People of Agency

<p>People of Agency Special Episode: Show Notes</p> <p>Special Episode: Your Vote Is In The Mail</p> <p>Explicit: No</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>On March 23rd, 2026, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Watson v. Republican National Committee,  a case that could throw out nearly a million legally cast ballots before the 2026 midterms. The same day, the president stood in Memphis and called mail-in voting "cheating." Public records show he voted by mail that same week. In this solo breaking news episode, Aileen breaks down what this case actually is, why the postal system is the whole point, who depends on mail voting and why it has existed since the Civil War, and what it means that a conservative court appears poised to use an 1845 federal statute to reshape American democracy four months before a midterm election. She also explains how Republicans manufactured the public distrust they are now citing as legal justification,  and why voting early and decisively has never mattered more.</p> <p>The Case Watson v. RNC challenges a Mississippi law,  passed nearly unanimously by Republicans in 2020,  that allows mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive up to five business days later and still count. The RNC argues a federal statute from 1845 makes this illegal. Fourteen states plus D.C. have similar grace periods. Twenty-nine states accept some ballots after Election Day. The federal government is now more conservative on this question than the state of Mississippi.</p> <p>The Postal System Is the Whole Point The five-day grace period exists because mail does not move the way most people think it does. Under Louis DeJoy's "Delivering for America" overhaul, First-Class Mail was deliberately slowed from a three-day to a five-day standard. A 2025 rule change formally acknowledged that postmarks no longer reflect the day USPS took possession of mail,  only the day a processing machine ran it through a sorter, which may be a day later. The same party that slowed the mail and made postmarks less reliable is now arguing your ballot should have arrived faster.</p> <p>Who Mail Voting Is For Mail voting began with Civil War soldiers. Congress wrote the 1872 Election Day statute knowing states gave soldiers up to fifteen weeks to return ballots ,  and did not ban it. Today, roughly one in three Americans voted by mail in 2024. The communities most dependent on grace periods: elderly voters, disabled voters, military and overseas voters, and Native American communities many of whom live 40+ miles from a PO box with no home mail delivery.</p> <p>What Happened in the Courtroom Justices Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch came in with 2020 election fraud talking points. Gorsuch asked about ballot recall in a foreign collusion scenario ,  Mississippi's SG confirmed zero historical precedent, ever. The three liberal justices pushed back. The pivotal votes are Roberts and Barrett. Most analysts came out reading Barrett as likely siding with the RNC,  probably 5-4, possibly 6-3 against grace periods.</p> <p>What a June Ruling Actually Means A ruling against grace periods drops four months before the midterms. States would have roughly ten weeks between the ruling and the point of no return on ballot printing and mailing. A coalition of local election officials filed a brief warning this would "affect nearly every aspect of the preparation for and administration of the general election in these states in 2026." The confusion is not a side effect. It is the mechanism.</p> <p>The Manufactured Distrust Republicans spent six years calling mail ballots fraud. Democrats began using mail ballots far more than Republicans as a result. Any ruling that throws out late-arriving mail ballots now disproportionately throws out Democratic votes. The party manufactured the distrust. Then they stood in court citing the distrust as legal justification. Counting mail-in ballots does not flip an election. Results become more accurate. The word "flip" implies nefarious intent w

