President Trump admits he's blocking postal cash to curb mail-in votes

SOLEDA WELCOME BACK. THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE WARNS IT WILL RUN OUT OF MON UNLESS CONGRESS DELIVERS A $75 BILLION BAILOUT. THE POSTAL SERVICE IS NORMALLY APOLITICAL, BUT NOW FINDS ITSELF THE TARGET OF PRESIDENT TRUMP, WHO HAS CALLED IT A JOKE, AND DEMANDED IT QUADRUPLE IT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S PACKAGE RATES BEFORE HE바카라 게임 웹사이트�D AUTHORIZE ANY EMERGENCY AID OR LOANS. HOW DID ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES FIND ITSELF IN A CASH CRISIS WE ASKED OUR SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR, JOIE CHEN, TO LOOK INTO THE POST OFFICE바카라 게임 웹사이트�S PAST AND WHAT MAY BE IN STORE FOR ITS FUTURE. YOU CAN GO A LONG WAY ON $.55 TO JUST ABOUT THE FURTHEST CORNER OF T U.S., BETHEL, ALASKA. IT IS NOT ISLAND, BUT YOU CANNOT GET THERE BY ROAD, BECAUSE THERE IS NOT ONE. NO ROADS LEAD TO BETHEL. SO IF YOU WANT ANYTHING DELIVERED, IT IS USUALLY GOING TO BE BY PLANE. IN THIS PART OF AMERICA, EVEN IF $.55 FIRST-CLASS LETTER IS A LIFELINE. I DON바카라 게임 웹사이트�T THINK THAT MOST PEOPLE KNOW, WHAT IT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S LIKE OUT HERE. >> MELANIE FREDERICKS IS MEMBER OF THE NATIVE YUPIK COMMUNITY. INTERNET SERVICE HERE IS NOT A GIVEN. AMAZON TRUCKS DO NOT DELIVER. BUT THIS IS AMERICA TOO, AND FREDERICKS SAYS IT NEEDS THE CONNECTIONS ONLY THE POST OFFICE BRINGS. WHAT I WOULD SAY IS, JUST LIKE THAT ANYTHING ELSE THAT CONNECTS US TO THE REST OF THE WORLD, THE REST OF THE COUNTRY, IT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S JUST, IT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S NOT OK TO JUST CUT US OFF. >> ANOTHER 55 CENT STAMP WILL TAKE YOU 3800 MILE FROM BETHEL, DOWN TO MARYLAND바카라 게임 웹사이트�S EASTERN SHORE, WHERE ASKED SANDY CEP IF SHE THINKS HER WORK IS MUCH DIFFERENT FROM THE POST OFFICE UP THERE. >> I바카라 게임 웹사이트�M GONNA SAY NOT. AS A RURAL CARRIER WE ARE THE -- AS A RURAL CARRIER, WE ARE THE CONNECTION. WE ALWAYS USED TO SAY WE ARE THE POST OFFICE ON WHEELS. THE BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS, THE BILLS COME OTHER JUNK MAIL, AND VITAL PRESCRIPTIONS FOR NEARLY FOUR DECADES UNTIL SHE RETIRED LAST MONTH. >> 21601, EASTON. BUT MY ROUTE WAS ROUTE 5, AND I WAS ROUTE 5 FOR 38 YEARS. I NEVER SWITCHED TO ANOTHER ROUTE. >> LIKE SANDY