John Mills Allen Quotes

Fish are a renewable resource, and one of the problems we've had is people feel obliged to catch the limit, then throw 'em in the garbage can.

Up to 80 percent of the fish that we catch spend at least part of their lives in estuaries.

The seeds of the life of fishes are everywhere disseminated, whether the winds waft them, or the waters float them, or the deep earth holds them; wherever a pond is dug, straightway it is stocked with this vivacious race. They have a lease of nature, and it is not yet out.

Pharmaceutical companies have the highest number of lobbyists and they pay them the most. A lot of them are former legislators.

The special interests are protected in Washington and the public interest is submerged.

Most lobbying is pro-business, in the sense that it promotes the interests of existing businesses, not pro-market in the sense of fostering truly free and open competition.

Washington is rigged to favor people who have an army of lobbyists.

There is many a powerful voice in politics that represents but a small vote.

You think the military-industrial complex is powerful in Washington? The Health Care complex spends 4 times as much on lobbying.

All corporatism - even when practiced in societies where hard work, enterprise and cooperation are as highly valued as in Korea - encourages inflexibility, discourages individual accountability, and risks magnifying errors by concealing them.

In the United States, the two-party system of the old days is seemingly still preserved. But this is only a camouflage of the real situation. In fact, the political life of the United States ... is determined by the struggle and aspirations of pressure groups.

In no form of government is there an absolute identity of interest between the people and their rulers

The time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action ... I will not stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. If you misrepresent what’s in the plan, we will call you out. And I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now.

Not all special interest groups are bad.

All you need is money, endurance, and powerful friends. And the more money the better.

… lobbyist-larded Washington

Three industries in particular—finance, real estate, and insurance—benefit from the system, which they achieve by lobbying heavily and systematically contributing to political campaigns in order to retain and fortify their privileges.

In dealing with those who share his bed, the enlightened ruler may enjoy their beauty but should not listen to their special pleas...

The existence of an immensely powerful military-industrial complex constitutes a danger to democracy, both internationally and domestically, because it follows its own logic and operates independently of popular participation.

… men who are governed by self-interest will combine, whether white or black, and the generous and selfless will similarly unite

These [rich peoples] movements sell their efforts not as benefitting the rich alone—that would be too … tacky. Instead they claim to protect freedom, promote growth, safeguard the Constitution or fend off the ever-more-intrusive government.

… There’s a lot of [tobacco industry] financial clout up here, and they do their best to reward their friends and punish their enemies …. They’re not really trying to accomplish an agenda, they’re just trying to stop one from ever being mounted against them.

He [President Dwight D. Eisenhower] came under enormous pressure to authorize the purchase of expensive military systems, often from retired officers who had joined corporate boards.

They could care less about the public. The public comes in third. Number one is keeping their power. Number two are the special interests, the people footing the bill. Finally, the public good might be third — if they can profit from it. If there's no profit, they could care less.

… the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.