<p>On March 17th, 2026, two things happened simultaneously: the Postmaster General told Congress the U.S. Postal Service will run out of money in less than twelve months, and Amazon, USPS's largest customer,  announced it's walking away. This isn't a crisis that arrived suddenly. It's the bottom of a fifty-year fall, engineered by the same corporations and legislators who are now presenting privatization as the only rescue available. In this solo dispatch, Aileen breaks down what happened, who benefits, why the Constitution won't protect us, what we actually lose if this succeeds,  and what we could build if we fight for the institution the Post Office was always supposed to be.</p> <p>What Happened on March 17 USPS will be out of cash as early as October 2026. On the table: 95-cent stamps, cutting a delivery day, closing post offices. The same day, Amazon announced it's cutting two-thirds of its USPS packages, six billion dollars walking out the door. USPS has received zero taxpayer funding since 1982. It is the only government agency required to fully fund itself while being buried under constraints no private business would survive.</p> <p>You've Met This Man Before David Steiner spent sixteen years on FedEx's board holding 8.5 million dollars in FedEx stock, then became Postmaster General. His first major act introduced a bidding platform that Amazon says blew up a year of contract negotiations and opens USPS's delivery network to FedEx. In February 2025, Wells Fargo published a privatization roadmap concluding a sale would "benefit FedEx and UPS." Institutions serve whoever controls them.</p> <p>The Constitution Is Not Going to Save Us Article One, Section Eight gives Congress the power to establish post offices, not the obligation. The Universal Service Obligation, Board of Governors' independence, six-day delivery, the mail monopoly, collective bargaining rights for 600,000 workers, all statutes Congress can change. The guardrails are political, not constitutional. The only real protection is an informed public that refuses to let it go quietly.</p> <p>What We Lose, and What We Could Have FedEx charges up to $83.75 per package in remote rural areas. USPS charges the same rate everywhere. FedEx and UPS don't deliver to military addresses at all. The VA ships 120 million veteran prescriptions a year through USPS. But the fight isn't just to preserve what exists, it's to reclaim what was always being prevented. A public postal savings system ran for 55 years and was killed by bank lobbying. A free public email address was proposed in 1998 and killed by AT&T. The 2006 PAEA then locked the door on any new services entirely. In 2021, USPS piloted postal banking. It worked. Congress defunded it in 2023. The Postal Banking Act would reverse that and generate up to 19 billion dollars a year while serving 25 million unbanked Americans. We are not fighting to preserve a failing institution. We are fighting to reclaim one that was set up to fail.</p> <p>Here's What You Do Call your representative today and ask them to raise USPS's borrowing cap, no bill has been introduced yet, and October is coming fast. Resources and legislation linked below.</p> <p>Follow Us On Social Media</p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/peopleof_agency/">Instagram</a> @Peopleof_Agency</p> <p><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@peopleof_agency">TikTok</a> @Peopleof_Agency</p> <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@PeopleofAgency">YouTube</a> @Peopleof_Agency</p> <p> </p> <p>Connect with Us</p> <p>Ready to explore how ordinary people built extraordinary public institutions? Subscribe to People of Agency wherever you listen to podcasts. Find us on social media @Peopleof_Agency. Have stories about how the mail shaped your community, or thoughts on protecting public services? We'd love to hear from you! <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></p> <p>Quotes</p> <ul> <li>"Less than a year from now, the Postal Service will be

<p>Season 1 told the 250-year history of the U.S. Postal Service, but we weren't really talking about mail. We were talking about how ordinary people build public institutions, and how power tries to take them back.</p> <p>Season 2 is about journalism. The free press and the postal service grew up together.</p> <p>In 1792, the Post Office Act subsidized newspaper delivery at rates way below cost. Not because it was profitable. Because democracy requires informed citizens. That subsidy created an explosion of diverse media: abolitionist papers, labor papers, Black newspapers, immigrant language papers, alt-weeklies, news that served communities, not shareholders.