Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) issued the statement below in response to a memo sent by House Republican leadership to House Republican caucus members late Friday outlining a plan to use revenue from eliminating Saturday mail service as the primary method of funding the Highway Trust Fund for a period of months.
Senator Boxer said: “Late Friday, Republican leaders of the House came out with a strange plan to ‘rescue’ the Highway Trust Fund for a few months. Instead of working with Democrats to come up with a sensible user fee which has been the foundation of the Highway Trust Fund, House Republican Leadership proposes cutting back mail deliveries to American households. This idea is a jobs killer which does not even fund the Highway Trust Fund for a long enough period of time to provide the certainty that states, cities, and businesses need. This plan is a classic example of House Republicans not planning for a shortfall we have known about for years. It is ‘the dog ate my homework excuse.’ It is unworkable, makes no sense, and ignores the huge infrastructure needs we face, as so many bridges and roads are in grave disrepair. If the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee can do its job and pass a bill unanimously, then surely the House can begin to do the work needed to solve this problem — and not kick the can down the road with a totally unrelated and unworkable idea.”
I am so excited at all the jobs being created by the union and Senator Boxer!. Keep up the good work! “Vote for me and I’ll set you free…rap on brutha, rap on!”
I am now wondering if the money we have to pre-fund for our retirement is being used for other non-postal budgets. What a scam eliminate Saturday delivery to fund Repubs bills, they do not fund us, so why should we allow them to do this. They say for a few months, I see it as years. Even if we go to 5 days that money belong to us and not some repubs pet projects. Go scam somewhere else Eric Cantor, Why don’t you dig in your pocket and fund the Highway Project!
@TONY,
I cannot believe that you ever thought the GOP was for the working class. Some of the Dem’s have switched sides and gone to voting for the GOP/agenda. I will be voting straight Dem ticket in 2016 (and I despise Hilary), but my hatred for the uncaring GOP people despise me even more, but in the State elections, I will be all GOP. The GOP seems to run the Blue States as a business, which helps jobs and such(but not always), and for the White House, we need a guy, or a woman that has business sense/experience, and a caring to help grow jobs/protect the middle class (hilary fails in both of these). Both parties SUCK. You have the greedy GOP, where the money they have is never enough, and the Dem’s, which all they understand is TAX and SPEND, TAX and SPEND. I am so tired of this.
Wake up people, the Keystone Oil Project BILL, is good for jobs only in the short run. After is built, only about 50 full time jobs will be left over, but an est. 1000 jobs will be created, give or take some. On the other end, what the GOP isn’t telling us, the middle class is, they want to ship all of this oil from Canada to the Gulf States refineries to refine this Canadian oil, and the have all of this oil/refined crude to the Pacific Rim country’s, because they can get more money for it, then selling it in the lower 48. That is the truth folks. The DEM’S do not want any of it, because they say it will speed of the destruction of our natural recourse of clean water, and help destroy the Ogallala water aquifer if any major oil leaks happen. But they can go around that very larger area to help protect that. Both sides can also build another much needed oil refinery on Federal lands in North Nebraska,Montana, the Dakota’s/etc so that no one complains about it being in there backyard excuse. Sure, refineries are very expensive, but we could use one in the upper Midwest/Rocky Mountain area. Period. The Dems are very concerned about what this will do to the availability of our clean water, but hey DEM’S, you also need jobs too, and high paying one’s, even if they are not lasting ones. You have to have job growth, but also with some keeping our land clean. Bottom line, w/o jobs, you may have the cleanest water, but a nation with clean water and good soil, will die with no good paying jobs. Has to be a compromise folks. Our current Congress will not work together on this. Both sides faults.
