Trump makes mob-boss move to try to get the post office to punish Amazon for not flattering him

Clear abuse of power, anyone?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-trump/trump-urged-u-s-postal-service-to-double-package-rates-for-amazon-washington-post-idUSKCN1IJ2G4?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtechnologyNews+%28Reuters+Technology+News%29&utm_content=Yahoo+Search+Results

May 18, 2018 / 1:16 PM / Updated an hour ago
Trump urged U.S. Postal Service to double package rates for Amazon: Washington Post




WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has personally pushed the postmaster general to double the rates the U.S. Postal Service charges Amazon.com and other companies to ship packages, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing three unnamed sources.


Postmaster General Megan Brennan resisted Trump’s suggestion in private conversations in 2017 and 2018, telling him that package delivery rates are set by contract and reviewed by an independent commission, the sources said, according to the newspaper.

She also told Trump, using a set of slides that showed other companies besides Amazon that partner for deliveries, that the arrangements have helped the financially challenged Postal Service, the Post said, citing the sources.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Amazon and the Postal Service declined to comment.

Trump has criticized both Amazon and Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive officer of the online retailer. Bezos also privately owns The Washington Post, which has published stories that have angered the president.

Trump has repeatedly said without evidence that deliveries for Amazon were costing the service money. Last month, he ordered the creation of a task force to study the Postal Service and its financial difficulties.

Big increases in its parcel delivery rates could cost Amazon and other businesses billions, leading to higher prices for consumers.

The reason Trump hates Amazon so much is pretty predictable, because it's the same thing behind just about every motivation Donald Trump has: petty personal vanity.

https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/the-real-reason-donald-trump-hates-amazons-jeff-bezos.html/?a=viewall

Jeff Bezos is a whole lot richer and more successful than Trump, so it's very important to Trump that Bezos like him and see him as an equal. Bezos doesn't. He owns the Washington Post, which reports truthfully (i.e. unfavorably) about Trump, which, of course, pisses Trump off, because he neeeeeeeeeeds praise.

So, how does Trump try to get even? He meddles in the market and tries to wreck Bezo's business. He's been tweeting (completely unfounded and baseless) poison about Amazon and their post-office dealings for months now. It's all a petty grievance, an attempt to use the power of his office to take revenge on someone who slighted him.

This should upset free-market, freedom-loving, small-unobtrusive-government conservatives, but since they've become a boot-licking cult who LOVE totalitarian dictator types as long as they've got an "R" by their names, they'll support it... even though they'll have to pay more for Amazon, too.

Before anybody says that Amazon can just go to UPS or FedEx, keep in mind that one reason UPS and FedEx's prices are kept down is because a lot of their stuff is sent much of the way through the USPS, and vice-versa. If you track your packages, you'll see that the businesses use each other for a lot of their transpo, which keeps costs down for all of 'em. A friend of mine works for the post office and has to sort UPS boxes all the time. I see the UPS showing up at the post office, swapping out shipments on a regular basis. Without the USPS, FedEx and UPS are screwed.

And Trump's a liar - the post office MAKES money delivering Amazon, not loses it. https://www.npr.org/2018/04/04/599579232/fact-check-is-the-post-office-losing-money-by-delivering-packages-for-amazon

And as far as USPS not being a profitable business, there's a secret behind that, too -- also Republican-spawned. The USPS is subject to a Congressional mandate that no other American business is burdened with -- they have to annually put billions to pre-fund a health program for future retirees, which is required to be funded 75 years into the future -- FAR past what is necessary. This was stuck to them by Republicans in Congress who were trying to keep their success rate lower, to aid privatized-carrier lobbyists.

As usual, Republicans are overstepping their bounds to rig things... but Trump's attempt to meddle in a business (which is big enough to really ding the economy if he were successful, as well as hurt the average citizen, because who doesn't use Amazon?) is a new low even for them. Clear abuse of power. I don't know how anyone can defend it, but I'm sure some MAGA-hatted morons will break their necks trying.

Whelp... you finally found some fascism. Congratulations. If it bears out that in the study trump will be proven wrong and forced to back off. Unless he uses his pen like Obama did on numerous occasions.

Tribute to a Bob

zsomething wrote:
And as far as USPS not being a profitable business, there's a secret behind that, too -- also Republican-spawned.   The USPS is subject to a Congressional mandate that no other American business is burdened with -- they have to annually put billions to pre-fund a health program for future retirees, which is required to be funded 75 years into the future --  FAR past what is necessary.  This was stuck to them by Republicans in Congress who were trying to keep their success rate lower, to aid privatized-carrier lobbyists.

This is exactly right except for one thing: It was also an attempt to destroy the Postal Workers Union.

The Post Office is not just a mailing and delivery service, enshrined in Article One, Section 8 of the Constitution, it's also a national unifier:

The circumstances of the Post Office's founding suggest a far broader and more important mission: guaranteeing the sanctity of civic participation and political debate.

Shortly after Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the Continental Congress took up a post office as one of the earliest institutions of national reach -- making the U.S. Post Office older than the Navy, the Marines, and the Declaration of Independence. Congressional delegates therefore believed that ensuring safe communication throughout the colonies was vital to the colonies' efforts for military, political, and commercial unity.

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/04/the-postal-service-is-a-civic-institution-not-a-business/256306/

Deus X wrote:

This is exactly right except for one thing: It was also an attempt to destroy the Postal Workers Union.

There are actually two Postal unions.  I actually happen to belong to one although I never worked for postal.  I joined for the good health insurance plan .... the Union dues cost me $35 a year.

Personally, (and this may surprise some of you who have decided I'm some kind of wild-eyed libertarian)  I don't think the USPS should be required to be a self-supporting agency and compete with UPS & FedEx  ... not for so long as the American public desires a postal worker to drive by their mailbox 6 days a week whether there's anything to deliver or pickup or not ... a requirement neither UPS nor FedEx have.

It's one of the few functions of the Federal Government specifically authorized by the US Constitution.

IMO .... this thing Trump has about Amazon; it's not really about Amazon .... it's about Jeff Bezos.