It’s a new year, but the same old FedEx disinformation campaign. Here’s what the anonymous writers for the “Brown Bailout” project wrote on Tuesday:
“When Congress returns to Washington this week, UPS lobbyists will be back to their old games, lobbying Congress for an unfair, anti-competitive bailout that could threaten the nation’s overnight delivery network and cripple entire sectors of our economy. If UPS succeeds in getting the ‘Brown Bailout’ passed, consumer shipping costs could rise and service and reliability could suffer. Put simply, this could hurt businesses and individuals across the country.”
Now here’s how the release SHOULD have been written:
“When Congress returns to Washington this week, FedEx lobbyists will be back to their old games, lobbying Congress to keep an unfair, anti-competitive corporate welfare subsidy that creates an uneven playing field in the overnight delivery market and uses federal labor law to give FedEx an undeserved and unfair marketing advantage. If FedEx succeeds in retaining this corporate welfare subsidy, the uniquely and quintessentially American concept of equal justice under the law will continue to suffer. Put simply, this would hurt the free market for all businesses and individuals across the country.”
There, that’s better. And accurate and truthful, to boot.
#1 by judester on January 29th, 2010
| Quote
I agree…much better
#2 by Tim on January 31st, 2010
| Quote
Suppose that Wells Fargo, the nation’s fourth largest financial services company by assets, claimed that it should be regulated not as a financial institution, but as a stagecoach service — because that is how it was originally founded.
As ridiculous as such an assertion is, it is essentially the argument that FedEx Express uses regarding its delivery service — and one it has gotten away with for years.
The FedEx argument goes like this: it is an airline because it was initially founded as an airline thirty-six years ago, denying that fundamental aspects of its business have changed over the years. Carrying its argument one step further, it then asserts that its FedEx Express delivery truck drivers are, in fact, airline employees engaging in airline activities and that 85% of its packages are delivered by air! Maybe they should be called “truck pilots.” Perhaps one has even landed his truck in your driveway. The truth is that 100% of all FedEx packages are delivered by truck
Companies engaged in the same industry and performing the same service should be subject to the same law. A truck driver is a truck driver. Not even a federal loophole can make them aviators.