{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/column-united-they-stand_--on-this-issue", "Column: United They Stand . . . On This Issue", "2014-12-07", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Column: United They Stand . . . On This Issue \r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                Sunday, December 7, 2014\r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\r\n            \r\n            \r\n                  \r\n                    By:\u00a0\r\n                    Bill Miller Sr.\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                \r\n                \r\n            It was refreshing to see that Missouri\u2019s two U.S. senators are united in the issue of urging the U.S. Postal Service to delay the planned consolidation of up to 82 USPS mail processing centers, including two in Missouri.\r\nSens. Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill joined a bipartisan group of their colleagues in \u201cdemanding\u201d a delay in the consolidation. Of note is the word \u201cdemanding.\u201d\r\nThe letter was sent to USPS after the agency\u2019s inspector general found that the Postal Service failed to fulfill its obligations to adequately study the impact of the consolidation and failed to inform the public of those impacts.\r\nThe consolidation is bound to impact mail service, which already has delay problems, such as the time it takes for even first class mail from St. Louis to reach Franklin County. Service is especially slow for second class periodicals. We don\u2019t blame the local postal employees. The majority of them are doing the best they can with the resources they have to handle the mail, which is heavier at this time of the year.\r\nIt is not only on this issue that our two U.S. senators have been united. Since one is a Republican (Blunt) and the other is a Democrat (McCaskill), they have set aside party differences on policies to do what is best for their constitutents. Now if President Barack Obama would try to work with members of Congress on pressing issues, there would be progress. President Obama has a high level of conceit in that he believes he always is right, but now more and more he is having trouble making a decision. He worries about his place in history rather than working to solve the nation\u2019s problems.\u00a0\r\nNow there are some people, we realize, who probably don\u2019t believe being united on this postal issue is that big of a deal. While it may not be, but to us, it\u2019s still significant because the issue affects many Missourians.\r\nThe Missouri senators said in their letter that there is no reason the USPS cannot delay its consolidation to provide time for the public to see and comment on the service standard worksheets. \u201cIt is only fair to allow the process to unfold in this way, and the USPS gains little by deciding to continue the consolidation process on its current, arbitrary time line.\u201d The letter was signed by more than 20 senators. Revised service standards are expected to be published Jan. 5, 2015.\r\nBecause the USPS is losing billions of dollars every year, it continues to try to cut costs. Service is affected. For a long time we have wondered about the future of the USPS. It does have tough competition from private companies that give good service.\u00a0\r\nThe USPS, to survive, needs financial help from the federal government. People do wonder if other federal agencies are subsidized, why isn\u2019t the postal service? Why is it expected to survive on its own? Make\u00a0 a profit? \u00a0\r\nThe federal government wastes so much money. The money that is spent on foreign aid, for instance, is huge and much of it never reaches the people it is supposed to\u00a0 help. If those aid gifts could be trimmed, and that money used to support USPS, the agency wouldn\u2019t be at the brink of failure. This should be a discussion point in Congress, which has looked upon the USPS as a \u201closer\u201d and there has been a \u201cdon\u2019t touch\u201d attitude by lawmakers.\r\n            \r\n             \r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/column-united-they-stand_--on-this-issue"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.698062987998128, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}