postalnews blog

George Bush finally got around to filling one of the Democratic vacancies on the USPS Board of Governors last week, nominating former Democratic Congressman James H. Bilbray of Nevada to the seat formerly held by John Walsh, who resigned last year amid charges he misused postal funds.

Bilbray, a Las Vegas native, was elected to Congress in 1986, and served four terms until losing the seat in the 1996 election.

The following story is from New Mexico Politics With Joe Monahan:  

“Governor Barnett?”; Senate Takes Up His Postal Board Bid

Mickey Barnett is on his way to being Governor. No, not that Governor. But now that I’ve got your attention…Barnett, one of the R’s who played a prominent role in bringing to life the GOP Guv candidacy of John Dendahl, is about to get his own taste of being a Governor. Despite a push by his foes to thwart him, Barnett is expected to win approval tomorrow from the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee to become a Governor of the U.S. Postal Service and later, the full Senate. We broke the story of his nomination back in March.

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Azeez Jaffer has responded to an article posted on the Online Journal blog that charged the Bush Administration with ‘raiding’ USPS funds to pay for Bush’s war against Iraq.

Jaffer points out the obvious inaccuracies in the blog article, but fails to mention that the most recent increase was, in fact, the direct result of Bush’s insistence on “revenue neutrality” in any postal reform bill. That has forced the USPS to raise rates in order to fund a $3 billion payment to the Treasury this year. The money is supposed to be held in trust, but regardless of whether the money goes to fund the war, the bottom line is that it reduces Bush’s budget deficit by $3 billion.

Jaffer concludes with this rather odd statement: ”Mr. Masden also implies that the war funding is possible because the Postal Rate Commission is full of Bush Administration appointees who have authority over postage rates. Wrong again. Although the Postal Rate Commission plays an important role in the development of postage rates, it’s the Governors of the Postal Service who have the final say.”

True as far as it goes, but aren’t the Governors also appointed by the President?

Setting The Record Straight

The White House press release somehow fails to mention the “L” word, but “Lobbyist” is exactly how Ellen Williams of Kentucky described herself when she contributed $500 to Rep. Anne Northrup in February. Williams apparently had second thoughts about that particular job title when, a week later, she sent $300 to the Kentucky GOP, describing herself instead as “Self-Employed/Government Relations”. (The change in occupation probably had nothing to do with the Jack Abramoff guilty plea that preceded it.)

Williams returned to lobbying after resigning from her job as Commissioner of the Governor’s Office for Local Development in Kentucky. According to the Louisville Courier Journal, the office ”housed [Republican Governor Ernie] Fletcher’s Local Initiatives for a New Kentucky office, his constituent services arm that prosecutors have called a ‘corrupt political machine’ that helped fill state jobs on the basis of politics.” Williams claimed not to know of any “political role” for the office.

Williams’ first announced lobbying client was Kentucky’s Turfway Park, which hired her to “to lobby for expanded gambling in the state”.

In addition to omitting the word “Lobbyist”, the White House press release also conspicuously fails to mention any postal knowledge or expertise on the part of Ms. Williams, whose entire work experience has been as a GOP operative, political appointee, or lobbyist.

From Joe Monahan’s blog: New Mexico lobbyist Mickey Barnett, nominated by George Bush for a seat on the USPS Board of Governors, suffered a major defeat in his home state last week. The New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously threw out a lawsuit Barnett filed seeking to block a primary challenge to one of his allies, State Rep Keith Gardner.

Now it appears that the Barnett faction, called an ”out-of-control cancer” by one opponent, may face a further, more important defeat, as anti-Barnett Roswell oilman Mark Murphy considers a run for state GOP chair.

New Mexico Politics with Joe Monahan

Lobbyist Mickey Barnett, nominated by George Bush for a seat on the USPS Board of Governors, is still actively pushing the cause of payday loan operators in his home state of New Mexico- from last Sunday’s Albuquerque Journal:

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In a letter to Senator Susan Collins, former New Mexico GOP whip Earlene Roberts says that BOG nominee Mickey Barnett has “engaged in ‘Jack Abramoff’ style politics here in New Mexico”. Roberts went on to suggest that “Mr. Barnett’s questionable political activities… make him unfit and unqualified for public service”.

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Letter going to the American Postal Workers Union and National Association of Letter Carriers:

re: Mickey D. Barnett,
Nominee to US Postal
Service Board of Directors

As you perhaps know, Mickey D. Barnett has been nominated by the President to serve on the Postal Service Board of Directors. There are some things the Letter Carriers may wish to know about Mr. Barnett concerning his fitness to serve in this position.

First, and perhaps of most important to the letter carriers is Mr. Barnett’s affiliation with the National Right to Work Committee. Barnett was its chief mover in its attempt to make New Mexico a Right-to-Work state. Mr. Barnett’s efforts in opposing organized labor makes his service on the Postal Service Board very suspect and not helpful to harmonious relations between the letter carriers and management.

Barnett is also the New Mexico lobbyist for the payday loan industry. In fact, while serving in the New Mexico Senate, Barnett introduced the legislation that led to New Mexico’s repeal of the interest rate caps on these lending institutions. Consumer groups rate New Mexico as one of the two worst states when it comes to regulating payday loans. Rates can reach 500 percent or more when calculated on an annual basis. Barnett has recently filed suit against New Mexico Attorney General, Patricia Madrid who is trying to administratively regulate the industry.

Given Mr. Barnett’s past record, and controversial deportment, I can’t believe he would or could be fair-minded with your initiatives, programs and ideas.

Sincerely,

Ron Godbey, Retired Member
New Mexico House of Representatives

I think we all realized that BOG nominee Mickey Barnett’s payday loan clients were sleazy. It turns out that they are also endangering America’s defenses.

This charge comes not from some wacko anti-business activist, but from the US Navy, which was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to pass in Washington State the same kind of payday loan legislation Barnett fought against in New Mexico.

“Rear Adm. William French, the Navy’s Northwest commander, testified that payday lenders deliberately ensnare sailors in debt, hindering combat readiness.”

Well, never mind, as long as the loan sharks pay their lobbying bills on time…

Beyond his cameo role in the Bush 2000 ‘election’ saga, USPS Board of Governors nominee Mickey Barnett is best known in New Mexico as a lobbyist and GOP power broker. One of his big clients has been the payday loan industry, which hired him to oppose regulations that could have limited such abusive practices as triple-digit interest rates. Another client is an Indian tribe (sound familiar?) which he helped in its fight against a union organizing effort. He also works for Corrections Corporation of America, a private prison operator. Barnett led the list of lobbyists in an Albuquerque Journal story in January 2005 entitled “Gambling Industry Is N.M.’s 800-Pound Gorilla“. To be fair, it should be noted that Barnett’s influence peddling has not been entirely ideological. He was quite happy to take money from organizations that favored legalizing marijuana until GOP big wigs suggested it was just a little bit embarrassing for an RNC member to be seen shilling for dope smokers.

Barnett’s lobbying may have cost him as post as GOP National Committee member from New Mexico in 2004. According to a story in the Albuquerque Journal, George Buffet, the small businessman who defeated him, “…campaigned, in part, by criticizing Barnett’s lobbying work… Buffett says the national committeeman should not be involved in lobbying because it creates a conflict of interest… ‘fundamentally, people don’t believe politics should be for sale.’”

Prior to being ousted from his RNC seat, Barnett was described by former New Mexico GOP chair Ramsay Gorham as “ruthlessly vindictive against any legislator who votes against his drug or gambling clients.” Gorham also suggested that in New Mexico, “The Republicans will never become the majority party as long as Mickey Barnett is in office”.