All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[Tami]

House Votes to End Controversial USPS Payments for Future Retirees' Health Care

The House on Wednesday voted to end the U.S. Postal Service’s mandatory payments toward the health benefits for future retirees, advancing a measure that would eliminate a controversial requirement the cash-strapped mailing agency has defaulted on for years.

Congress first established the prefunding mandate in the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, the last major legislative overhaul of the Postal Service, and the requirement has hampered the agency ever since. Shortly after the law’s passage, the recession hit and mail volume began to decline precipitously. That trend has continued to this day, leaving USPS without the financial means to make the annual payments and forcing it to default on them while absorbing the losses on its balance sheet.

The Postal Service has lost money for 13 consecutive years and a majority of those losses stemmed from the prefunding requirement. In fiscal 2019, for example, 83% of the $8.8 billion the agency lost came from payments into its retiree pension fund and retiree health benefits fund. Critics of the mandate include a range of Republicans, Democrats, mailers and labor unions. They have estimated the law requires USPS to fund the benefits for retirees up to 75 years in the future, an obligation virtually no other government entities face.

[TheDarman]

Over 20,000 Americans have died because of how badly Trump has handled this.

Trump is the worst President America has ever had.

I wouldn’t say worst. But I would say that he is absolutely, without a doubt, the most incompetent president.

But competence can be bad when your goals are terrible. That is why I hate Jackson, Pearce, Johnson, and Buchanan more. But he is definitely in the top five worst.

[Gray Lensman]

Worst is a judgement call, but no doubt the worst human to sit in the Oval Office.

I can only think of 3 people who might begin to contend with him for that title.

Andrew Jackson, whose final regret in life was that he didn't kill more people.

Lyndon Johnson, who when asked what Vietnam was about reportedly unzipped his pants, pulled out HIS Johnson, and yelled "This is what it's about!"

And the racist and paranoid Richard Nixon.

Each of them, however, was capable of doing good things on purpose rather than by accident, and feeling for their fellow human beings, or at least some of them.

[Tami]

Canada Passes Historic Wage Bill to Stem Wave of Job Losses

Canadian lawmakers approved a bill to subsidize wages by 75% in a bid to stabilize the economy as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the coronavirus his generation’s greatest challenge yet.

The flagship C$73 billion ($52 billion) program -- more than one-quarter of the government’s emergency fiscal plan to date -- was passed in an emergency sitting of the House of Commons on Saturday.

“The front line is everywhere,” Trudeau said, comparing the battle against the virus to a war, as the nation heads for what may be its sharpest downturn since the Great Depression. “Every one of us has a role to play in helping shield our country from the threat it now faces.”

The program seeks to stem a huge wave of layoffs. More than 5 million people -- one in four workers -- applied for emergency income support in recent weeks.

Eligible business can apply for aid to help pay workers’ wages, to a maximum of C$847 a week per employee. The subsidy will be paid within two to five weeks, government officials said Saturday.

[Kirby101]

I can only think of 3 people who might begin to contend with him for that title.

Andrew Jackson, whose final regret in life was that he didn't kill more people.

Lyndon Johnson, who when asked what Vietnam was about reportedly unzipped his pants, pulled out HIS Johnson, and yelled "This is what it's about!"

And the racist and paranoid Richard Nixon.

Each of them, however, was capable of doing good things on purpose rather than by accident, and feeling for their fellow human beings, or at least some of them.

Johnson was far from the only President to fight a needless war. But his achievements in Civil Rights and the Great Society make him a better than average President. Jackson and Nixon, yeah,awful.

[Gray Lensman]

Johnson was far from the only President to fight a needless war. But his achievements in Civil Rights and the Great Society make him a better than average President. Jackson and Nixon, yeah,awful.

I was only referring to the type of person they were rather than what type of president they were. Johnson has an excellent historical legacy outside of Vietnam, but to say he wasn't a very good person is a massive understatement.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Johnson was far from the only President to fight a needless war. But his achievements in Civil Rights and the Great Society make him a better than average President. Jackson and Nixon, yeah,awful.

As Spock pointed out in Star Trek VI, only Nixon could go to China, so Tricky Dick had that going for him. Meanwhile, Trump didn’t bungle the virus response as much as he intentionally slow walked the whole business for no other reason than he feared how it would negatively affect his chances of re-election, then called it a hoax cooked up by Democrats to damage him politically. That level of maliciousness which directly cost lives that could’ve been prevented had Trump took the reports seriously and acted sooner than he had easily makes him one of the top five worst presidents ever.

[Darkspellmaster]

House Votes to End Controversial USPS Payments for Future Retirees' Health Care

In addition to this:

usps-postal-service-stimulus-package-no-funding-post-office-mail-delivery-could-shutter-june-coronavirus-relief-bill/

With a negative net worth of $65 billion and an additional $140 billion in unfunded liabilities, the USPS originally expected to run out of liquidity by 2021 without intervention. That has accelerated rapidly because of COVID-19. Fewer people and businesses are sending mail because of the outbreak, which could hasten the decline of the Postal Service and close its doors as early as June, officials warned.

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/s...493681664?s=19

[Kirby101]

I was only referring to the type of person they were rather than what type of president they were. Johnson has an excellent historical legacy outside of Vietnam, but to say he wasn't a very good person is a massive understatement.

Definitely an asshole.

[PwrdOn]

I can only think of 3 people who might begin to contend with him for that title.

Andrew Jackson, whose final regret in life was that he didn't kill more people.

Lyndon Johnson, who when asked what Vietnam was about reportedly unzipped his pants, pulled out HIS Johnson, and yelled "This is what it's about!"

And the racist and paranoid Richard Nixon.

Each of them, however, was capable of doing good things on purpose rather than by accident, and feeling for their fellow human beings, or at least some of them.

I mean, we had 12 presidents who owned slaves.

[Robotman]

“Red Dawn” emails detail exchanges from top health officials about the faltering response from Trump Administration.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/u...ils-trump.html

Hopefully these emails will be looked at for years to come to show just how bad Trump screwed up and how many lives were lost because of it.

[shooshoomanjoe]

Over 20,000 Americans have died because of how badly Trump has handled this.

Trump is the worst President America has ever had.

Don't forget the near three thousand Americans that died in Puerto Rico post Hurricane Maria because trump refused to help them.

[Gray Lensman]

Don't forget the near three thousand Americans that died in Puerto Rico post Hurricane Maria because trump refused to help them.

All because an elected official there had the temerity to criticize him. Letting people die because one of them doesn't love you enough is the sort of thing I expect from Idi Amin.

[Jim Kelly]

Canada Passes Historic Wage Bill to Stem Wave of Job Losses

People outside Canada should realize that we have a minority government. So passing these bills means that all parties have to come together and support them. I think that this might be a case where minority government is the better option, because it keeps everyone honest. They have to put their egos aside and get the work done.

[PaulBullion]

Biden wins the Alaska Democratic Primary 55.3% to 44.7% in the final round of ranked choice voting. Sanders had done very well in Alaska in 2016.

Turnout was high.