Long live the U.S. Postal Service. (Photo credit: The Weekly Opine)

Mama don’t take my U.S. Mail

During our lifetime postal delivery has been a given, a veritable sure thing that’s taken for granted. Oh, there are rare occasions when mail gets lost and even rarer occasions when malcontented postal workers toss bags of mail in garbage dumpsters. But overwhelmingly, the United States Postal Service does a fine job of moving mail from Point A to Point B. It still amazes me when I drop a letter (or bill payment) in the mail on Monday and a few days later my envelope arrives unscathed at its destination in Los Angeles.

Mail carriers are usually friendly, even jovial people. My current carrier is a pleasant woman who honks her horn and waves when we pass on the street. Recently, I replaced my curbside mailbox after it was damaged when a snowplow hit it following our first big snow last November. A few weeks ago, when the new mailbox was installed, I was without a mailbox for one day. The postal carrier gladly brought my mail to the porch and placed it in a shopping bag.

In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter that “in this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.” I would add mail delivery to the list of certainties. The well-known maxim that postal carriers deliver during rain, sleet and snow is true. And because of competition from Amazon, UPS and FedEx, the U.S. Postal Service delivers packages on Sunday.

Like the sun rising in the east, mail service is constant and reliable. The U.S. Post Office began mail delivery in 1775 with Benjamin Franklin serving as the first Postmaster General. USPS is like a lifelong friend amidst a sea of rapid upheavals such as political chaos, AI and the unwinding of our basic norms that provide a measure of stability. Seeing the mail van is a daily sign of normalcy.

The U.S. post office has competently served America since 1775. (Photo credit: The Weekly Opine)

Institutions under attack

The U.S. Postal Service is the nation’s largest retailer, operating 31,063 post offices. That is more retail locations than McDonald’s and Starbucks combined. Unfortunately, USPS suffers the same politically motivated, greed-driven attacks as do other venerable American institutions. The Affordable Care Act, Amtrak, civil rights, higher education, Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, Social Security, unions, Voting Rights Act and women’s rights are also in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. America is unraveling.

The loss of dependable institutions will downgrade many Americans to near-Third World status. Without healthcare, basic financial means, access to jobs, food and quality education, and without political representation, you are reduced to not living the American dream but suffering an American nightmare. The impact of deconstructing America will be felt beyond the expected pockets of poor inner-city neighborhoods and poor rural enclaves. Like the gooey substance in the sci-fi thriller “The Blob,” the current administration’s policies, outlined in the fascist Project 2025 playbook, have infiltrated all our lives.

(Repeat) Mama don’t take my U.S. Mail

Specific to the U.S. Postal Service, the deck is stacked against USPS survival, unless Congress – notorious for placating Trump – locates its sea legs and stands up against the dismantling of a critically important service valued by most Americans.

According to an October 2025 Gallup poll, USPS was the only government agency to achieve a majority-level positive rating. Internal USPS polling shows 74% of voters view postal service positively, 81% view postal workers positively and 96% say USPS service is important. Sixty-percent of voters oppose privatization, including 65% of voters under the age of 35.

If moneygrubbing Republicans have their way, rural America will lose access to mail service, including delivery of life-saving medicine via the mail. Mail-in ballots, under intense attack from Trump (who himself votes via mail-in ballot) would become a thing of the past for rural voters. This could also occur in blighted inner-city neighborhoods. Given free rein, Amazon, UPS, FedEx, and private companies controlled by greedy Republicans would surely charge exorbitant fees to serve rural areas.

Prior to the 2020 election, the Trump-friendly Postmaster General retreated from implementing restrictive policies favored by Trump. (Photo credit: The Weekly Opine)

Until recently, the government forced USPS to pre-fund retiree health benefits in advance, stretching decades into the future. The Bush administration implemented this unwarranted financial albatross in 2006.

In 2022, Congress passed the Postal Service Reform Act releasing USPS from their mandated, draconian financial straitjacket. Still, USPS is prohibited from operating like a business (e.g., forbidden from setting a pricing structure or strategically launching services to generate additional revenue.)

Many businesses would be in dire financial condition if required to set aside outrageous sums of money for retiree benefits that wouldn’t be paid out for decades. Even with a boost from the Postal Service Reform Act, the newest Postmaster General cautions that USPS will be broke in early 2027 if Congress doesn’t take more action.

Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich served in Bill Clinton’s cabinet. Reich, who also served in Republican (Gerald Ford) and Democratic (Jimmy Carter) administrations, argues USPS is capable of managing its benefit, retirement and pension funds, as well as expanding revenue-generating opportunities. Reich says Congress should supplement the Postal Service Reform Act with measures that unleash the potential of USPS.

It’s in our hands

Currently, the Trump administration is hellbent on ruining America’s postal service. First, allow it to implode and then privatize the postal service. Billionaires would make big money while the rest of us lose guaranteed access to mail. As Reich articulates, Trump intends to hand USPS – and other public institutions – to greedy private operators, at the expense of the public good.

I cannot imagine losing assurances the United States Postal Service will deliver our mail, but that’s where we’re headed unless we intervene.

Below is the number to the U.S. Capitol. Please call your senators and representatives and demand that Congress act immediately to stop the madness that will destroy USPS.

202-224-3121.

DEATH, TAXES, POSTAL SERVICE