Delivering The Future Of The Middle Class

With respect to one of our all-time favorite cartoon characters, Charlie Brown, he hasn't been the only one saying "Good Grief" lately.

The story surrounding the U.S. Postal Service's decision to cut Saturday delivery has cut to the heart of what most Americans believe, and still hope for. We touched on the topic ourselves just last Thursday, pointedly noting that reason the Postal Service is in such a position is because of actions taken by Republicans in the lame-duck session of Congress in 2006.

In the week where the President of The United States presents the State of The Union address to the entire nation, we can think of no better time to directly address why so many Americans have been stunned by what's happening to the United States Postal Service.

One reason is simple: our postal service is most of us, hard-working, middle class Americans.

The U.S. Postal Service has, for much of its existence, been an economic ladder for middle and lower class, blue-collar Americans, and for African Americans and armed forces veterans, especially. For Americans willing to work hard and be trustworthy, their long hours and loyalty to their neighbors and their jobs - especially during the kinds of weather that keep everyone else home -  have been repaid with the kind of decent pay and benefits that the corporate "leaders" in America long ago gutted from their contracts with most U.S. workers.

The U.S. Postal Service has also been the backbone upon which many of those same supposedly "self-made" titans of business have made their fortunes. Without the Postal Service, the hundreds of thousands of jobs at online retailers like Amazon, and more traditional retailers like Target and Wal-Mart would never have happened. Without the Postal Service, private shippers like Fed-Ex and UPS would also be dead in the water.

Still, many of those same private companies are now calling for nearly everything about the Postal Service to be privately contracted out - to them - except, of course, for the most important part of delivery: the last mile. It should be no surprise to anyone that the "last mile" - the portion of delivery that ends up at your door - is also the most expensive and least profitable part of the entire endeavor.

That the Wall Street corporatists want to keep the best and easiest earned profits from postal delivery for themselves, while sticking the American people with the bill for the most expensive part of the business should be no surprise, given the previously unprecedented level of dishonesty and selfishness shown by Wall Street "leaders" over the past few years. It should also be no surprise that no private corporation is willing to pay hard-working Americans a salary worthy of the sacrifices and responsibility being asked of our U.S. Postal Service workers.

President Obama will squarely lay out his case this week in his State of the Union address that it is now time, once again, for job growing investment in America.

After 35 months of positive economic growth, growth that ONLY the private sector was able to enjoy, we completely agree that it is time that America take on the responsible, sensible - some might even argue conservative - actions necessary to conserve those things which are at the very core of what it means to be an American citizen. The idea that hard work, loyalty, honesty, and integrity are keys to a middle class life, through jobs like those in the USPS, is chief among them.

There should be no argument that our constitutionally mandated U.S. Postal Service - and the ladder to middle class status it provides - is one of those great things about our nation which must be protected and conserved. It is as iconically, uniquely American as apple pie and Charlie Brown.

Friday Funday: It's Not All Going To The Dogs

There are times when even we, who work in the media, look at all the stories flashing through the headlines and wonder if the world is going to the dogs.

'Superstorm Nemo' whacking the Northeast this weekend certainly isn't helping with our mood.

From the media frenzy early this week surrounding now former Nebraska Lt. Governor Rick Sheehy, to the bombastic "Made-for TV" - but not for answers - hearings with CIA nominee John Brennan on Capitol Hill on Thursday, to the U.S. Postal Service deciding to cut Saturday service, many of the stories that have filled the headlines this week weren't exactly positive motivation for the soul.

There were even stories that scared the hell out of some of our staff - like the massive asteroid set to "buzz" Earth sometime next week.

Some local and regional media stories were a bit more positive. For example, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman's proposed reverse Robin Hood-style tax overhaul plan was greeted in the Nebraska Legislature with groans from state senators, and upturned noses from nearly all of Nebraska's business interests, large and small alike. The GOP's vote rigging attempt in Virginia also went down in flames this week - so not every story was going to the dogs.

