

Re: Mail delays hit Philadelphia residents, short staffed USPS struggles to keep up

#238

Post by wtallis »

jb775 wrote: post #190
throwaway5752 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I hadn't mentioned the pension, because it takes away from the immediate and much worse problem that the governing party is trying to stay in power by preventing members of the other party from voting.

> by preventing members of the other party from voting This is so absurdly dramatic. Just about everything is back open and ppl agree that wearing a mask basically removes all risk. If ppl want to vote, they can get off their ass and go vote. And from a security standpoint, how can you say this with a straight face? Some of the hardest modern struggles in the tech industry revolve around security...and you're over he…

> All it takes is one or a few bad actors to skew the results.

Most elections aren't close enough for the outcome to be swung by the kind of paper ballot fraud that a single person is capable of committing. Unlike electronic hacks, paper ballot fraud doesn't scale.

Re: Mail delays hit Philadelphia residents, short staffed USPS struggles to keep up

#239

Post by ericmay »

dx87 wrote: post #228
ericmay wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe that's a sign of dysfunction. People like to rail against ad supported companies, why wouldn't we feel the same way here?

Because it's a small price to pay for being able to send mail across the country for 55 cents. If most of the funding for the USPS came from people buying stamps to send out birthday and christmas cards, they'd either have to jack up the price considerably, or they wouldn't stop by your house 6 days a week to see if you have anything to send.

I think I’d be fine with a reduce role.

Also, you can make the same argument w.r.t to Facebook, google, ad networks, etc. you just pay for the ability to send email from gmail for free ️

Re: Mail delays hit Philadelphia residents, short staffed USPS struggles to keep up

#240

Post by throwaway5752 »

newsclues wrote: post #235
throwaway5752 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I hadn't mentioned the pension, because it takes away from the immediate and much worse problem that the governing party is trying to stay in power by preventing members of the other party from voting.

The idea that we would be voting in 2020 by mail is crazy. I cannot believe that no one foresaw an election in a pandemic and said, “let’s build an app for this”

I think you are vastly underestimating the difficulty in automating this. This has been proposed for decades and there is published academic research about the extraordinary difficulty of ensuring the integrity of the voters and the tallies. You can look at literature on the challenges with REAL ID implementation or Healthcare.gov for similar and smaller projects.
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