The mail is slow ... and that's no accident
There's a concerted effort going on to tamper with the U.S. mail.
Delivery times of mail through the U.S. Postal Service have become glacial. And I'm beginning to think that the problem is the plan.
The postal service recently announced it was cutting 10,000 jobs while partnering with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to find 'further efficiencies' in delivering the mail.
One man's 'further efficiencies' is another man's sabotaging of what used to be a reliable government service.
Part of those so-called efficiencies has been to re-route the mail through 60 Regional Processing and Distribution Centers, often sending undelivered mail through understaffed stops on long journeys far from its eventual destination.
For the first time in my life, I don't trust the mail. And I've got good reason.
My bank, Wells Fargo, put out a notice to customers, urging them not to pay bills through the mail because the delivery time was five or more days late for letters.
Paying the bills through the U.S. Mail might result in late-payment fees on those bills due to long delivery delays, Wells Fargo advised.
I mailed a first-class envelope to my son in Philadelphia on Friday, May 9. The postal clerk at the counter of the Boca Raton branch where I hand delivered the mail told me the mail would arrive at my son's apartment on Wednesday, May 14.
More than two weeks after that due date, the envelope still hasn't arrived. It's apparently undergoing 'further efficiencies' somewhere in America.
And that wasn't an isolated incident. I mailed a birthday card in March that arrived in the middle of April – weeks after the birthday had passed.
It all seems very intentional.
President Donald Trump has threatened to disband the postal service's governing board, and consolidate his control over the mail service by putting it in the Department of Commerce.
For years, right-wing think tanks have been arguing that the U.S. Postal Service should be replaced by private companies.
The Heritage Foundation in its 'Blueprint for Balance: A Federal Budget for 2017' called for 'eliminating restrictions on competition in the postal business, including the prohibition on private delivery of letter mail.'
Making crippling cuts to the U.S. Postal Service, which then results in long delays of mail service seems more like a concerted attempt to turn the public against this public service.
Cerabino: Don't tell Trump, but in Florida, voting by mail was once considered 'phenomenal'
The more well-founded dissatisfaction with mail delivery gets generated, the fewer the objections will be when the architects of this chaos move in for the kill.
You might want to write to your Congressman about this … on second thought, call.
Frank Cerabino is a news columnist with The Palm Beach Post, which is part of the USA Today Florida Network. He can be reached at fcerabino@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: DOGEing the mail: Degrading "further efficiencies" in Postal Service
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump signs order doubling metals tariffs
The US tariff rate on most imported steel and aluminium will double as President Donald Trump ratchets up a global trade war on the same day he expects trading partners to deliver their "best offer" in bids to avoid punishing import tax rates on other goods from taking effect in early July. Trump late on Tuesday signed an executive proclamation that puts into effect from Wednesday his surprise announcement last week that he was taking the tariffs on steel and aluminium imports that had been in place since March to 50 per cent from 25 per cent. "We started at 25 and then after studying the data more, realised that it was a big help, but more help is needed. And so that is why the 50 is starting tomorrow," White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said in explaining the move at a steel industry conference in Washington on Tuesday. The increase comes into effect at 12:01am (14:01 AEST) on Wednesday. The increase applies to all trading partners except Britain, the only country so far that has struck a preliminary trade agreement with the US during a 90-day pause on a wider array of Trump tariffs. The rate for steel and aluminium imports from the UK - which does not rank among the top exporters of either metal to the US - will remain at 25 per cent until at least July 9. About a quarter of all steel used in the US is imported, and Census Bureau data shows the increased levies will hit the closest US trading partners - Canada and Mexico - especially hard. They rank number one and three, respectively, in steel shipment volumes to the US Canada is even more exposed to the aluminium levies as the top exporter to the US by far at roughly twice the rest of the top 10 exporters' volumes combined. The US gets about half of its aluminium from foreign sources. The unexpected increase in the levies jolted the market for both metals this week, especially for aluminium, which has seen price premiums more than double so