Issue One updates
IO in the news: May 2021 recap
May was a remarkably busy month for Issue One. Last month, we quickly ramped up our efforts calling for an independent and bipartisan January 6th Commission. All told, we secured…
Analysis
This letter to the editor originally appeared in the Washington Post. It is in response to an earlier article about two catfish inspection offices in the federal government.
The June 14 Food article “Has Congress given blue catfish a free pass?” reminded us that when money is the bait, Washington cannot help but go on a fishing expedition in search of a problem.
Like the introduction of the non-native species that overwhelmed the Chesapeake Bay, the free-flowing, swamp-soaked money that industries pour into Washington is flooding Congress with crony-capitalist solutions that only create more issues, not solve them. Why? Because as politicians are charged with raising millions of dollars for reelection each cycle, they look to interests they oversee to fill their war chests. When lawmakers inevitably reach the conflicting crossroads where public policy and campaign contributions meet, taxpayers and consumers suffer the consequences. Following a long day of fishing, after all, you’re either at the table or on the menu.
Our free-market system relies on innovation, such as transforming an invasive species into the hottest food trend, to solve complex problems. The foolish and wasteful redundancy in the Agriculture Department’s and Food and Drug Administration’s dual fish-inspection services — a handout to Southern catfish farmers who wish to avoid competition — is an archetypal feature of the cronyism that has trapped our economy in murky waters. When government picks winners and losers by repaying campaign contributors, we all pay the price.
—William Gray, Deputy Communications Director
Issue One updates
May was a remarkably busy month for Issue One. Last month, we quickly ramped up our efforts calling for an independent and bipartisan January 6th Commission. All told, we secured…
Analysis
Just months after the 2020 elections, members of Congress have already started to raise large sums for their 2022 reelection efforts. All House and Senate candidates filed new campaign finance…
Issue One updates
Today, the Bridge Alliance Education Fund announced that it is assuming ownership and control as publisher of The Fulcrum, a nonpartisan nonprofit news publication first incubated and launched by Issue…