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.

    • Kichae
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      44 months ago

      Nah, Elon’s all about dat X. He’ll just call them all X.

      • @towerful@programming.dev
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        54 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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          34 months ago

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

  • Laurel Raven
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    664 months ago

    Oh, the financial losses that can be directly linked back to Louis DeJoy’s actions while in charge to actively sabotage the service, the same DeJoy that Trump appointed to sabotage the service?

    They murdered it so they could sell it off, don’t let them claim otherwise

      • Stern
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        134 months ago

        USPS is obligated to deliver everywhere. Uncle Steve who lives out in the middle of buttfuck nowhere gets mail service just like Cousin Roger who lives in the middle of town. Shocking literally no one, having to deliver to multiple Uncle Steve’s costs way more money then it brings in.

        Then there’s inflation, and also just less folks sending mail as a general thing because e-mail is instantaneous and free.

        The pension funding requirement was the overwhelming majority of their losses, but that’s been resolved as of 2022.

        https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/06/politics/biden-postal-service-reform-law-signing/index.html

      • @teamevil@lemmy.world
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        74 months ago

        In 06 the Republican Congress decided USPS was too profitable and they imposed funding pensions out for 75 years.

  • Nougat
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    724 months ago

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

    It already doesn’t. USPS is entirely internally funded. What a fucking idiot.

  • @GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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    -44 months ago

    I’m actually surprised that the USPS still exists in its current form. In several European countries, there’s now very limited postal service because people just aren’t sending regular mail anymore. It’s all email and packages. As a result, public postal service have either been more or less shut down or privatized into a parcel service.

  • @Freefall@lemmy.world
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    364 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.

    • Nougat
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      54 months ago

      … it costs money that our taxes pay …

      Nope. USPS is entirely internally funded. No tax money goes to it at all.

      • @Subdivide6857@midwest.social
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        4 months ago

        Fun fact, lots of ISPs basically are, and Trump wants to ruin that as well. The coop I work for has a FANTASTIC network, and the pay is excellent as well. If it becomes a shitty profit seeking private company, that will all change.

  • @djsoren19@yiffit.net
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    434 months ago

    Wow, so wild that the agency you crippled with a nonsensical pension funding requirement is no longer running as efficiently as you demand! what a huge surprise, no one could have seen this coming!

    Super cool that the Democrats didn’t reverse that insane requirement btw.

  • @Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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    124 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!”

    • ProdigalFrog
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      4 months ago

      A postal bank that uses GNU Taler would be pretty legit.

    • socsa
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      44 months ago

      Americans will give Democrats exactly 4 years to fix the damage and then vote for Republicans again. Bush and Trump are two of the worst people to ever hold the job and it still didn’t cause any lasting animosity.

    • @bdot@lemmy.world
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      74 months ago

      i didn’t think they will be able to. all the kleptocrats will make sure that there’s some legal document that will guarantee that they get hugely compensated in the event that the government tries to take their property back.

  • originalucifer
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    1924 months ago

    the conservative push to destroy this incredibly successful organization continues. its already been punished more than any other entity by requiring things no other business anywhere is required to.

    starve the beast. theyve forced it to make financial considerations that now put it in pretend financial trouble so they can point at it as a failure.

    if the USPS was allowed to run as any other business today it would be far more successful on paper than it already is, but conservatives just cant live with that.

    • @pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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      114 months ago

      We’re watching in real time what we’ve criticized other generations for letting things happen. Wars, electric transportation, malls for developers, Citizen United, etc., etc.,

      • originalucifer
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        394 months ago

        yep. no one ever complains about the profitability of our ‘defense’ system which seems to do more selling than defending.

      • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️
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        4 months ago

        It was never intended to be. That’s why it has the word “service” right there in its name.

        The USPS spent $89.5 billion in operations this year, which means that even if they didn’t collect a single dime from anybody they could serve everyone in the country with every package and letter that they already did in the entirety of 2024 for about 4.475% of the Defense Department’s expenditures in that same time frame – which are just under two trillion dollars.

        The Defense Department as a whole Hoovers up about 24% the Federal budget.

        Therefore the fact that the conservatives have successfully bamboozled everyone into believing that the USPS should be run as a “business” in the first place is incredible. Would you support about 0.1 percent of your Federal taxes spent on granting you free Postal Service access forever? I probably would.

        • @Knoxvomica@lemmy.ca
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          44 months ago

          Wait, is it possible to run national defense as a business that’s for profit? I mean if we all have to live in a capitalist shit hole anyways why not go for broke?

    • @lewdian69@lemmy.world
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      1014 months ago

      Good thing the Democratic administration replaced DeJoy and passed some protections while they were in charge… oh. wait

      • originalucifer
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        -34 months ago

        yep, the guy who demanded the dismantlement of all the new high speed sorting machines. proof biden is just a big ol conservative

        • @electricyarn@lemmy.world
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          394 months ago

          There were empty seats on the board that would have tipped the balance, sitting vacant for the entirety of Biden’s term.

          • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝
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            124 months ago

            Not to excuse Biden, because he has fucked up on multiple fronts, but aren’t those appointments dependent on Senate confirmations and thus sitting mostly empty under Obama, which let the Cheeto Bandito take over in the first place? And IDK if the Senate would have confirmed any Biden nominees. Wouldn’t have hurt to try though.

            • @grue@lemmy.world
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              34 months ago

              Biden appointed, and the Senate confirmed, enough postal board members to get rid of DeJoy if Biden wanted.

              But DeJoy is still there, and it’s 1000% because Biden did not want to get rid of him.

  • @yesman@lemmy.world
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    234 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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      44 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.

    • queermunist she/her
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      134 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?

      Well it’s certainly not enough to just luxuriate in the chaos. Every time Trump makes things worse it’s our job to point it out and explain why he’s doing it. People won’t radicalize on their own! They’ll just blame immigrants and woke and DEI etc etc.

      • @yesman@lemmy.world
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        14 months ago

        Do you hear yourself? You want revolution through explaining?

        Trump supporters are not confused progressives. Trump is what America wants, He’s what America is. He’s what America deserves. Trump is more American than bullets and ground beef. He hasn’t overthrown the founders, he’s fulfilled their vision. We’re not going to change that by scolding people on the internet.

        I understand, I used to think just like you. I used to be a patriot. I’ve voted for every Democrat presidential nominee from Gore to Harris. But these days I’m writing to the State to take my name off those goddam rolls. I suppose you’ll take a dim view of that, but no bullshit about civic duty, democracy, or engagement could ever compare to the tangible material benefit of avoiding jury duty.

        I don’t wanna save America anymore. In fact I think her decline is funny and I’m tired of pretending it’s not.

        • queermunist she/her
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          4 months ago

          Who gives a shit about Trump supporters? The vast majority didn’t vote for Trump if you count non-voters.

          Also don’t dare call me a patriot. Death to America!

          No arguments that the internet is a worthless place to educate people, though. This is just for fun.

        • Ech
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          24 months ago

          Yeah! Fuck all the people who will be hurt and killed throughout. That’s funny!