Sirota posting online at TMI, here, one big helping hand for a man. One instance, intended to be without sunshine, then Sirota and guest writers may decide it to be in the public interest to highlight the helping hand:
SCOOP: Trump Donor’s Firm Got Big Postal Service Payout
A trucking magnate poured $250,000 into a pro-Trump super PAC. His company saw a windfall from USPS contracts. Now, a Democratic congressman is calling for an investigation.
- by: Matthew Cunningham-Cook - Aug 20
Businesses controlled by a major financial supporter of President Donald Trump have seen a huge growth in payouts from the United States Postal Service during the Trump administration, a TMI review has found.In 2018, an Iowa limited liability company owned by trucking magnate Wayne Hoovestol donated $250,000 to America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC sanctioned by the White House. Later that year, the same company -- DRT, LLC -- gave $10,000 to the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC that has been chaired by Trump’s USPS board chair, Mike Duncan, shortly after Duncan joined the agency’s board.
Hoovestol’s companies, which include Eagle Express Lines, saw $453 million in revenue from the Postal Service in fiscal year 2019, up from $317 million in the 2016 fiscal year, according to Bloomberg Government contract data analyzed by TMI.
Contracting decisions at the USPS are controlled by the Postmaster General, who is appointed and supervised by the USPS board of governors. The board’s members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Hoovestol did not respond to a request for comment.
California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who sits on the House Oversight Committee which has jurisdiction over the Postal Service, [said] “The United States Postal Service is supposed to be protected from pay-to-play practices -- it is not supposed to be run by Donald Trump’s political cronies, and it is not supposed to be a piggy bank for Trump’s corporate donors to loot,” [...] Americans deserve a postal service that isn’t turned into a weapon for Trump and the GOP’s political agenda.”
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has faced allegations that it is deliberately sabotaging the postal service to help Trump win re-election during a global pandemic, when it’s critical that people can vote by mail from their homes. TMI reported last week on Duncan’s roles with Republican super PACs and the Kentucky Republican Party. Duncan is scheduled to testify before the House next week. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy -- a major Republican fundraiser who joined USPS in May -- will testify before the Senate on Friday and the House next week as well.
[...] While campaign finance laws prohibit federal contractors from making contributions in federal elections, the super PAC donations linked to Hoovestol circumvent those restrictions because they came from a separate LLC, not the companies that have federal contracts with USPS.
“This is all part of the game,” said Craig Holman, an ethics lobbyist at Public Citizen. “You throw money at the feet of those who have power over your futures and you try to buy their favor. And usually it works.”
Donald Cohen, the executive director of In The Public Interest, a nonprofit that researches privatization, said [...] “The highest priority for businesses is that their profits are maintained,” “[...] Cutting corners means busting unions, reducing wages, reducing and paying less attention to safety. [...]"
Eagle Express has additionally received nearly $1.6 million in COVID relief funds from the federal government, according to data collected by covidstimuluswatch.org.
Photo credit: Alex Wong / Getty Image
[italics added, links in original]
The helping hand, in Trumpland, has zero connection to need or safety net for workers displaced by pandemic and losing healthcare coverage. Losers are Losers, Winners are Cronies, and Cronies turn out winning.
Trump and Cronies uber alles. So - Rank and file Postal employees may not like the idea they're there to service Trump cronies, but what can they do about it?
They are left to try to find a balancing fulcrum, perhaps a public voice and recognition, as best as one may exist. Workers within the USPIS face such a question, but persevere.
[This post was updated from its original content by revising its headline and leading text]