With President Trump letting the cat out of the bag by stating he opposes additional funding for the US Postal Service because it would mean the post office would be better able to deliver mail-in ballots, California Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu has asked a question that Trump needs to answer:
What’s the Administration’s plan to ensure the mail, particularly ballots, gets delivered?
This should be plan A, B & C: Massive education to voters ASAP that they need to mail their ballot at least 10 mailing days in advance of Nov 3, which would be Oct 22. The stark reality is the House cannot adequately fund USPS without the consent of Trump.#VoteByOct22 https://t.co/qO9NNfXk4o
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 13, 2020
In recent weeks, Trump has made a habit of complaining about how, he feels, the US Postal Service is ill-prepared to handle the expected influx of ballots prior to the November election.
What, however, has Trump–the individual responsible for making sure the Executive Branch, including the Post Office, runs competently–proposed to improve the performance of mail delivery?
The answer, of course, is nothing. He hasn’t made a single proposal to improve the readiness of the USPS to handle the increase in mail. In fact, he’s declared that additional funding for the postal service is a “Democrat plot” to undermine the November election and support voter fraud. (This claim is false.)
So while he’s complaining about the problems at the Postal Service he’s publicly hoping for its failure. It’s not new: he wants government services to fail, be it the Postal Service or the US Census or the immigration services.
It’s part of Trump’s DNA: he has a history of ruining businesses and then running away, leaving others to clean up. And he’s continuing that tradition with our government institutions.
As Lieu’s tweet points out, given the lack of leadership from Trump, the solution lies solely in the hands of citizens. Those of us who want to vote by mail must make sure we do it early: no procrastination, no waiting.
And make sure you vote, because the man in the Oval Office has told you he wants the government to fail, and that, in itself, is reason enough to deny him a second term.