Well, I know at least I have gotten your attention. You, like me, are concerned about Trump's attack on the postal system.
A little history. "Forty percent of all votes in the 2016 election were cast by mail-in ballot. That's 57.2 million votes. Trump raised no objections at the time. Instead, he falsely claimed that 3 million undocumented immigrants voted, robbing him of a popular vote victory over Hillary Clinton. In subsequent elections, Trump cast his own vote by mail.
It wasn't until April of this year, as the pandemic made in-person voting potentially dangerous for many people, did Trump begin to falsely claim the mail-in voting was vulnerable to fraud." Read more about what has happened and is happening by going here.
So, what can we do. Well, first off, grab your phone.
There’s new bill in the House from Oversight Chairwoman Maloney called the Delivering for America Act would prohibit the Postal Service from implementing any changes to the operations or level of service it had in place on January 1, 2020, until the COVID-19 pandemic has ended. This legislation would maintain current service standards as well as the integrity of our elections and bedrock democratic principles. As you may remember the House instituted remote voting procedures months ago. They could move this bill now (because clearly this is now an emergency), doing two things: putting us in a stronger position to be able to organize around the bill being included in a future COVID funding package and giving us the ability to point to something really concrete that Senate Republicans are refusing to act on to ensure seniors can receive their medications on time (outside of the additional funding they continue to sit on in the Heroes Act).
We now have a script and more details from Indivisible - https://indivisible.org/tell-your-representative-act-now-save-us-postal-service
You have heard that Speaker Pelosi is cutting short the vacation for the House of Representatives so they can take up this issue. So first thing to do is to call your Representative (Go here for phone numbers.) and demand that they co-sponsor the Delivering for America Act. There may be more legislation that is proposed this week as well. Stay tuned.
IN THEIR FACE
Here's another idea. Let's all call and/or email the board of governors of the USPS.
Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service
Postal Service Headquarters
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW
Washington, DC 20260
To the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service,
I write to express my shock and dismay at the steps that have recently been taken by the Postmaster General to neuter the beloved United States Postal Service, on which tens of millions of Americans like me rely and which will serve as the lynchpin for a safe and fair election in November. I am deeply troubled and outraged by reports of slowdowns in mail delivery (which I am personally experiencing); the unexplained deactivation of mail sorting machines; the removal of letter collection boxes in swing states; and the decision to force election officials to pay higher first-class rates for mail-in ballots to ensure on-time delivery—after previously treating ballots as speedier first-class mail while charging a lower marketing mail rate.
It is no secret that the President of the United States sees slowing mail delivery as a means of assuring his re-election. But this is the United States of America: I still believe in the rule of law and the promise of Democracy, and I call on you to do what you know is right—to resist pressure to use one of the oldest and most venerated institutions in our nation as a partisan tool. You must instead to do everything in your considerable powers to ensure that the Postal Service will again, as it has throughout its long and storied history, help our Democracy continue to pursue a more perfect union. By pushing for the funding that the USPS needs; by reversing the previously mentioned disastrous policies; and by working with all relevant stakeholders, you can help America run a free and fair election, even in the midst of a devastating pandemic.
Specifically, I demand that you immediately fire the Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, who is clearly doing the President’s bidding and turning the USPS into a partisan tool. I also remind you that while the present administration encourages lawlessness—so long as it serves the President’s interests—a future administration may very well prosecute crimes committed now. I therefore note the following federal statute, of which you are likely well aware and would do well to keep in mind over the coming months:
“Whoever knowingly and willfully obstructs or retards the passage of the mail, or any carrier or conveyance carrying the mail, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.” Federal Criminal Law (18 USC 1701)
Moreover, criminal referrals have already made, for instance to the New Jersey Attorney General, to investigate the actions you and the agency you oversee are undertaking to subvert the election. As I have no doubt you know, the President cannot pardon state crimes.
Sincerely,
NO TIME BUT YOU WANT DO DO SOMETHING ?
Try ResistBot.
FLOOD THE PHONES TO SENATE LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL
Join with the Poor People's Campaign the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber at 2:30 Monday, August 17th, during which time you can also help jam the links the Senator Leader Mitch McConnell’s office to demand that he bring the Senators back to work to pass a new relief bill that will include funds to protect the USPS. You’ll need to RSVP for this event and here is the link. What we are talking about is the Heroes Act. Mitch has been sitting on it and needs to bring it to the floor.
Call in and demand a just and compassionate stimulus plan now! Here are all the phone numbers for Mitch. Why not try all of them?
Louisville Office
Phone: (502) 582-6304
Lexington Office
Phone: (859) 224-8286
Fort
Wright Office
Phone: (859) 578-0188
London Office
Phone: (606) 864-2026
Bowling
Green Office
Phone: (270) 781-1673
Phone: (270) 442-4554
Washington Office
Phone: (202) 224-2541
A PROTEST ON SATURDAY
Just this morning I received a notice from MoveOn calling for a national protest at all of our local post offices on Saturday, August 22 at 11 AM local time. Here's the link to sign up or find where local actions are taking place. We will be doing something in Forest Park and we will email out information on that when we have finalized details. I'd like to include a car caravan as well, going between the Forest Park Post Office and the South Oak Park Post Office.
OR BUY STAMPS
Daily Kos is again calling for people to buy stamps to help support the Post Office. This is great when we are writing postcards to voters and need postcard stamps. Good news is that you can order them directly from the post office from their website. Here's the article with all the details.
The American Postal Workers Union has a number of action opportunities as well. Check out their site.
I will update this post as I get more information, but what can you do TODAY to make a difference. Make sure to share this information on social media and with friends, neighbors and family by email or just by talking to them. Our democracy is at stake here. The chance for a fair election is at state. Please do something.