CEP, THE POST OFFICE HAS A LONG HISTORY OF COMMUNITY SERVIC -- THE FIRST POSTMASTER GENERAL, BEN FRANKLIN, CREATED A NETWORK ROADS ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST, WHERE YOU CAN STILL FIND OLD "POST ROADS" TODAY BY THE EARLY 1900바카라 게임 웹사이트�S, AMERICANS TRUSTED THE POSTAL SERVICE SO MUCH THAT PARENTS USED PARCEL POST TO MAIL THEIR CHILDREN. A PRACTICE THE POSTMASTER GENERAL BEGGED THEM TO STOP. THE SERVICE HAS LONG PROVIDED OPPORTUNITY -- TODAY, NEARLY FOUR IN TEN WORKERS ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR A 40% ARE WOMEN. THE POSTAL SERVICE CONSISTENTLY RANKS AS AMERICA바카라 게임 웹사이트�S FAVORITE FEDERAL AGENCY. AND DESPITE DIRE FINANCIAL STRAITS, $8.8 BILLION IN LOSSES LAST YEAR ALONE, SOME, LIKE NEW YORK WRITER, CASEY CEP, ARGUE, "WE CAN바카라 게임 웹사이트�T AFFORD TO LOSE THE POSTAL SERVICE." IS THAT REALLY TRUE? >> IT IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE. >> CEP ACKNOWLEDGES HER BIAS-HER HER BIAS, HER MOM IS RETIRED CARRIER SANDY CEP. BUT SHE ALSO POINTS OUT THAT EVEN THE FOUNDING FATHERS UNDERSTOOD THE VALUE OF THE POSTAL SERVICE. >> YOU KNOW, YOU SAY THAT, BUT SOMETIMES HISTORY IS JUST, QUAINT. >> YEAH. IT바카라 게임 웹사이트�S CERTAINLY TRUE THAT THE HISTORY OF THE POSTAL SERVICE IS INCREDIBLY QUAINT AND FULL OF AMERICANA. >> IS IT ALSO OUTMODED? >> NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT. I MEAN LOOK, I THINK A LOT OF OUR LIVES HAVE MOVED ON LINE BUT NOT ALL OF IT. AND THE PANDEMIC HAS BEEN A FINE EXAMPLE OF THAT FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE. EVEN DURING THE PANDEMIC, THE POSTAL SERVICE HAS DELIVERED. CDC SAFETY GUIDELINES, MAIL-IN VOTES, AND THE 2020 CENSUS, ALONG WITH ALL THE USUAL MAIL. BUT THE PANDEMIC HAS CUT INTO FIRST-CLASS AND JUNK MAIL. TH USPS바카라 게임 웹사이트� MAJOR SOURCES OF REVENUE. TAXPAYERS DO N FUND POSTAL SERVICE OPERATIONS, THOSE STAMPS AND PACKAGES DO. IN FACT, SUPPORTERS ARGUE IF CONGRESS WOULD JUST LOOKED AT THE MAN바카라 게임 웹사이트�S IT BUT ON THE USPS THE FUND WORKER HEALTH CARE AND RETIREMENT SEVEN DECADES IN ADVANCE, THE POSTAL SERVICE COULD EVEN BE PROFITABLE. >> BUT EVEN IF IT WEREN바카라 게임 웹사이트�T, WE WOULD STILL WANT IT. EVEN IF IT WEREN바카라 게임 웹사이트�T PROFITABLE, WE WOULD STILL WANT TO BE ABLE TO REACH EVERY AMERICAN, REGARDLESS OF ZIP CODE. >> WHI IS WHAT THE FOUNDING FATHERS INTENDED TO HUNDRED 45 YEARS AGO. TO CONNECT AMERICANS - 245 TO C

President Donald Trump frankly acknowledged Thursday that he's starving the U.S. Postal Service of money in order to make it harder to process an expected surge of mail-in ballots, which he worries could cost him the election.In an interview on Fox Business Network, Trump explicitly noted two funding provisions that Democrats are seeking in a relief package that has stalled on Capitol Hill. Without the additional money, he said, the Postal Service won't have the resources to handle a flood of ballots from voters who are seeking to avoid polling places during the coronavirus pandemic.바카라 게임 웹사이트�If we don바카라 게임 웹사이트�t make a deal, that means they don바카라 게임 웹사이트�t get the money,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Trump told host Maria Bartiromo. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�That means they can바카라 게임 웹사이트�t have universal mail-in voting; they just can바카라 게임 웹사이트�t have it.바카라 게임 웹사이트�Trump's statements, including the false claim that Democrats are seeking universal mail-in voting, come as he is searching for a strategy to gain an advantage in his November matchup against Biden. He's pairing the tough Postal Service stance in congressional negotiations with an increasingly robust mail-in-voting legal fight in states that could decide the election.In Iowa, which Trump won handily in 2016 but is more competitive this year, his campaign joined a lawsuit Wednesday against two Democratic-leaning counties in an effort to invalidate tens of thousands of voters바카라 게임 웹사이트� absentee ballot applications. That followed legal maneuvers in battleground Pennsylvania, where the campaign hopes to force changes to how the state collects and counts mail-in ballots. And in Nevada, Trump is challenging a law sending ballots to all active voters.His efforts could face limits. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rebuffed Republicans who challenged an agreement in Rhode Island allowing residents to vote by mail through November바카라 게임 웹사이트�s general election without getting signatures from two witnesses or a notary.For Democrats, Trump's new remarks were a clear admission that the president is attempting to restrict voting rights.바카라 게임 웹사이트�The president of the United States is sabotaging a basic service that hundreds of millions of people rely upon, cutting a critical lifeline for rural economies and for delivery of medicines, because he wants to deprive Americans of their fundamental right to vote safely during the most catastrophic public health crisis in over 100 years," Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement.Negotiations over a new virus relief package have all but ended, with the White House and congressional leaders far apart on the size, scope and approach for shoring up households, reopening schools and launching a national strategy to contain the coronavirus.While there is some common ground over $100 billion for schools and new funds for virus testing, Democrats also want other emergency funds that Trump rejects.바카라 게임 웹사이트�They want $3.5 billion for something that will turn out to be fraudulent. That바카라 게임 웹사이트�s election money, basically,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Trump said during Thursday's call-in interview.Democrats have pushed for $10 billion in all for the Postal Service in talks with Republicans on a huge COVID-19 response bill. That figure, which would include money to help with election mail, is down from a $25 billion plan in a House-passed coronavirus measure.DeJoy, who was tapped to head the Postal Service by a Trump-appointed board of governors and started in June, has said that the agency is in a financially untenable position, but he maintains that it can handle this year's election mail. He is the first postmaster general in nearly two decades who is not a career postal employee.바카라 게임 웹사이트�Although there will likely be an unprecedented increase in election mail volume due to the pandemic, the Postal Service has ample capacity to deliver all election mail securely and on-time in accordance with our delivery standards, and we will do so," he told the Postal Service's governing board last week.Memos obtained by The Associated Press show that Postal Service leadership has pushed to eliminate overtime and halt late delivery trips that are sometimes needed to ensure mail arrives on time, measures that postal workers and union officials say are delaying service. Additional records detail cuts to hours at post offices, including reductions on Saturdays and during lunch hours.Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, have sent DeJoy several letters asking him to reverse his changes and criticizing what they say is a lack of openness by he agency. Late Wednesday, Senate Democrats again wrote DeJoy, this time saying he is pushing state election officials to opt for pricier first-class postage for mail-in ballots to be prioritized.바카라 게임 웹사이트�Instead of taking steps to increase your agency바카라 게임 웹사이트�s ability to deliver for the American people, you are implementing policy changes that make matters worse, and the Postal Service is reportedly considering changes that would increase costs for states at a time when millions of Americans are relying on voting by mail to exercise their right to vote,바카라 게임 웹사이트� the Democrats wrote.A spokesman for the Postal Service, David Partenheimer, said in a statement that 바카라 게임 웹사이트�certain deadlines concerning mail-in ballots, may be incompatible with the Postal Service바카라 게임 웹사이트�s delivery standards,바카라 게임 웹사이트� especially if election officials don't pay more for first-class postage.바카라 게임 웹사이트�To the extent that states choose to use the mail as part of their elections, they should do so in a manner that realistically reflects how the mail works,바카라 게임 웹사이트� he said.Judy Beard, legislative and political director for the American Postal Workers Union, said postal workers are up to the task of delivering mail-in ballots this year.바카라 게임 웹사이트�We definitely know that the president is absolutely wrong concerning vote-by-mail,바카라 게임 웹사이트� she said.Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., chair of the House subcommittee on government operations, said Trump is acknowledging that he wants to hold up funding for the U.S. Postal Service to hinder Americans from voting.바카라 게임 웹사이트�The president admits his motive for holding USPS funding hostage is that he doesn바카라 게임 웹사이트�t want Americans to vote by mail,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Connolly said in a statement Thursday. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�Why? It hurts his electoral chances. He바카라 게임 웹사이트�s putting self-preservation ahead of public safety, for an election he deserves to lose.바카라 게임 웹사이트�___Izaguirre reported from Charleston, West Virginia. The Associated Press produced this coverage with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

