If you’re fed up with boring, regular postage stamps and you’re an avid Last Week Tonight fan, Sunday’s episode came with some splendid news — the show has launched its very own stamp collection, featuring the likes of Chiijohn and such fitting slogans as, “And now…a stamp.”
The reason? It all ties in with the theme of Sunday’s monologue: the U.S. Postal Service. And, specifically, the ways in which the postal service is struggling financially.
In the video above, Oliver breaks down the difficulties the USPS is facing due to the coronavirus pandemic, before diving further back into a 2006 law called The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which required the USPS to “pre-pay healthcare benefits for retirees” — something Oliver goes on to describe as “a massive burden to put on the postal service.”
“What they badly need is an infusion of funding as soon as possible,” Oliver concludes. “And not only should we be demanding that they get that, Congress should also take a look at undoing some of the more onerous terms in that 2006 law. And until then, there might actually be something small that we can do here — because the purchase of stamps is still a key revenue generator for them.”
Last Week Tonight-themed stamps are available now from stamps.com, with the bulk of the cost going to the USPS — as Oliver points out, it isn’t going to be enough to cover the $89 billion the USPS has requested, but it could go some way to helping fund a service that millions rely on every day.