far this year. With little current capacity to increase domestic production, import volumes are likely to be unaffected unless the price increases undercut demand. Wednesday is also when the White House would like trading partners to submit their proposals for deals that might help them avoid Trump's hefty "Liberation Day" tariffs from taking effect in five weeks. Administration officials have been in active talks with a number of countries since Trump announced a pause on those tariffs on April 9, but to date only the UK deal has come to fruition. Even that agreement, which provided the basis for the carve out from the metals tariffs, is more of a preliminary framework for more talks. With just weeks remaining, the Trump team is eager to bring more deals over the line. Reuters reported on Monday that the US Trade Representative was asking countries to list their best proposals in a number of key areas, including tariff and quota offers for purchase of US industrial and agricultural products and plans to remedy any non-tariff barriers. In turn, the letter promises answers "within days" with an indication of a "landing zone," including what tariff rates countries can be expected to be saddled with after a 90-day pause on the tariffs expires on July 8. At issue for most trading partners is whether they retain the current baseline rate of 10 per cent on most exports to the US after that date, or something sharply higher in many cases. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Epoch Times
42 minutes ago
- Epoch Times
White House Not Notified Before Drone Attack on Russian Bombers, Leavitt Confirms
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump did not receive advance notification before Ukraine launched a drone swarm attack against Russian airfields, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a She noted 'he was not' notified and acknowledged that the incident raised concerns about domestic national security, given the stealthy nature of the operation that penetrated nearly 3,000 miles into Russian Arctic and Siberian territory.
Wall Street Journal
42 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Musk Says SpaceX Revenue Will Near $16 Billion in 2025
SpaceX is on track to record another significant revenue increase this year, Elon Musk said, continuing a growth streak at the world's busiest rocket launcher. Musk, SpaceX's chief executive, said Tuesday on X that the Texas-based company is expected to generate about $15.5 billion in revenue in 2025. Privately held since Musk founded it in 2002, SpaceX doesn't publicly disclose its financial results, making information about its performance rare. In 2022, SpaceX's annual revenue totaled $4.6 billion, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Late last year, SpaceX was valued at $350 billion. The company has two main business lines that have stoked revenue growth in recent years. One is its launch operation, which revolves around its Falcon 9 rocket. The partially reusable vehicle has emerged as the global workhorse, frequently used for U.S. government missions and by private satellite operators. SpaceX's launch business has been helped by the company's focus on reusability, as well technical problems that have delayed several competing rockets. The company's other major business is Starlink—a low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation that provides subscribers on the ground with high-speed internet connections. Starlink has driven a major part of the recent revenue gains at SpaceX, according to analysts tracking the company. Quilty Space, a consulting firm, estimates Starlink revenue is set to grow to $12.3 billion this year from $7.8 billion in 2024. Starlink has won household subscribers from competing satellite services, built up a growing government business and reeled in blue-chip corporate clients, like United Airlines and Deere. SpaceX continues to invest heavily in vehicle development and infrastructure efforts. A good part of its cash is flowing toward Starship, the deep-space vehicle the company has been testing in flight since 2023 and hopes to one day use for missions to Mars. Bret Johnsen, finance chief at SpaceX, said at an industry event in March that getting Starship prepared for Mars was a huge endeavor. He said SpaceX continued to spend its own funds on research and development for the roughly 400-foot-tall vehicle, which the company has called the most powerful rocket ever built. In his post Tuesday, Musk said 'commercial revenue' at SpaceX would exceed the entire budget of NASA next year. The White House, where Musk worked until recently, has proposed cutting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration budget to $18.8 billion for its next fiscal year from nearly $25 billion currently. NASA's funds flow to a far-reaching set of scientific and exploration endeavors, and SpaceX is a major contractor at the agency. Musk said about $1.1 billion of the company's expected revenue this year would come from NASA. Write to Micah Maidenberg at and Dean Seal at
