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Judd Legum Profile picture
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4 Oct, 11 tweets, 4 min read
1. The mail matters.

It may or may not matter to you but it matters to millions of people.

Particularly those in rural areas, the elderly and the disabled.

And, because of Louis DeJoy, the postal service is about to get much worse

popular.info/p/whats-really…
2. Starting this month first-class mail will TAKE UP TO FIVE DAYS TO ARRIVE AT ITS DESTINATION

This means delayed medication, missed court dates, late bills.

It's largely due to a decision to reduce the use of planes and rely on ground transportation

popular.info/p/whats-really…
3. DeJoy says the severe degradation of first-class mail delivery is necessary to SAVE MONEY.

But even by DeJoy's own estimates, it will save just $169.5 million annually.

That's 1/4 OF ONE PERCENT of the USPS' total operating expenses (82 billion)

popular.info/p/whats-really…
4. Even those small savings could be inflated

The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) found "the estimated cost savings may be inflated" and "several underlying assumptions appear untenable"

Specifically, DeJoy's cost savings are based on a pandemic year

popular.info/p/whats-really…
5. The mail matters because it matters to people.

For more accountability journalism on important issues (with no BS), sign up (free!) for the newsletter.

popular.info/subscribe
6. DeJoy's estimates acknowledge that if you start making first-class mail delivery slower by replacing planes with trucks, fewer people will use it.

THAT'S THE POINT

DeJoy wants to focus on packages

popular.info/p/whats-really…
7. DeJoy's plan states that is part of an overall effort to "participate more fully in the strengthening U.S. market for package delivery services."

This would make perfect sense if the USPS was a private company looking to maximize its profits.

popular.info/p/whats-really…
8. But the USPS has a "public service mission." By law, the mission includes "prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas" including "rural areas, communities, and small towns where post offices are not self-sustaining."

popular.info/p/whats-really…
9. DeJoy spent 3 decades as the CEO of a private logistics company.

There have been questions about whether he is using his position to benefit himself, his family, or his friends in the private logistics industry.

popular.info/p/whats-really…
10. So why is DeJoy still Postmaster now that Trump is gone? The president doesn't directly appoint the Postmaster. The president appoints the Board of Governors, who appoint the Postmaster. And the board is still a majority of Trump appointees.

popular.info/p/whats-really…
11. This could change quickly, however. Right now Trump's appointees have a 6-3 advantage. But two of Trump's board members' terms will expire by the end of the year. Who Biden appoints and how quickly could determine DeJoy's future.

popular.info/p/whats-really…

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More from @JuddLegum

Judd Legum Profile picture
6 Oct
1. One thing you'll hear about a lot between now and November 2022 is the purported "crime wave" sweeping the United States.

One thing that is lacking from this discussion is FACTS

Follow this thread for lots of facts.

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab…
2. For example, @SenTomCotton wrote a piece in @BreitbartNews titled "Democrats’ Criminal-Leniency Policies Sparked an Undeniable Crime Wave"

The piece is festooned with images of people committing property crimes.

FACT: Property crime was DOWN in 2020

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab… ImageImage
@SenTomCotton @BreitbartNews 3. What about violent crime? Violent crime was up about 5% in 2020. But it is still WAY BELOW the levels we saw in the 1990s or even the early part of this century.

Does 2020's increase in violent crime constitute a "crime wave"

We report, you decide.

popular.info/p/the-truth-ab… Image
Read 9 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
5 Oct
1. While you were sleeping, the @USChamber executed one of the most brazenly hypocritical policy reversals in modern political history

It reveals the true nature of the organization

Follow along if interested

popular.info/p/trouble-in-c…
@USChamber 2. For months, the @USChamber has enthusiastically promoted the bipartisan infrastructure legislation

It called the bill "a once-in-a-generation opportunity."

The Chamber plastered Facebook with paid ads supporting it

It was ALL IN

popular.info/p/trouble-in-c… Image
3. For better or worse, Pelosi pushed for a vote on the infrastructure bill last week.

That's exactly what the @USChamber wanted

A group of progressives, however, would not support the bill w/o a deal on the larger reconciliation package.

popular.info/p/trouble-in-c…
Read 12 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
4 Oct
"A Democratic super PAC headed by a former president of Planned Parenthood is set to unleash ads targeting Dallas-based AT&T for backing Texas lawmakers who sponsored the new state law that effectively outlaws abortion after six weeks."

cnbc.com/2021/10/04/tex…
These ads reflect campaign finance reporting from popular.info, which identified @ATT as a top donor to the sponsors of Texas' abortion ban

popular.info/p/these-corpor…
@ATT .@ATT told CNBC that "AT&T’s employee political action committees have never based contribution decisions on a legislator’s positions on the issue of abortion" and the company "has never taken a position on the issue of abortion"
Read 7 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
30 Sep
1. Corporations are trying to have it both ways

This week @Walmart endorsed the climate provisions of the reconciliation bill calling it the kind of "bold domestic action" we need "now"

Walmart's CEO is leading an aggressive campaign to kill the bill

popular.info/p/walmart-call…
@Walmart 2. @GM explicitly endorsed the Build Back Better plan, saying it was a "once-in-a-generation opportunity for our nation

Then @GM CEO @mtbarra announced she would be the next leader of the @BizRoundtable, which is spending millions to kill the bill

popular.info/p/walmart-call…
3. @Apple endorsed the climate provisions of the reconciliation bill. But CEO @tim_cook is on the board of the @BizRoundtable, which is doing everything possible to sink the legislation

Apple has ignored repeated requests for comment

popular.info/p/walmart-call…
Read 6 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
29 Sep
This statement where Manchin says he's opposed the reconciliation bill does not discuss any specific policies because the policies he's opposing are extremely popular -- in West Virginia and around the country
Manchin calls the tax proposals "vengeful"

OK, let's get specific. What's vengeful?

Closing tax loopholes for private equity managers?

A 3% surtax on income over $5 million?

Increasing the top tax bracket from 37% to 39.6%?
That's really the crux of it. Manchin is opposing this bill on behalf of corporations and the wealthy, who don't want to pay more taxes

Manchin claims to be concerned about the deficit, but if you increase revenue, the deficit doesn't have to increase
Read 4 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
29 Sep
1. @BizRoundtable, a group of prominent CEOs, intensified efforts to defeat the reconciliation bill, launching a multi-million dollar ad campaign and producing a slick video in which CEOs warn the public of "consequences" if the corporate tax rate goes up

popular.info/p/updates-the-…
@BizRoundtable 2. The @BizRoundtable claims Trump's 2017 tax cuts spurred business "investment."

This has actually been studied extensively and the opposite is true. The corporate tax cut "held investment down rather than stimulated it," the Cleveland Fed found.

popular.info/p/updates-the-…
3. The @BizRoundtable includes the CEOs of @Apple, @Netflix, @GM and others who publicly claim to enthusiastically support the reconciliation bill's clean energy standard.

At the same time, they are involved in an aggressive effort to kill the bill.

popular.info/p/bad-apple
Read 5 tweets

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