In an interview on Fox Business Network, Trump explicitly noted two funding provisions that Democrats are seeking in a relief package that has stalled on Capitol Hill. Without the additional money, he said, the Postal Service won't have the resources to handle a flood of ballots from voters who are seeking to avoid polling places during the coronavirus pandemic.

바카라 게임 웹사이트�If we don바카라 게임 웹사이트�t make a deal, that means they don바카라 게임 웹사이트�t get the money,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Trump told host Maria Bartiromo. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�That means they can바카라 게임 웹사이트�t have universal mail-in voting; they just can바카라 게임 웹사이트�t have it.바카라 게임 웹사이트�

Trump's statements, including the false claim that Democrats are seeking universal mail-in voting, come as he is searching for a strategy to gain an advantage in his November matchup against Biden. He's pairing the tough Postal Service stance in congressional negotiations with an increasingly robust mail-in-voting legal fight in states that could decide the election.

In Iowa, which Trump won handily in 2016 but is more competitive this year, his campaign Wednesday against two Democratic-leaning counties in an effort to invalidate tens of thousands of voters바카라 게임 웹사이트� absentee ballot applications. That followed legal maneuvers in battleground Pennsylvania, where the campaign hopes to force changes to how the state collects and counts mail-in ballots. And in Nevada, Trump is challenging a law sending ballots to all active voters.

His efforts could face limits. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday who challenged an agreement in Rhode Island allowing residents to vote by mail through November바카라 게임 웹사이트�s general election without getting signatures from two witnesses or a notary.

For Democrats, Trump's new remarks were a clear admission that the president is attempting to restrict voting rights.

바카라 게임 웹사이트�The president of the United States is sabotaging a basic service that hundreds of millions of people rely upon, cutting a critical lifeline for rural economies and for delivery of medicines, because he wants to deprive Americans of their fundamental right to vote safely during the most catastrophic public health crisis in over 100 years," Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement.

Negotiations over a new virus relief package have all but ended, with the White House and congressional leaders far apart on the size, scope and approach for shoring up households, reopening schools and launching a national strategy to contain the coronavirus.

While there is some common ground over $100 billion for schools and new funds for virus testing, Democrats also want other emergency funds that Trump rejects.

바카라 게임 웹사이트�They want $3.5 billion for something that will turn out to be fraudulent. That바카라 게임 웹사이트�s election money, basically,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Trump said during Thursday's call-in interview.

Democrats have pushed for $10 billion in all for the Postal Service in talks with Republicans on a huge COVID-19 response bill. That figure, which would include money to help with election mail, is down from a $25 billion plan in a House-passed coronavirus measure.

DeJoy, who was tapped to head the Postal Service by a Trump-appointed board of governors and started in June, has said that the agency is in a financially untenable position, but he maintains that it can handle this year's election mail. He is the first in nearly two decades who is not a career postal employee.

바카라 게임 웹사이트�Although there will likely be an unprecedented increase in election mail volume due to the pandemic, the Postal Service has ample capacity to deliver all election mail securely and on-time in accordance with our delivery standards, and we will do so," he told the Postal Service's governing board last week.

Memos obtained by The Associated Press show that Postal Service leadership has pushed to eliminate overtime and halt late delivery trips that are sometimes needed to ensure mail arrives on time, measures that postal workers and union officials say are delaying service. Additional records detail cuts to hours at post offices, including reductions on Saturdays and during lunch hours.

Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, have sent DeJoy several letters asking him to reverse his changes and criticizing what they say is a lack of openness by he agency. Late Wednesday, Senate Democrats again wrote DeJoy, this time saying he is pushing state election officials to opt for pricier first-class postage for mail-in ballots to be prioritized.

바카라 게임 웹사이트�Instead of taking steps to increase your agency바카라 게임 웹사이트�s ability to deliver for the American people, you are implementing policy changes that make matters worse, and the Postal Service is reportedly considering changes that would increase costs for states at a time when millions of Americans are relying on voting by mail to exercise their right to vote,바카라 게임 웹사이트� the Democrats wrote.

A spokesman for the Postal Service, David Partenheimer, said in a statement that 바카라 게임 웹사이트�certain deadlines concerning mail-in ballots, may be incompatible with the Postal Service바카라 게임 웹사이트�s delivery standards,바카라 게임 웹사이트� especially if election officials don't pay more for first-class postage.

바카라 게임 웹사이트�To the extent that states choose to use the mail as part of their elections, they should do so in a manner that realistically reflects how the mail works,바카라 게임 웹사이트� he said.

Judy Beard, legislative and political director for the American Postal Workers Union, said postal workers are up to the task of delivering mail-in ballots this year.

바카라 게임 웹사이트�We definitely know that the president is absolutely wrong concerning vote-by-mail,바카라 게임 웹사이트� she said.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., chair of the House subcommittee on government operations, said Trump is acknowledging that he wants to hold up funding for the U.S. Postal Service to hinder Americans from voting.

바카라 게임 웹사이트�The president admits his motive for holding USPS funding hostage is that he doesn바카라 게임 웹사이트�t want Americans to vote by mail,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Connolly said in a statement Thursday. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�Why? It hurts his electoral chances. He바카라 게임 웹사이트�s putting self-preservation ahead of public safety, for an election he deserves to lose.바카라 게임 웹사이트�

___

Izaguirre reported from Charleston, West Virginia. The Associated Press produced this coverage with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

President Trump admits he's blocking postal cash to curb mail-in votes

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