</p> <p>What We'll Cover:</p> <ul> <li>How news distribution was treated as democracy infrastructure for 200 years</li> <li>The shift to the 24-hour news cycle and clickbait economics</li> <li>Corporate consolidation and the death of local journalism</li> <li>How we're told there's "no business model" for news, when we had one for two centuries</li> <li>The pattern: defund public infrastructure, let it fail, claim it's obsolete, privatize what's left</li> </ul> <p>We subsidized news distribution as public infrastructure. Then we stopped, called it "letting the free market work," and now journalism serves shareholders instead of citizens.</p> <p>Just like Season 1 showed with the postal service, the history isn't just loss, it's also resistance. Muckrakers, underground papers during McCarthyism, the alternative press movement, community radio. Ordinary people fighting to keep news serving communities instead of profits.</p> <p>Season 2 will show how we built a free press, how it's been contested and controlled throughout history, and what it would take to make it serve democracy again.</p> <p>The fight over who controls information? That's never been more urgent than right now.</p> <p> </p> <p>Season 2 coming: Summer of 2026</p>

<p>In August 2020, three months before a presidential election, during a pandemic, postal workers watch perfectly working mail sorting machines being dismantled, some cut with blowtorches, some thrown in dumpsters. 711 post office machines removed in a few months (double normal rate), 10% of national sorting capacity gone. When union leaders ask why, management says they're "no longer needed" while mail volume surges. </p> <p>Episode 14 of our postal history tail, the season finale, covers the last five years of postal crisis and resistance. Louis DeJoy becomes Post Office Postmaster General with zero postal experience, $1.2M in Trump donations, and $30-75M in XPO Logistics stock (a USPS contractor) the Board hired him without official candidate search. He bans overtime, machines get dismantled, mail slows dramatically. Federal judge rules in September 2020 that DeJoy's actions were "voter disenfranchisement." But postal workers delivered anyway: 99.89% of 2020 ballots within 7 days, 900 million COVID tests (average 1.2 days delivery), 91% public approval rating. </p> <p>The organizing worked. Grand Alliance coordinated 80+ organizations, demonstrations at 300 post offices, and April 2022's Postal Service Reform Act eliminated the prefunding mandate with overwhelming bipartisan support. Then July 2025: the Post Office turns 250 while privatization forces circle. DeJoy resigns March 2025 after fighting off DOGE's merger attempts. David Steiner (former FedEx board member) becomes the 76th Postmaster General. Amazon contract expires October 2026 ($6B revenue loss), USPS launches reverse auction platform diversifying beyond one customer. Wells Fargo publishes actual privatization roadmap recommending 30-140% rate increases. DOGE, Koch network, Heritage Foundation all pushing dismantlement. But 102 million Americans would face higher prices under privatization, 16 Republicans cosponsored anti-privatization resolutions, rural senators defending universal service. </p> <p>The lesson after 250 years: institutions serve whoever fights for them. The 2022 Reform Act proved organizing works. Public support exists (91% approval). The infrastructure exists (Grand Alliance, 500,000 union members, bipartisan rural defenders). The choice is whether we organize or surrender by default.</p> <p>Key takeaways to listen for</p> <ul> <li>[00:03:00] Act I - The DeJoy Era & COVID: Louis DeJoy appointed with zero postal experience, $1.2M Trump donations, $30-75M XPO stock (didn't divest until 2022), no official candidate search; 711 machines removed (double normal rate), overtime banned, mail leaves unloaded; 83 postal workers dead by Sept 2020, 18,000 out sick daily at peak, but 900M COVID tests delivered averaging 1.2 days, 91% approval rating (highest federal agency, bipartisan)</li> <li>[00:19:45] Act II - When the Post Office Shows Up: August 2020 warnings to 46 states about ballot deadlines, Trump openly linking USPS defunding to blocking mail voting, federal judge ruling DeJoy's actions were "voter disenfranchisement"; 99.89% of 2020 ballots delivered within 7 days (1.6 day average), 99% within 3 days in 2022 midterms, 94% on-time in North Carolina despite Hurricane Helene devastation; contrast with UPS suspending 1,000 Florida ZIP codes during Hurricane Ian while USPS legally required to serve everywhere</li> <li>[00:37:57] Act III - The Reform Act, Birthday, and Threats: April 2022 Reform Act eliminating prefunding mandate, wiping $57B accumulated debt, codifying 6-day delivery, passing with overwhelming bipartisan support from COVID organizing; July 2025 250th birthday while privatization threats circle; DeJoy resignation March 2025 after fighting DOGE merger attempts; David Steiner (FedEx board) as 76th Postmaster General; Amazon contract expiring Oct 2026 ($6B loss), reverse auction platform diversifying customers; Wells Fargo publishing privatization roadmap with 30-140% rate increases</li> <li>[00:51:50] Act IV - What We've Learned + How

