Aug 5, 2017

Postal Service power struggle

Kantele Franko / AP

As the Postal Service racked up $5.6 billion in losses in 2016 alone, Stamps.com — the online retailer that allows users to purchase and print their own postage and shipping labels — has seen an 800% increase in its stock price over the last three years, WashPost notes.

The problem: The Postal Service's losses come from poor business dealings, but those same deals have helped Stamps.com grow. Officials from both services told WashPost their deal is mutually beneficial, "helping win customers away from private sector shipping rivals FedEx and United Parcel Service."

But: Various industry officials who spoke with WashPost anonymously "estimate that the Postal Service could collect $100 million a year more in revenue by reforming or eliminating the discount programs that Stamps.com and some other companies use."

Go deeper

Axios
Updated 20 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 10 p.m. ET: 32,471,119 — Total deaths: 987,593 — Total recoveries: 22,374,557 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 10 p.m. ET: 7,032,524 — Total deaths: 203,657 — Total recoveries: 2,727,335 — Total tests: 99,483,712 — Map.
  3. States: "We’re not closing anything going forward": Florida fully lifts COVID restaurant restrictions — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam tests positive for coronavirus.
  4. Health: Young people accounted for 20% of cases this summer.
  5. Business: Coronavirus has made airports happier places —The expiration of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance looms.
  6. Education: Where bringing students back to school is most risky.
Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Mike Allen, author of AM
3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Biden pushes unity message in new TV wave

A fresh Joe Biden ad, "New Start," signals an effort by his campaign to make unity a central theme, underscoring a new passage in his stump speech that says he won't be a president just for Democrats but for all Americans.

What he's saying: The ad — which began Friday night, and is a follow-up to "Fresh Start" — draws from a Biden speech earlier in the week in Manitowoc, Wisconsin:

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Jonathan Swan, Alayna Treene, Sam Baker
4 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Trump prepares to announce Amy Coney Barrett as Supreme Court replacement

Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Photo: Matt Cashore/Notre Dame University via Reuters

President Trump is preparing to nominate federal appeals court Judge Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana, a favorite of both the social conservative base and Republican elected officials, to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Republican sources tell Axios.

Why it matters: Barrett would push the already conservative court further and harder to the right, for decades to come, on the most important issues in American politics — from abortion to the limits of presidential power. If confirmed, she would give conservatives a 6-3 majority on the high court.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow