In the pre Venmo/PayPal era “The check is in the mail” was the most frequently used excuse given to bill collectors for overdue payments. It was not a reflection on the post office’s reliability in delivering the mail in a timely fashion; it was simply an excuse – a means of buying time. The Post Office, warts and all, has been a fundamental part of the infrastructure of America – something we have all taken for granted – until now.
“Now, they need that money in order to make the Post Office work, so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots” … “Now, if we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money. That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting, they just can’t have it.”
That was Donald Trump yesterday on Fox, admitting his motive to prevent large scale voting by mail in order to tilt the election in his favor. He said that without emergency funding, which he will not approve, the Postal Service will not be able to process the huge amount of ballots that voting by mail would generate..
Trump has been preparing for this at least since May, when he appointed Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General. DeJoy is not only a major Trump contributor and fund raiser, he was also one of a triumvirate of Deputy Finance Chairmen of the Republican National committee, along with Michael Cohen – Trump’s former fixer and co-conspirator in the payoffs of Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal for their silence about Trump’s affairs with them, just before the 2016 election; and Elliott Briody another strong Trump supporter, who paid off Shera Bechard, Playboy’s 2010 Miss November, at the same time as Cohen made the Trump payoffs, using the same legal team. (He may actually have taken the rap for Trump in fathering her child … as I wrote in Gerry Meandering on 9/21/2018).
DeJoy himself appears to have a serious conflict of interest as Postmaster General. He still holds at least $30 million equity in XPO Logistics, which is a major USPS contractor – and has also engaged in stock and options transactions involving Amazon which could benefit him substantially if he acts on Trump’s antagonism towards that company and raises the rates the Post Office charges to Amazon, causing its stock price to drop.
While there could not be a clearer case of Trump using the powers of the presidency to influence the election in his favor, once again he seems to have found a way to flout the norms as well as the very basis of democracy – the right of every citizen to cast a vote that counts. I don’t know if what he is doing is illegal, but, in spite of the growing outrage, so far the actions to counter what DeJoy is doing on Trump’s behalf don’t appear to be very effective. (Predictably, there is no support from Republicans.) This seems to indicate that there is not a clear cut way to stop it. So, at the same time as trying to fund the post office and neutralize DeJoy, it seems to me that other ways of enabling everyone to vote should also be explored. As a starting point, here are some thoughts:
- Could teams of volunteers be assembled, particularly in swing states, either to deliver ballots door-to-door to every home in the state, or to homes in selected areas, and then to pick up the completed ballots and deliver them to the appropriate election commissions?
- Some states already set up special drop boxes for ballots, by-passing the post office. Could this idea be expanded, using voluntary organizations to install and handle the drop boxes in states where they are not now used?
- Is it possible for foundations and wealthy individuals to contribute directly to the USPS, making up the shortfall of funds required to handle the high volume caused by voting by mail? (Any interest in doing this, Bill Gates? Warren Buffet? Mike Bloomberg?).
- Amazon certainly has the logistical capability to handle a complete vote by mail program. Jeff Bezos has the wherewithal to fund it. (Just a thought, Jeff.)
Trump knows he can’t win a fair election and will do whatever he can to make sure the upcoming election is not fair. He has no concern about destroying American democracy which he has already severely damaged. To stop him will require thinking outside the box. Just assuming that this mailing problem can be solved in the courts – or by writing strong letters – is not enough. So my purpose here is not to propose fully thought out plans to counter what Trump is doing, but to put some ideas on the table in the hope that this blog post will reach enough people and perhaps start a conversation about solving the vote by mail problem if the post office won’t.
So please post your comments and suggestions and circulate this to everyone you know. If it gets wide enough circulation, perhaps it will spark an idea that helps to ensure a fair election on November 3rd – and contributes to saving American Democracy.
