US Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) has become accustomed to being able to spin the press pretty effortlessly (see Sherry, Allison), but this most recent attempt looks set to blow up in his face.
On Wednesday, Bennet put out a press release claiming the post office had reduced its office closures during the holiday period due to his work to reduce post office closures in rural areas. The problem is the United States Postal Service (USPS) gave Bennet no such credit — its policy is simply a reaction to heavy loads during holiday periods and has no correlation to Bennet's bragging.
See the USPS press release on the policy here from Nov 9:
In order to fully focus on the busy holiday mailing season and to minimize logistical issues, the U.S. Postal Service retail and delivery unit optimization efforts will be temporarily suspended from Nov. 19 through Jan. 2, 2012.
Only the actual physical closing of a Post Office and the relocation of carrier routes from one facility to another will be affected by this suspension. The reviews will continue and community meetings will occur as scheduled. The temporary suspension is similar to the one issued for last year’s holiday season.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
And here's how Bennet played it in a press release from Wednesday entitled "Bennet: USPS 'Time-Out' Provides More Time To Evaluate Effects of Potential Post Office Closures":
“Although we are not out of the woods yet and reforms to place the Postal Service on a more secure financial trajectory are absolutely needed, this temporary ‘time-out’ ensure that the USPS can step back and more closely evaluate the potential effects of post office closures on local communities,” said Bennet. “We have worked hard to communicate the important role post offices play in rural communities, and we hope the USPS uses this time-out to take a closer look at the potential effects of these closures on Colorado communities.”
You can see the USPS policy has absolutely nothing to do with Bennet's work, but that doesn't stop him from trying to claim credit anyway. Maybe it's because it's been so long since Bennet received some actual scrutiny from someone who doesn’t print his press releases as “Beltway Blogs” that he thinks he can get away with stuff like this.
Too bad, Bennet. Somebody caught it. Thanks to the reader who passed this along.
We'll gladly publish Bennet's retraction as soon as it's released.
You can see the full Bennet press release in all of its false bravado glory after the jump.
Bennet: USPS ‘Time-Out’ Provides More Time to Evaluate Effects of Potential Post Office Closures
Announcement Comes on Heels of Several Bennet Efforts to Ensure USPS Reform Recognizes Impact on Rural Communities
November 16, 2011Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today announced that the USPS has issued a temporary “time-out” on post office closings that will provide more time for the Agency to examine potential effects of these closings on local communities and help Coloradans avoid frustrating and needless holiday season service interruptions.
This month, USPS issued a notice to all Area Vice Presidents, directing them to temporarily suspend all Delivery Unit Optimization (DUO) implementations and post office closings beginning November 19, 2011 through January 2, 2012. While districts may proceed with the post office discontinuance process, the physical closing of a post office or the physical relocation of routes will be temporarily suspended during this window.
“Although we are not out of the woods yet and reforms to place the Postal Service on a more secure financial trajectory are absolutely needed, this temporary ‘time-out’ ensure that the USPS can step back and more closely evaluate the potential effects of post office closures on local communities,” said Bennet. “We have worked hard to communicate the important role post offices play in rural communities, and we hope the USPS uses this time-out to take a closer look at the potential effects of these closures on Colorado communities.”
This announcement comes on the heels of several Bennet efforts to ensure USPS reform takes into account potential impacts on rural communities.
Earlier this month, Bennet and Senator Mark Udall wrote a letter to Senate committee leaders urging them to consider western states and rural communities when exploring potential reforms to the U.S. Postal Service. In the letter, the Senators outlined priorities for reform that encourage innovation, take creative approaches to existing assets and maintain the competitive edge.
In June, Bennet and Udall sent a letter to the U.S. Postmaster General expressing concern over USPS location closures and consolidations that could make it more difficult for Coloradans to send letters and mail packages.
In September, they sent a letter to Ruth Goldway, chairwoman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, urging the Postal Regulatory Commission to carefully consider the effects of possible postal service closures on rural areas and small towns in Colorado and across the country.