In a series of tweets today (see below), House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa repeated the assertion that Postmaster Pat Donahoe “folded like a cheap suit” when he “caved to political pressure just as it was making long-overdue rightsizing decisions.” This follows Representative Dennis Ross’s suggestion that the Postmaster General may need to be replaced.
As Dead Tree Edition, the Postalnews.com blog and this blog have all shown, their statements reflect politics and not policy. Even with “caving to political pressure,” the Postal Service’s network realignment would happen a year or two earlier than it would if the President signed the House bill today.
So why would these Congressman choose to raise the political tension relating to postal reform right now? There are two reasons.
First, they are providing a form of back-handed backing of the actions of the Postal Service. By criticizing the Postmaster General for agreeing to a one month delay, they provide him with some political cover for now extending the delay further. Their statement puts Postmaster General Donahoe in the middle, between the leadership in the House on postal reform and those who are looking for reform paths that involve less drastic cuts in operations.
Second, their statements have upped the political ante of Postal reform. In all of their statements to date, they have described their proposal as the only alternative to a bailout and government financial intervention; two ideas that are an anathema to conservative Republicans. Their statements have further set the tone of the debate on postal policy, when that debate occurs in 2012.
At this point, it seems that the initial postal policy debates will occur sometime after Super Tuesday. This could make the Postal Service a debate topic in any debates occurring before Republican primaries on April 3rd in D.C., Maryland, Wisconsin, and Texas or April 24th before primaries in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania
The final debates on postal reform will occur in August and September, as the insolvency deadline approaches. Given patterns on nearly all other legislation, it is not unreasonable to assume that finding a majority in the House and 60 votes in the Senate will be difficult and arguments could force a shutdown of the Postal Service in the middle of the presidential campaign.
With the potential of an impending shutdown of the Postal Service becoming the top non-campaign Washington story, both President Obama and the Republican nominee will have to mention postal reform and their positions in speeches or interviews. In addition, if there is a debate before a postal reform agreement is signed, both candidates will need to prepare for a question or two about postal reform and what it would take to end the gridlock and keep the Postal Service open. In addition, Congressional candidates will not be immune from this issue either as a strongly partisan debate on postal reform in September of 2012 will likely color the tone of many Congressional and Senatorial races, particularly if a Senate bill continues to have support from moderate Republicans.
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While #USPS leaders cave to politics, @RepDennisRoss @SenJohnMcCain and I are working to save #postal service: http://bit.ly/sLeaCl #postal
