I Get a Kick Out of You

Old Blue Eyes will be commemorated on a postage stamp next spring, the Postal Service says in conjunction with its announcement heralding the lineup of its 2008 stamps.

Will USPS schedule the stamp's release event to coincide with the calendar of Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY), of the south Bronx, Sinatra's most ardent fan in Congress?

As the New York Times once noted, "Anyone who knows Jose E. Serrano even slightly knows he is an ardent fan of Frank Sinatra. In fact, Mr. Serrano learned English from the Sinatra 78's his father brought home when he was growing up in Puerto Rico in the late 1940's, and he entertained childhood dreams of being a nightclub singer. "

Serrano also has something to do with stamps: he chairs the House appropriations subcommittee that oversees the budget of the Postal Service: the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government.

In fact, as reported here, Serrano used his power to plug a provision in the omnibus appropriations bill for FY08 that blocks the Postal Service from moving forward on its plan in his district to consolidate the Bronx Postal distribution center operations into the Manhattan-based Morgan Postal Distribution Facility until Congress and the Government Accountability Office are satisfied that the consolidation is merited.

Serrano didn't quietly carry out the AMP blockade; he belted it out like a Sinatra standard in a press release his office released even before the ink on the omnibus funding bill was dry.

“I felt strongly that the consolidation and shuttering of the Bronx postal distribution facilities was the wrong idea,” Serrano said. “From my post on the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Postal Service’s budget, I was able to block the Postal Service from moving forward on this misguided plan. I felt that the plan’s savings were minimal and the cost to postal workers in my district was too high. I feel strongly that we should put people ahead of profits.”