Sanders knocks aid for cruise line while Postal Service flounders

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) took aim Monday at federal coronavirus aid to benefit the Carnival Cruise Line as the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) faces bankruptcy.

“How in the hell does Carnival, a cruise ship company that pays virtually no federal income taxes, receive a bailout, but the Postal Service, the most popular government agency in America, does not?” Sanders tweeted. 

How in the hell does Carnival, a cruise ship company that pays virtually no federal income taxes, receive a bailout, but the Postal Service, the most popular government agency in America, does not?

The Post Office is essential. Cruise ships are not. https://t.co/cb9k0E291u

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 27, 2020

Sanders linked to a Wall Street Journal article reporting that as Carnival, the world’s largest cruise line operator, hemorrhaged money due to the coronavirus pandemic, the company was able to raise nearly $6 billion in bond markets from investors.

The Postal Service has projected a $13 billion deficit due to the pandemic even as its employees are classified as essential. The union that represents postal workers has said 1,219 have tested positive and 44 have died.

Congress issued $10 billion in loans to USPS in the $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March, but Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reportedly rejected a Senate proposal with bipartisan backing that would have provided a bailout for the postal service.

President Trump has said USPS’s rates for package deliveries benefits companies like Amazon, and Treasury officials are reportedly considering leveraging the loan to alter what it charges for packages.