Wednesday night, Ed Shultz said he was going to tell the real and whole story about the Post Office.

[No Elephants]

But, Ed didn't. In the usual way of today, Ed blamed the possible demise of the Post Office totally on Republicans. That is not, however, the real and full story.

Ed correctly pointed to the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 as a chief source of the current woes of the USPS.

That act, however, had three co-sponsors, only one of whom was Republican.


Cosponsors
3 cosponsors (2D, 1R) (show)
Davis, Danny
McHugh, John
Waxman, Henry

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr6407

The Act very conveniently passed the House without ayes and nays, i.e., by a bipartisan voice vote. (Obviously, when legislators know that the public can match their names to an aye or nay, they may vote differently or abstain.)

Pence, a Republican Rep., did request ayes and nays. However, Ray La Hood, (R. Ill), gaveled down Pence's request and declared the bill passed by voice vote, sparing members of both parties any possibility of negative fallout from their Post Office hatchet bill vote.

http://trueblueprogressivereport.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html (you have to scroll down some for the entry on the 2006 Postal Act)

Next, the bill went to the Senate. Not only did Democratic Senators refrain from filibustering the bill, but the bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HR06407:@@@X

And, of course, Dummya signed it.

Sounds to me like an exceedingly rare, very bipartisan action.

Obama later appointed LaHood, who had gaveled his fellow Republican's request for the ayes and nays on the 2006 Act, as Transportation Secretary. Not only that, but Obama gave Republicans a majority on the Postal Commission. Not only that, but two of Obama's Republican nominees, Taub and Hammond, had quite a lot to do with the 2006 Act.


By law, no more than three of the five members of the commission may be members of the President's own political party. However, that does not mean the other 2 must be Republicans. They just can't be Democrats. They can be indies or so-called "third" party.

President Obama went above and beyond the law at the time. He sought a commission in which 3 of the 5 member were Republicans.


From a DU post that I made December 4, 2011.

Are you referring to the 2006 postal reform legislation? If so, you might be interested to know that President Obama appointed one of the architects of that act to the Postal Commission.

You know, the Commission that, among other things, gets to decide if the Post Office may raise the price of stamps, the way that the Postal Service raises revenue?

President Obama did not have to appoint another Republican to the Commission when he nominated Taub. He could have nominated a Democrat--or a Republican who had not played a major role in the 2006 "reforms," he nominated Taub.

The current members, who serve 6 -year terms are:

Chair Ruth Y. Goldway (D) (nominated by Clinton, re-appointed Dummya and elevated to Chair by Obama a year later);

Commissioner Nanci E. Langley (D) (nominated by Dummya)

Vice Chairman Mark Acton (R) (first nominated by Dummya, then by Obama)

Richard G. Taub (R) (nominated by Obama to replace Dan G. Blair (R))

One seat is technically vacant, because the term of Tony Hammond (R) expired in October. However, Obama has re-nominated him. If confirmed, the Commission will have three Republicans, just as it does under Republican Presidents, one of which Republicans was a major architect of the 2006 "reforms."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x5080212

Note: The above post says one of Obama's nominees was a major architect of the bill, meaning Taub. However, Hammond, too, was very involved.

http://www.savethepostoffice.com/what-were-you-thinking-mr-president-obama-nominates-hammond-prc (a publication by people trying to save the Post Office, expressing anguish over Obama's nomination of Hammond)

Rep. Stephen Lynch. Lynch is the most conservative member of the Massachusetts delegation, but he is also decidedly pro-labor. Lynch introduced a bill to help the post office by correcting a calculation error in the 2006 bill that made the 2006 bill even more onerous to the Postal Service than it seemed. Apparently, though, the bill died in committee anyway. No uproar about even that bill's demise from either Democrats or Republicans.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr1351


In general, I like Ed Shultz. His show is often populist, unless and until the rubber hits the road, whereupon Ed pivots to the "red team, all bad; blue team, all good" narrative.

FWIW, it's also notable that Ed was once a conservative talk show host. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Schultz

He once said on his MSNBC show that he had been a Republican "because I wanted to make a lot of money." No link for that. I just happened to be watching when he said it. However, his wiki also says that he considered running for elected office as a Republican. And, in theory, people don't run for elected office to make a lot of money.

Make of all the above what you will, but it is factually demonstrable that the Act that was intended to eventually lead to privatization of the United States Post Office had a lot of Democratic support, to say the least, including up until today. Certainly, President Obama has rewarded its architect and the guy who helped shove it through the House by voice vote.

So, Ed did not exactly give the whole and full story he promised. Still, he did advocate for the Post Office and that is a very good thing, IMO. So, I give Ed props and ups for that.

BTW, the Postal Regulatory Commission supposedly looks forward to our feedback on the reduced hours of the Post Office. You can email. http://www.prc.gov/prc-pages/default.aspx

[Enthusiast]

1. Destroying a public institution like the Postal Service

is not a traditional Democratic Party objective. As with education reform, the Democrats have adopted a rightie position because they are influenced by the same source of campaign contributions.

The GOP, ALEC, Fed Ex and UPS are behind this attack. They deserve the blame. And individual Democrats must be called out.

Ed might have been a "conservative" radio talk show host at one time. He has made up for it. He is one of the VERY FEW voices in the wilderness.

Yes, President Obama continues to appoint people that are the enemy of working Americans.

Mr. President, stop appointing these anti-labor Republicans! Why would you appoint a filthy Republican? You are harming those that voted for you. Besides, the U.S. Postal Service is right there in the constitution.

[No Elephants]

3. "Besides, the U.S. Postal Service is right there in the constitution."

It's charming that, after all we've been through since 1980, you still think being in the Constitution means something.

[Divine Discontent]

2. a most excellent post. truly. This shows the dual (in some ways) effort to destroy the USPS

Not all Dems were for these bills, but enough were. And, it is asinine for any reporter on the news or print to leave out this damnable 2006 bill - which I have seen done numerous times when the problems of the post office are reported.

I'm glad he did that report, nonetheless, it's very important the message gets out. I informed 3 people of the bill yesterday at the post office. All had no idea, and were astonished they'd never heard that forced health care/pension 55 billion dollar plan.

[No Elephants]

4. Thanks, DD. Extraordinary requirement for a government agency.

Imagine if we expected firefighters to fund pensions for 75 years out or be privatized.