Lawmakers Warn 'Onerous' New USPS Loan Terms Imposed by Mnuchin 'Could Accelerate Demise...

[Nevilledog]

Lawmakers Warn 'Onerous' New USPS Loan Terms Imposed by Mnuchin 'Could Accelerate Demise of Postal Service'

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/30/lawmakers-warn-onerous-new-usps-loan-terms-imposed-mnuchin-could-accelerate-demise

Leading congressional Democrats are warning that an emergency loan agreement announced Wednesday by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy—a major donor to President Donald Trump and the GOP—could "accelerate the demise of the Postal Service" by giving the administration unprecedented access to the popular agency's internal operations.

"Secretary Mnuchin and the leadership of the U.S. Postal Service appear to be exploiting this public health pandemic to hold the Postal Service to unreasonable loan terms without even consulting Congress," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) in a joint statement Wednesday evening.

According to a loan term sheet (pdf) made public by the lawmakers, the USPS will gain access to $10 billion in emergency funding approved by Congress back in March provided that the agency adheres to a number of requirements, including providing the Trump administration with "historical and protected business, financial, operational, contractual, and planning data that Treasury may determine is necessary to evaluate USPS's current and future financial condition."

The agreement also requires USPS to give the Treasury Department access to proprietary information about the Postal Service's private-sector shipping contracts and bars the agency from accessing the emergency funds if its "cash balance exceeds $8 billion."

*snip*

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Preparing for a shutdown, sale and takeover. NO!

[Hoyt]

2. Honestly, I think that's an overstatement. trump could call up his Postmaster General buddy

and get any information he needs, assuming they haven't already gotten it.

[blueinredohio]

3. Why doesn't Jeff Bezos give the post office a loan since he uses it most?