Now our savior, Obama that is, wants to increase our electricity cost by double digits, with his pending bill that reduces our coal usage dramatically by 2030. Yes, but not only will cost us over a hundred dollars a month for electricity, thats in the winter months in a couple of years, but it will kill 800,000 jobs, yes, 800,000 (hi-paying jobs in the coal industry) by 2030. Those coal producing states will be devastated. Obama is making us suffer, when the rest of the world is using more coal than ever. I understand we have to come up with cleaner coal and better coal air cleaning/filters, but his plan, we lose all those jobs (and not replacing them with any others), just so we can tell the rest of the world, “hey world, we are setting an example-hooray for us” mentality. Obama has just caused another fiasco, because that is that much less money now coming into the Federal coffers, becuase, none of those high paying jobs are now collecting SS, state income taxes, Federal taxes, and all those other jobs lost that are created because of those lost coal jobs. So where is the middle ground. We are a broke nation, and we need to keep these jobs in place. Do you want to pay another $50 dollars in ELECTRICITY IN the next few year folks ????? Susan Haymer has voiced her opinion…Thanks all
It just shows everyone that they ( Republicans ) want us privatized. If they get a hold of the Senate and the White House, well brothers and sisters, our postal careers are over then.. Back to my point. The Republicans finally admit we have a pension surplus. So put that 60 billion dollar surplus towards our pre- funding requirement and then we’re fine. Obviously the common sense is just like the postal service, none existent!!! They choose not to make things right for us the workers and for millions of americans who depend on us.. I’m so done with Republicans.. GOP.. Greedy One Percenters!!!!!
It just shows ya that Republicans don’t have any plans or give a Rats A.. about improving jobs or this economy for ANYONE but the 1% that fund their campaigns. I was totally wrong!! I thought Congress (Republicans ) was our voice and ears. To make America strong, improve our quality of life. Yep, I was totally wrong, my bad!!! I don’t care who the Democrat is. They will always get my vote!!! At least the Democrat agenda isn’t to PRIVATIZE everything. Just read the Republican House Federal Budget for 2015. The House passed it but Thank God the Senate and Harry Reid isn’t allowing it for a vote!! Ex- Vice President candidate Ryan wants everything slashed and privatized!!!! If you didn’t realize by now. Donuthole is a Republican. He just hasn’t completely sinked us YET!!!!! Forget all you KOCH BROTHERS Republicans!!!! How can you call yourself Americans and Constitution followers???!!!! We have thousands of veterans in the Post Office and with a blink of an eye you’ll shut us down.. WTF!!!!!
The House is infested with Tea Party cult members and have done some of the craziest shit in D.C.’s history, and proposed lots of other equally unworkable and idiotic bills that thankfully some Senators and a few more Representatives still in touch with reality have been able to contain.
It scares me though if people like Ted Cruz and other far right lunatics ever got a majority. These people are off their collective trolleys, and are a reflection of a lot of crazy misinformed voters out there who want guns in every house, mandatory Christian worship and a complete wipe out of organized labor and labor laws because their leaders told them that’s what they want. That’s the sick part. I know too many of these Tea Party imbeciles, and they are totally dependent on Limbaugh and FOX, and yet blame the media for misinformation although 1) they don’t watch any other media outlets so they wouldn’t know, and 2) are far too stupid to understand anything not spelled out in the most simplistic terms possible.
I overheard a table of rednecks at my lunch location the other day saying liberals just listen to the liberal media and believe everything they’re told. These guys could barely finish a complete sentence, and saw no contradiction when they claimed their fondness for FOX news. That’s stupid for you. At least liberals recognize irony.
So these idiots support a party out to kill them because their own GOP lies like hell, drums up emotional crap like gay marriage and guns so the Duck Dynasty fans can understand something. Not that the Dems are any better or lie any less, but we progressive types don’t hero worship our own party, either. We hold everybody including our own party accountable, which GOP voters are incapable of doing. Boxer is right about the idiocy of attacking the USPS, and let’s hope that bill dies quickly.
Senator Boxer you speak for a majority in this country
and we are grateful that you are a voice for so many.
Your commitment to logical thinking should be commended
as well as your disdain for lazy, short sighted, ill
advised concocted recipes of disaster. I applaud you
for the strong initiative you invoke to this incredibly
implausable delusional house republican approach. It is
a constant attack from which you are a beacon of hope
for all of us to respond adversely to these absurdities.
Thank you.
What does the Post Office have to do with the highways ? The Post Office is self supporting and gets no revenue from tax dollars. If cutting back mail delieveries does save the PO money ( which I doubt if will, it will hurt them in the long run)they need that money for the retirement fund that congress has forced them to prefund 70 years in advance. They are forced to stash enough cash for people not even born yet.
BRAVO, Senator Boxer on telling it like it truley is!!