Senator Baucus Hammers USPS Plan to Shut Down Kalispell Mail Processing Facility

Senator Urges Postmaster General to Honor Senate Bill’s Provision Hold off on Montana Shutdowns

(Washington, D.C.) – Montana’s senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus blasts the Postmaster General today for plans to shut down the Kalispell area mail processing facility. Baucus is specifically calling out the United States Postal Service for ignoring his provisions in Postal Reform legislation that cleared the Senate and is now awaiting action in the House. The U.S. Postal Service just its newest plan for consolidating mail processing facilities across the nation. Kalispell is on the chopping block for shutdown this summer. Prior to today’s information released to Baucus’ office, the Kalispell facility was under study for potential closure, but the decision was not final.

Baucus successfully pressed the Postal Service to back away from plans to consolidate or shut down area mail processing facilities in Missoula, Butte, Helena and Wolf Point and is vowing to continue pressure on the Postmaster General to back away from plans to shut down Kalispell’s facility.

“We stopped them from shutting down Missoula, Butte, Helena and Wolf Point mail processing facilities – and I’ll fight tooth and nail to protect Kalispell and the 20 jobs that are on the line. I brought the Postmaster General to Montana and showed him firsthand that shutting down Montana facilities is a small-minded way to address a large scale problem. I’m fighting the Postmaster’s plan to close Kalispell’s processing facility and urge the House to pass our Senate postal reform bill, because it would solve the Postal Service’s problems without unfairly targeting rural Montana,” said Baucus.

Baucus included a provision in the Senate’s Postal Reform Bill that would ensure that no postal facility could be closed prior to November 13th in a state that conducts all elections by mail or permits no-excuse absentee voting (Montana qualifies). If the House passes the Senate bill, the Postal Service couldn’t even consider closing the Kalispell facility until after November 13th. Additionally, if the House fails to pass the Senate’s Postal Reform Bill, mail processing facilities in Butte, Helena and Wolf Point are all likely to be right back on the chopping block as early as next year

The plans released to Baucus’ office include 48 consolidations this summer and an additional 140 closings between December 2012 to February 2013. Unless circumstances change for USPS in the interim, they would then enter a second and final round of closings that would encompass the remaining group of 89 centers which they wanted to originally close, beginning February 2014.

9 thoughts on “Senator Baucus Hammers USPS Plan to Shut Down Kalispell Mail Processing Facility

  1. Mr. Hoffman
    Not evan close. I’ll be 63 in a few months. I grew up on an indian reservation 7 miles from the nearest Post Office. My rural mail box was out by the road. I now live 15 miles from the nearest Post Office and my rural box is 1 mile away. Enough about me. Compromise is what got us in the fix we are in. Before you all have a cow and come down on me you must read “Tragedy and Hope” by Doctor Carroll Quigley. He was a socialist/communist and Bill Clinton’s college history professor. His book was the result of 20 years of research and he was in favor of compromise too. In the book was a blue print for bringing down the us constitution and the good ol USA. I can just hear you now, “uuuh, another conspiracy theorist”. If this was the 1970s I might agree with you. But it has been over thirty years and the left is following the blue print by the numbers. While this leftist group pulling the strings admits that they have made gains under the leadership of both republicans and democrats they have made most of ther gains while the democrats were in control of the congress. He said the magic formula for the democrats to stay in power is “promice promise promise, tax tax tax, lie lie lie. Seems to be working. Maybe not so much anymore, ie the Tea Party. The group of super industrialist (the leftists) chose the democrat party as its vehicle and the labor unions, National Education association, publishing companies, broadcasting companies and the american civil liberties union as its weapon. Some of their targets are Christianity, the family unit and the middle class. The final goal, total control. These are just some on the list. Since Obama they are picking up speed. Two more books “The Naked Capitalist” and “The Naked Communist” by Dr. Cleo Skusen, a 15 year FBI agent and a democrat (former democrat) through his investigation offers proof of this happening. Dr. Skusen became a law professor at Brigum Young University. When FDR gave his Inaugration speech Dr Skusen was standing just behind him in the picture. Dr Skusen stated the the only hope we have is through a conservative party. He wished that it was not the Republican party but it was the all that was available at that time. But there seems to be an emergence within the Republicans, ie the Tea Party. Read the books and examine what has happened since they were published and if you can still agree with the democrat point of view then there is no hope for this country and there-in lies the tragedy. Compromise is not always the answer. Sometimes one needs to stand their ground.

  2. Mr Boyle I am 63 years old and I do know when the House of Representatives, controlled by the republicans, fail to bring up a compromise. This is more like a dictatorship. Compromise is what makes government work and function. I have drove in past years as much as three miles to my rural mailbox. The closest P. O. is six miles. I bet you never had to go past your front door to get mail delivered. Its political and the republicans do not compromise now. Its their way or the highway and be damned for the rural customers of America. If the local P. O. closes it will become twenty miles to the P. O. for us then. I am with you. Postal management needs to change, but who will change anything if congress is dysfunctional. No compromises will hurt us all.

  3. WHAT? A LIAR TELL A WHOLE GROUP OF LIARS A LIE? WHO WOULD BELIEVE THAT? BOTH SIDES MAKE ME SICK.

  4. Mr. Hoffman
    Get your head out of the sand. Our postal management should take a good share of the blame. The real problems began back in the 1940s. There isn’t enough time or space here to explain it to you and somehow I don’t think YOU would get it. Don’t blame the Tea Party.

  5. so pmg donahoe and postal management lied or misled
    another group of people? when one lies and misleads
    as much as pmg donahoe does it ceases to become
    news and simply becomes SOP/ standard operating
    procedure. congress and the inept office of inspector
    general have allowed this bahavior of donahoe to continue
    so they need not cry about it now.

  6. fire pmg and hire me. I will not collect a paycheck untill I show a Profit and will take a precentage from that for my pay.

  7. i work for the usps, therefore i am one of those who really want to save it. it seems a lot of people want to save it. would any of these people be willing to go back to letting their tax dollars help us?

  8. Last night I’m reading the story on Donahoe’s trip to Montana and how he bought a rouind for the bar he visited. I wonder whose dime he used.I’d like to see him visit a bar in Kalispell real soon!

  9. Rural America is being robbed by the House of Representatives and the TEA PARTY REPUBLICANS. Again vote them out!!!!!!!!!!

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