 |
|
|
|||||
The resignation of United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Monday comes just two weeks after he announced plans to cut some 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the agency as part of the government’s cost-cutting agenda. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has eyed privatizing the nation’s postal service. Trump’s move to give commerce secretary Howard Lutnick authority over the independent agency could be a first step in that direction. DeJoy said in a statement that while the 250-year-old U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has established “a path toward financial sustainability” and instituted “enormous beneficial change to what had been an adrift and moribund organization,” more work remained. Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino will temporarily head the postal service while the USPS Board of Governors looks for a permanent successor, although the USPS said there is no established timeline for DeJoys replacement. Louis DeJoy [Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images] The $78 billion-a-year agency has struggled in recent years as more Americans are replacing paper transactions with online services. However, critics say the U.S. Postal Service is a lot more efficient than is being portrayed, and privatizing it could cause a host of problems nationwide, including interrupting or delaying the crucial delivery of prescription drugs and checks, and threatening guaranteed mail-in election ballots, which have played an increasingly important role in recent presidential elections. According to those critics, the Trump administration’s meddling in the USPS’s operations could make mail-in voting more difficult for the tens of millions of American voters who used it in the last election. Those most affected would be Americans living in rural areas who depend on the mail service. Trump has repeatedly said hed like to end the practice of mail-in voting. Taking over the Postal Service just kind of opens up a whole Pandoras box of mischief, said Barbara Smith Warner, executive director of National Vote at Home Institute, a nonprofit which works to increase voters access to and confidence in mail voting. This is a way that the federal government could put a really big thumb on the scale and impact every states ability to run their own elections.” DeJoy, who headed the U.S. Postal Service since June 2020, has been a controversial figure over the last five years. The former businessman and Republican donor led the agency through the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, as well as two presidential elections that saw high turnout in mail-in ballots. Critics have said his efforts to modernize the postal service by consolidating deliveries ultimately backfired, slowing down the mail even further. He also raised prices: A first-class stamp on a standard envelope is currently $0.73, up from $0.55 when DeJoy arrived at the agency, according to CNN. A survey by the Pew Research Center last July, found the post office has a 72% approval rating, making it one of the most popular government agencies.
Category:
E-Commerce
A painting of Donald Trump hanging with other presidential portraits at the Colorado state Capitol will be taken down after Trump claimed that his was purposefully distorted, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. House Democrats said in a statement that the oil painting would be taken down at the request of Republican leaders in the Legislature. Colorado Republicans raised more than $10,000 through a GoFundMe account to commission the oil painting, which was unveiled in 2019. Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Republican, said that he requested for Trump’s portrait to be taken down and replaced by one that depicts his contemporary likeness.” If the GOP wants to spend time and money on which portrait of Trump hangs in the Capitol, then thats up to them, the Democrats said. The portrait was installed alongside other paintings of U.S. presidents. Before the installation, a prankster placed a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin near the spot intended for Trump. Initially, people objected to artist Sarah Boardman’s depiction of Trump as nonconfrontational and thoughtful” in the portrait, according to an interview with Colorado Times Recorder from the time. But in a Sunday night post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he would prefer no picture at all over the one that hangs in the Colorado Capitol. The Republican lauded a nearby portrait of former President Barack Obama also by Boardman saying he looks wonderful. Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the state Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before, Trump wrote. The portraits are not the purview of the Colorado governors office but the Colorado Building Advisory Committee. The ones up to and including President Jimmy Carter were donated as a collection. The others were donated by political parties or, more recently, paid for by outside fundraising. The Legislature’s executive committee, made up of both Democratic and Republican leadership, signed a letter directing the removal of Trump’s portrait. Lundeen, the Republican senator who requested it, noted that Grover Cleveland, whose presidential terms were separated like Trump’s, had a portrait from his second term. Boardman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. In interviews from the time with The Denver Post, Boardman said it was important that her depictions of both Obama and Trump looked apolitical. There will always be dissent, so pleasing one group will always inflame another. I consider a neutrally thoughtful, and nonconfrontational, portrait allows everyone to reach their own conclusions in their own time, Boardman told the Colorado Times Recorder in 2019. Trump’s Sunday night comments had prompted a steady stream of visitors to pose for photos with the painting before the announcement that it would be taken down. Aaron Howe, visiting from Wyoming on Monday, stood in front of Trumps portrait, looking down at photos of the president on his phone, then back up at the portrait. Honestly he looks a little chubby,” said Howe of the portrait, but better than I could do. I don’t know anything about the artist, said Howe, who voted for Trump. It could be taken one way or the other. Kaylee Williamson, an 18-year-old Trump supporter from Arkansas, got a photo with the portrait. I think it looks like him. I guess he’s smoother than all the other ones, she said. I think it’s fine. ___ Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Jesse Bedayn, Associated Press/Report for America
Category:
E-Commerce
eToro Group Ltd has announced that it plans to take itself public in an initial public offering. The company made the announcement in a press release today, in which it confirmed that it had filed its Form F-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, there are still many unknowns about eToros IPO. Heres what we do knowand what still needs to be revealed. What is eToro Group Ltd? eToro Group Ltd is the name of the company that operates the eToro trading platform. Like other trading platforms, eToro allows investors to buy and sell a number of assets, including stocks and cryptocurrencies. But eToro is slightly different than your more traditional trading platforms like Charles Schwab or Vanguard. Thats because eToro is what is known as a social trading platform. The phrase signifies a platform that allows its users to see and, if they choose to, mimic the trades of other investors on the platform. This allows more novice investors to piggyback on the expertise of other investors whose decisions they trust. eToro Group was founded back in 2007. It is based in Tel Aviv, Israel with offices around the world. eToro by the numbers According to the companys Form F-1 registration statement, eToro has the following metrics as of December 31, 2024: A global footprint that spreads across 75 countries. Approximately 3.5 million Funded Accounts across those countries. Net Contribution of $787 million (up 41% from $557 million in 2023). Total Commission of $931 million (up 46% from $639 million in 2023). Net income of $192 million (up 1,161% from $15 million in 2023). Adjusted EBITDA of $304 million (up 159% from $187 million in 2023). eToros F-1 also lists a number of its growth strategies, which the company says focuses on acquiring more users in existing markets, increasing its share of users assets, and moving into new markets. Among the risks the company cites are uncertain legal and regulatory landscapes as well as operating in a highly competitive industry. When is eToros IPO? Thats unknown. As of this writing, eToro has not divulged when its IPO may take place. In its press release about its intention to go public, eToro stated that the offering is subject to market conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed. What is eToros stock ticker? eToros stock ticker will be ETOR. What market will ETOR trade on? eToro shares will trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. What is the IPO share price of ETOR? That is unknown. eToro says that the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. How many ETOR shares are available in its IPO? That, too, is unknown. The company says that the number of shares it plans to offer has also not yet been determined. How much will eToro raise in its IPO? That is something else we do not know at this time. Until eToro announces the number of shares it will offer and the offering price, it cannot be known how much the company plans to raise in its IPO.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||