(U.S. SENATE) – On a day usually reserved for chocolates and flowers, Senator Jon Tester is sending the Postmaster General a different kind of Valentine: a letter sharing Montanans’ frustrations with inadequate mail service.
Tester today mailed Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe a letter comparing the Postal Service’s pledge to make sure all Americans get their mail reliably and efficiently with feedback he’s receiving from Montanans.
Tester told Donahoe about a Montana ranch manager whose time-sensitive lease renewal took eight days to reach Helena via USPS-certified overnight mail. He also shared the story of a small business owner in Stevensville who said his “local mail service has deteriorated to the point it could have serious consequences on staying alive as a small business.”
“I appreciate your past assurances that postal services would not suffer, but this kind of service is a slap-in-the-face to Montanans who should be able to rely on the service standards championed by the Postal Service,” Tester told Donahoe. “I look forward to your response about how you reconcile these Montanans’ stories with your promises of universal service.”
Tester has previously sparred with the Postmaster General over rural mail service. His Valentine’s Day message comes in the wake of Tester voting against a bill in committee that – according to Tester – would “move the Postal Service closer to privatization and hurt rural mail delivery.”
Tester backed a bipartisan Senate plan in 2012 that gave the Postal Service the flexibility it needs to restructure while protecting postal service in rural states like Montana, but the U.S. House of Representatives never voted on the plan.
Tester, a member of the committee that oversees the Postal Service, frequently meets with Montanans to talk about their mail service. This week, he met with Somers Postmaster Tyler Thompson to discuss the importance of reliable mail service for rural Montana families and communities.
Tester's Letter to Postmaster General Donahoe
Why does everybody hate Donohoe….Just because he wants to change the Post Office (for the better, wake up people) and you disagree with him, he is terrible…All you Union lovers are the problem…More and More people want out of the union because they are terrible and promote terrible work ethics but thats Donohoe’s fault right….Slow and slow will not save the post office people….5 day will sve the USPS and more and more people agree…When you a get a Bi-partisin bill from the senate committee with more Dems. voting for it for Postal reform you know there is a problem…But you union lovers don’t see it, you have to stop drinking the Kool-Aid and wake up….Unions Suck
PostalPatriot nailed the situation right on its ugly head. I couldn’t have stated it better myself. A toast to Senator Tester who has the balls to try to do something about the degradation of the Service. He knows all the blame rests completely on the shoulders of management. After all, we couldn’t have those people out on the street, could we? They can’t handle real weather or real customers. It’s just a damn shame they’ve been successful in tapping into untold numbers of ways to pay themselves for work that isn’t being done or being done terribly. Donohoe is the most corrupted PMG in the history of the office.
I hope that the Senator’s letter to the PMG was sincere. Most people don’t get upset with anything proposed unless it directly effects them. This effects areas like his the most and is why Postal Workers all over the Country have been trying to get the message out. Private companies would love to have the most profitable areas of the Country and the services that are provided to them. They would not however want to deliver a letter from a town on the East Coast that doesn’t even have a stop sign to one on the West Coast that doesn’t have one either. And yeah you say then just email. O.K. email a cake or Christmas present to that person. Maybe only then you will get it. Even those that live in those areas and buy online will be effected. Want delivery to anywhere in the U.S. and the prices are more reasonable through the Postal Service. Do away with it and see if you can get anything in a remote area without remortgaging your home. The Constitution guarantees universal service to everyone. No matter where you live. It is the Postal Service and the service part is the most important word.
Senator ~~ you are going to lose, must be a democrat sucking up a lost cause for a few votes.
Just go to 5 day delivery so I can rip one out early morning to my favorite postal magazine!!!! Jiz…..Jiz …. Jiz!!
Senator Tester, Your concerns are well founded.The PMG is doing just what the Congress wants him to do…. Cause delays in the mail flow with ideas and non productive measures creating the intentional outcome as you alluded to and witnessed. It will not get any better mainly because yours and many of your colleagues cash cow ran out of the barn. The postal system no longer are able to finance the mass expenditures and exorbitant amount of perks you’re accustomed to. Please refer back to the (PAEA), Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act to find the lock for the barn door. Its hidden in the 5 Billion dollars annual payout to fund the so call federal employees health benefits. Now, Sir with assurance you are intelligent enough to realize, your mouth opened and removed the only doubt you have as a man and an elected member of such an august body. Or is it that quietness really is not your forte’? I am still an American born citizen that cares about our economy and all persons, regardless, what say Ye, Sir?
It’s a shame when what seems to be a legitimate complaint is tarnished by made-up circumstances. The ranch manager didn’t get his certified overnight mail because there’s no such service as “certified overnight mail”. Please don’t complain about not getting service that doesn’t exist. There’s plenty of real problems to go around.
Hey Senator Tester, remove the pre-funding and I promise you results. Like the USPS in the black within a pay period. If our founding father’s were alive, they would slap you silly.
Don’t blame the PMG,
Mr. T, you are just putting on a show and going through the motions of being a concerned senator. Your letter is just hog wash as they say in your part of the country.
Send a letter to that impossible and unreasonable ISSA that wants to cut service and sell the old institution piece by piece. Tell your people there in hicksville land that you helped slow the mail with your help of NO help.
Thank you Senator Tester for bringing forth the problems that the reduced service and plant closures have caused for the folks in your state. However, you need to broaden your field of view, because the problem exists all over the country. I’m looking forward to the day when someone in Congress delivers a letter to Donahoe informing him that he’s fired. This man has absolutely no idea what he’s doing. Obviously, he’s being influenced by members of the Republican party, more specifically, Darrel Issa. Start the removal process of Donahoe and quit paddling your boat in circles.
The postmaster general doesn’t care about service to the American people. He’s thinking about his payoff and all the perks he will receive from the Koch brothers and politicians who want to destroy and privatize mail service.
The American people would be outraged if they knew what the postmaster general’s agenda is!