Please, Call Congress

[Lady's Human]

The Postal Service, after having their arms twisted by 14 Senators, has agreed to a five month moratorium on closing post offices and moving mail processing plants.

They're still going to do all the groundwork for the moves, but will make no physical moves until after 15 May 2012.

Hopefully, this will give Congress time to pass some sane legislation.

With Rep. Hinchey's bill in the house and Sen. Sander's bill in the Senate being close mirrors of each other, it would be nice to see both houses move on the legislation, pass it with little to no partisan wrangling in reconciliation as the bills are near mirrors of each other, and get it to the President's desk for signature.

I'd like to thank Rep. Hinchey and Rep. Hanna for their support, as well as the 14 Senators who forced the moratorium. We've had a lot of support on the state side as well, with NY State Senators Libous and O'Mara writing letters opposing the consolidations as well.

The support we've been given in NY State is bipartisan. I can only hope that the rest of the Congress can see what a mess this will create if nothing is done legislatively.

[Freckles]

Got an email from Oregon Rep Earl Blumenauer this morning with positive comments.
States he is cosponsor of the USPS Pension Obligation Recalculation and Restoration Act of 2011. That's a good thing?

[Lady's Human]

It's one of several bills which would be a start to fixing this mess. Thanks for the help!

[cassiesmom]

LH, there was a demonstration today in downtown Chicago about this, and I thought of you.

Here's a story. http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/04/...g-legislation/

[moosmom]

While people complain every time the price of a postage stamp goes up..where can you get ANYTHING for that price??? And while you and I have had issues here, and some heated debates, I'm ALWAYS happy to help a friend.

CT covered on my end.

Good luck, dude!!

[cassiesmom]

S.B. 1789 which outlines a lot of changes to the USPS, is to come up for a vote soon. I believe our Sen. Kirk is still recovering from his stroke and brain surgery so I 'll contact Sen. Durbin.

[Lady's Human]

S. 1789 is, as it currently stands, a disaster for the post office.

THere's nothing in it to protect mailing standards, which means that you might get your letter to the court, IRS, or other agency in a couple days, or in a couple weeks. With that kind of service, why not just hire a courier?

it's pandering to the mailers, but at the same time it will force the bulk mailers to go elsewhere, as who wants to mail an ad through the postal service if you can't guarantee it's going to get there before the sale? As of a months ago, residents in MD were still receiving Black Friday mailers. The postal service consolidated plants to save money, and destroyed service standards.

Coming soon to your mailbox nationwide!

[cassiesmom]

S.B. 1789 which outlines a lot of changes to the USPS, is to come up for a vote soon. I believe our Sen. Kirk is still recovering from his stroke and brain surgery so I 'll contact Sen. Durbin.

LH, I would like to revise my post because the way I typed it is not very clear. I heard on the news yesterday that there was a small demonstration downtown at Federal Plaza. It was USPS employees trying to get the word out about the financial problems the USPS is having, and that they are opposed to post office closings and lay-offs. The reporter talked about S.B. 1789 which is to come up for a vote soon. The people at the demonstration feel it is not a well-worded bill and hope it will not be successful. The way the reporter explained the bill, it did not sound very clear to me as a postal service user. One of our two senators (Mark Kirk) had a stroke about two or three months ago. He needed brain surgery after that and he is still recovering from the stroke and the surgery. I am not sure how his Senate responsibilities are covered, but I don't guess he is able to vote on bills at this time. So I will contact our other senator who is Dick Durbin. I'd like him to not vote for a poorly prepared bill, and I would not like to see post offices closed or people losing their jobs.