<p>In December 30, 2025 a Danish postal worker delivers the last letter Denmark will ever send. After 401 years, postal service ends entirely. The 1,000 iconic red mailboxes get auctioned off, nostalgic Danes crash the website buying them as souvenirs. Starting January 1, 2026, mailing a letter costs $4.55 with no street mailboxes, only kiosks run by a private newspaper company. Denmark spent 25 years building e-Boks (mandatory digital mailbox system) before making this choice, but still left 271,000 digitally-exempt people behind. </p> <p>Episode 13 of our postal history tail reveals what happened globally while USPS fought for survival in the 2010s. The UK privatized Royal Mail in 2013, shares jumped 38% first day (taxpayers lost £750 million), service collapsed to 76.5% on-time delivery, stamp prices rose 183% (60p to £1.70), and 68% now want renationalization. Netherlands' PostNL fully privatized then begged for €68 million in subsidies (rejected). </p> <p>Argentina privatized their post office in 1997, went bankrupt in four years with $900 million debt, returned to profitable public ownership. Meanwhile, Switzerland's post office stayed 100% public, diversified into logistics/banking/buses/digital services, ranks #1 in world for eight consecutive years with zero subsidies and 324 million franc profit. Germany privatized strategically (government kept 20.5% stake), bought DHL to become world's largest logistics company, built 42,000 electric vehicles in-house. France stayed 100% public, La Banque Postale serves 10.8 million including 3 million vulnerable households, 40,000 carriers do elder check-ins. Japan Post runs a $2.2 trillion bank serving nearly every adult. </p> <p>But USPS? Section 102 made all of it illegal. Fiscal 2012 loss of $15.9 billion (87% from prefunding mandate), 88,000 jobs cut, two-tier wages for 120,000 workers, Board of Governors vacant for 5 years, Amazon partnership with questionable subsidies, but Informed Delivery got 50 million subscribers. Workers won the Staples fight, 3-year campaign with AFL-CIO boycott, 1.6 million teachers boycotting, international solidarity from 26 countries, forcing termination in 2017. The lesson: diversification, innovation, proper funding, and labor protections matter more than ownership structure. But USPS was legally prohibited from trying any of it.</p> <p>Key takeaways to listen for</p> <ul> <li>[00:05:18] Act I - When Privatization Goes Wrong: UK's Royal Mail privatized 2013 with 38% first-day share jump (£750M taxpayer loss), service dropping to 76.5% on-time with £37M in fines, stamp prices up 183% while 68% want renationalization; Netherlands' PostNL begging for €68M subsidies after privatization; New Zealand cutting urban delivery to 3 days/week while private DX Mail cherry-picks routes; Argentina's 1997 privatization going bankrupt in 4 years before profitable return to public ownership</li> <li>[00:18:05] Act II - When Public Ownership Works: Switzerland 100% public ranking #1 globally for 8 years with 324M franc profit, PostFinance holding 100B+ francs, PostBus carrying 183M passengers, ePost digital mailbox, SwissID with 3.4M users; Germany's strategic privatization keeping 20.5% government stake, acquiring DHL for 94.4B euro revenue, building 42,000 electric vehicles in-house; France's La Banque Postale serving 10.8M customers (3M vulnerable), 40,000 carriers doing elder check-ins; Japan Post's $2.2 trillion bank serving 115M adults</li> <li>[00:34:56] Act III - What America Was Doing (and Not Doing): Fiscal 2012 loss of $15.9B (87% from prefunding of $54.8B in losses 2007-2016), Patrick Donahoe cutting 88,000 jobs and 141 facilities while Congress blocks Saturday delivery elimination, Board of Governors vacant 2014-2019 (5 years without quorum), first-class mail dropping from 52% to 33% revenue while packages grow 170%, two-tier wage systems affecting 120,000 workers, Postal Pulse ranking 1st percentile with only 17% engagement, Trump pressuring Brenna