To the Editor,
My wife and I have homes in Minneapolis and Lanesboro, but we have been living in our Lanesboro home since mid-March to reduce the likelihood of catching COVID-19. I am 68 years old and vulnerable to the virus because of underlying health concerns. Essential items such as clothing, food and prescriptions are delivered to reduce the frequency of visiting stores. Two weeks ago, while delivering packages, the postman told me that he needs 11 hours to complete his work, but only gets paid for eight hours since overtime pay has been abolished. This surprised me, but it has been verified in recent newspaper articles. A Trump mega-donor has just been installed as postmaster general. He has instituted measures that cause delays in delivery, including eliminating overtime, undermining our faith in the post office. This is concerning, since many votes will be cast by mail. The Postal Service traces its roots to Benjamin Franklin, the first postmaster general. As a government agency, the Postal Service is legally obligated to serve all, regardless of location, at uniform price and quality. This is important for rural areas since no private deliver service would delivery first-class mail to rural areas. As an essential government service, the Postal Service must be fully funded to provide timely and efficient deliveries, especially of mail-in ballots. It is unfair to force employees to choose between doing their jobs properly and getting paid for their work. It is unfair to force voters to choose between voting and exposing themselves to the COVID-19 virus. If this concerns you, contact our elected government officials, Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith and Jim Hagedorn, to demand that postal workers receive overtime as needed to assure that the Postal Service can deliver all mail in a timely manner.
Kim Stelson
Lanesboro, Minn.
George Myers says
Well by golly; if you can’t believe everything the right and QAnon and other conspirators say, what is a person to believe. Let’s check with Rupert Murdoch and Rush Limbaugh; shall we?
Kim says
Anonymous, still ain’t found your name. Too bad. POTUS not trying to get rid of postal service. Absentee ballot you have to prove whom you are, plain mail you not. If everyone has to have ID prop solved
Kim says
Anonymous, still ain’t found your name. Too bad. POTUS not trying to get rid of postal service. Absentee ballot you have to prove whom you are, plain mail you not. If everyone has to have ID prop solved
Kim Wentworth says
Anonymous, you forget your name? Absentee voting is one thing. But to try and rely on the USPS to handle a large scale mail in vote influx is asking for trouble. If the postal service is so reliable how could POTUS loose any votes? Besides, there is NO VIABLE reason for the need to mail in your vote.
Samuel says
That’s just not true. Some states like Washington and Utah vote entirely by mail. They haven’t had fraud issues. And there are plenty of reasons to mail in your vote, including not catching Covid-19 while exercising your right to vote.
Ken says
How do you know if an election are stolen or not? Do you work for the FBI or do you believe what the fake news tell you? Have you ever heard of adjenda 21 or geoengineeringwatch.org
Greg Rendahl says
A Trump-appointed federal judge, J. Nicholas Ranjan, has now told the President’s campaign to produce evidence of voter fraud or to shut up. In case you’re really wondering, I can tell you they will not find any evidence of voter fraud. You right-wingers will believe anything our lying con-man misleader will come up with.
Ken says
One more thing , googled my fathers name it said he was 89 years old and lives in Cresco Iowa. the truth is he died in 2003 at the of 72 and lived near Fountain Mn. Never lived in Cresco. Is some one using his name? Is he voting in Iowa?
Carolyn says
Ken,
Many people have the same name across the county. Try googling your name, and see how many have your ‘name’ too.
Ken says
Carolyn they also have my mother name and his children’s name and correct age listed. It is my father
Thomas E.H. says
@ Ken
You Googled your father’s name. “It” said he was 89 years old and lives in Cresco. What is “it”? Google? Google doesn’t have anything to do with the election or the information. Facebook still has the profile of people my friend who died. Doesn’t mean a damn thing. Just a relic of something that was and ain’t no more.
Your Agenda 21 comment is hilarious, by the way. It’s like you think the Left has the power to “Execute Order 66” Palpatine style or something. Obvious fool is obvious.
Anonymous says
I think it’s awful the way Trump gets by with anything & everything to abolish many things including our USPS. Voting by mail has been legal & reliable since the CIVAL War & the reason he wants to get rid of it is not because it’s unreliable, but because he’ll loose votes!!! We as Americans must stand up to this crooked, narcissistic being and vote him out!!!