In fact, an unusual economic indicator this week went to a cat instead.

Hasbro, the makers of the iconic 80-year old board game Monoopoly, held an online contest recently, to have fans of the game help them replace one of their legendary playing pieces. The new piece, as chosen by fans of the game was - unsurprisingly - a cat.

Fans had to pick one new playing piece from a selection including a robot, a helicopter, a guitar, a diamond ring, and of course the cat. The fans also had to choose to get rid of of one the classic pieces, and fans chose to axe the iconic iron.

Even if the iron was your favorite playing piece, there's no reason to howl about it.

International economics journalist Howard Schneider penned a piece in the Washington Post pointing to a whole pack of economic signs that show the Monopoly choice of cat over iron is actually another positive sign the economy is getting better - and not just here in America.

Voters for the Monopoly election input their digital votes from 120 different countries - and the story made news in media organizations from around the globe. If people around the world - and media organizations around the world - have the time and energy to focus on a story about playing pieces for a board game, the economy, generally, should be looking up.

Thankfully, more accurate economic indicators confirm - things are better than much of the media may have led you to believe recently, both here in the U.S. and abroad.

So enjoy the weekend - even if Superstorm Nemo has found you and snowed you in. In fact, the storm may be the perfect reason for you to pull out your own Monopoly game to play with some friends or family.

Just make sure to leave the dog token for us.

Being Unprepared Bites

Change is a simple fact of life, albeit one that many people - including some our staff, at times - aren't always prepared for. It's often not so much the change itself that's disturbing to people, as it is the pace of change.

The United States is going through some pretty rapid changes on many different levels right now. The Republican Party is finding that out the hard way on immigration. President Obama is finding that out as his replacement Cabinet appointees - like John Brennan - run headlong into the stiff political headwinds on Capitol Hill. But the GOP isn't the only organization finding its lack of preparation for the future biting them in the backside.

The Boy Scouts of America - the group whose motto is 'Be Prepared' - have not been prepared to deal with the reality of gay people existing, or wanting to be involved with their group. After a closed-door meeting by the BSA's national board on Wednesday, it was clear the Boy Scouts still aren't prepared to follow through on their proposal to ease their bigoted ban on gay Scouts and scouting leaders.

It doesn't seem to matter to BSA leaders that a solid majority of Americans think there is nothing wrong with openly gay Scouts or scouting leaders.

While the decision has only been postponed temporarily, as Iowan Zach Wahls, founder of the group Scouts for Equality, noted Wednesday, "By postponing this decision, the BSA has caved to those who argue that their anti-gay attitudes trump basic scouting values of kindness, courtesy and bravery."

Another even more iconic American organization isn't waiting to move forward any more.

On Wednesday, the United States Postal Service announced that starting August 1, 2013, they would eliminate Saturday service for all items except packages. This was a tough decision for them to make, but it's one that they've been considering for over a decade, as Esquire's Jesse Lichtenstein pointed out.

In fact, the U.S. postal service has been attempting to modernize and adjust its services and budget since the late 1990s, when it became obvious that the internet was going to change the entire postal business model.

During most of that time, Republicans in Congress, desperately hoping to privatize the Constitutionally established postal service, stood in the way of the Postal Service's modernization plans. In fact, in 2006, the GOP-led Congress made those problems worse with the Orwellian-named 'Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act' - an action that forced the postal service to pre-fund 75 years’ worth of pensions for its employees at a 100% rate, a burden no other public or private institution in America has to match.

As Felix Salmon of Reuters points out, it's unknown if the Postal Service can make the change to weekday only service because - as outlined under current federal law - doing so without Congressional authorization is completely illegal for them. However, as both outside studies and the postal service's own research have proven, if they're not allowed to put into action their plan for self-reliance - a plan that will very likely work - they face the unconstitutional option of obsolescence.

Even if Congress has held them back, at least the Postal Service has been prepared with a plan for the future.

For the Boy Scouts, that lack of preparation - and courage - may yet bite them in the backside.