A little bit of history about USPS that's relevant right now:

USPS was operating in the black in 2006 when Congress put in place a "faulty" law requiring them to bank 5.8 bill/yr for future employment benefits.

There were a few reasons for this law: …https://www-washingtonpost-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-postal-service-is-operating-at-a-profit/2018/04/26/1300cfa6-48b2-11e8-8082-105a446d19b8_story.html?amp_js_v=a3&amp_gsa=1&outputType=amp&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D#aoh=15865389363699&amp_ct=1586538957384&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fopinions%2Fthe-postal-service-is-operating-at-a-profit%2F2018%2F04%2F26%2F1300cfa6-48b2-11e8-8082-105a446d19b8_story.html

You may have guessed that none of the reasons were because Congress was worried about postal employees

That would be funny. Right?

No, it was b/c private cos didn't want the competition and were also hankering to buy the USPS if it went under

Also because of Oil.

Yup.

Oil.

The USPS had committed to making their entire fleet electric & fuel efficient.

Big Oil didn't like it one bit. What if other govt entities followed suit? It would be disasterous & possibly ruinous to the entire industry whose business model is keeping the world oil dependent

As often is the case in US politics, lrg corps & big oil kneecapped the postal service by mandating their profits go into a fund for future employees; not taking into account that the USPS would probably change over time with newer technology and likely fewer employees.

The law was crazy & no other federal entity had these strict requirements

The law worked and in 2020 we are looking at a struggling postal service.

The restrictive and "faulty law" did what it was intended to do

Remember, Republicans are really good at playing the long game

Why is this important now?

It is for a few reasons:

As we know, large private corps are slathering to get their hands on the USPS. They know the USPS is normally a huge profit making entity and still would be if the USPS hadn't been deliberately screwed over by the US govt

Also at issue is the 5.8 billion dollars sitting in trust accruing interest. It's ripe for Trump & his grifting buddies to get their hands on it

Also:

You may have noticed that mail-in ballots have become an issue when discussing voter suppression and disenfranchisement

The argument will certainly become "private companies cannot be trusted to protect the sanctity of voting rights"

Wisconsin, the WI Supreme Court & SCOTUS have successfully argued that in person voting is mandatory during a pandemic

The Republicans would rather we die than vote

These lawsuits will become more prevalent as time goes and as we have more pandemics & natural catastrophes

If the USPS is broken up, there's no doubt mail-in ballots will become a thing of the past and we'll have more gerrymandering, voter suppression & disenfranchisement

When SCOTUS confirmed in Citizens United that corporations were people - they actually made corporations more powerful than We the People.

Money was always powerful - but now entire elections can be bought & paid for by the highest bidder - and it is legal.

Congress needs to act now to protect the USPS, protect voting rights and repeal Citizens United.

Don't expect it to be easy. There will be more lawsuits and more lies than we can count. It will be an endless battle against power and money.

But we need to stay diligent, involved & informed

A future for our children and grandchildren depends on it. The future of a world that's liveable w/breathable air - it's all intertwined

Please pay attention

Thank you @Thom_Hartmann for providing inspiration for this thread