Ernie Edwards posted a question on March 26 to this group, asking what the
President of USMA had done recently in terms of personally meeting with
federal elected officials. I was a little taken aback that he received no
reply, but was simply chided for using the term “metrics” (and that he’s
since been unable to post to this group). I asked similar questions on
April 1, regarding our efforts to effectively counter the food marketing
lobby. More pertinently, because I suspect we lack the funds to effectively
lobby Congress, I wondered what our efforts have been to approach potential
wealthy advocates (there are many, domestically and internationally), or to
build coalitions with larger and more powerful groups. I’m not sure what
the lack of replies to those questions means either.
I don’t mean these questions as criticism of USMA or any individuals, and I’m
sure the same is true for Ernie. The truth is, we don’t know the answers to
these questions. I joined USMA just a few months back and nearly sent in a
lifetime membership (decided to give it shot for two years instead) assuming
I was supporting a viable political advocacy group that understood
Washington and was actively working the system to advance the goals stated
on the USMA website.
If on the other hand, as I'm starting to suspect, there actually is no
credible metric lobby or PAC in America today (in other words, that our
cause is dead) let’s talk about how to change that.
