People Are Buying Stamps And Praising Mail Carriers After The US Postal Service Said It Needs A Coronavirus Bailout

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, the US Postal Service said that it's seen a "devastating" drop in revenue and needs funding from Congress to ensure it can keep delivering letters and packages to the millions of Americans currently sheltering at home.

But so far, the USPS hasn't received cash in the stimulus plans aimed at propping up other types of US businesses — prompting some people on Sunday to show support by buying stamps, sharing tributes to mail carriers, and starting discussions about why the mail is such an important part of American life.


Swara Ahmed
@swarzseawalker
Just bought this beautiful Save Vanishing Species set! #BuySomeStamps #USPostalService https://twitter.com/billprady/status/1249228145816817665 …

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Bill Prady
✔
@billprady
Here’s the deal. Donald Trump wants to kill the Post Office.

You can stop him.

Go to http://USPS.COM  and order a sheet of stamps. #buystamps, save the postal system and thwart Donald Trump. https://twitter.com/notdeadyet57/status/1249168242586849285 …

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8:37 PM - Apr 12, 2020
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#USPostalService and #saveUSPS were tweeted thousands of times after the Washington Post reported Saturday that President Donald Trump was personally blocking potential emergency funding. According to the Post, Trump threatened to veto a version of the recently passed stimulus package that included a $13 billion bailout for the US Postal Service and instead extended the agency a $10 billion loan. The USPS has been financially troubled for decades, but a drop in its main funding source — first-class and marketing mail — due to the coronavirus pandemic has only worsened its economic outlook.

"We now estimate that the COVID-19 pandemic will increase the Postal Service’s net operating loss by more than $22 billion dollars over the next eighteen months, and by over $54 billion dollars over the longer term, threatening our ability to operate," Postmaster General Megan Brennan said in a statement on Friday.

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Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Democrat who has led the push to provide USPS with aid, has also said Trump personally blocked potential funding plans.

"Every single one of us will feel the impact if the #USPostalService disappears, @realDonaldTrump," Connolly tweeted on Sunday. "The American people want to #SaveTheUSPS. Whether we can is up to you."

Some people praised the mail delivery personnel in their lives.