"You Can't Mail Ignorance": Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) Unmasks Louis DeJoy as Clueless About USPS Operations
August 25, 2020
U.S. Congresswoman Katie Porter's official portrait (U.S. House of Representatives)
By Walter Einenkel
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy brought his brand of cronyism to the House Oversight Committee on Monday. Attempting to obfuscate and pass the buck on his sabotage of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), DeJoy has done everything we have come to expect from a Trump-appointed bag man. Democratic representatives have been trying their best to expose DeJoy for the incompetent boob that he is.
Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California has a solid history of not beating around the bush when asking questions in committee, and Monday was no different. Appearing via video feed, Porter began by asking the head of the USPS what the price of a first-class stamp is. It’s 55 cents, and DeJoy nails the answer. But after that, it seems DeJoy doesn’t know much about the basics of the Postal Service.
Porter asks DeJoy what a postcard stamp costs. DeJoy doesn’t know the answer to that wacky question. Nor does he know how the shape of an envelope affects the cost of the mail’s postage. He also doesn’t know the starting rate for U.S. priority mail. These are all important things to know since DeJoy and conservatives around him have attempted to defend the dismantling of our postal system right before an important election by saying they’re trying to streamline and make the USPS more profitable. If you don’t even know the basics about your product and the going costs, it seems rather amazing that you would even begin to push forward with cost-saving initiatives.
But then, in arguably the most important question of the day, Porter asks Postmaster General DeJoy whether or not he can tell anyone about how many people “within a million or so” voted by mail in the 2016 presidential election.* Porter gives DeJoy some gasoline with which to set his garbage mind ablaze, asking “to the nearest 10 million?” DeJoy can’t answer that, and Porter points out that for someone who has been “taking very decisive action,” DeJoy seems to know jack shit about anything his organization does.
Rep. Porter found the answer to her question from last week.
Posted with permission