FixUS

FixUS coordinates projects focused on research, convening stakeholders, and coalition engagement efforts in an attempt to understand the partisan divide among American political leaders. ^{4 5 6}

About

The campaign launched on January 14, 2020 at a policy forum on Capitol Hill. ⁷ FixUS is affiliated with Fix the Debt Coalition, a lobbying organization focused on education regarding federal budget policy, and both groups are directly controlled by Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. ^{8 9} Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget is a non-profit focused on deficit reduction. ²

FixUS’s webpage and information is housed within Fix the Debt Coalition’s website. ¹⁰ On the FixUS specific webpage, when selecting the option to donate¹¹ the user is directed to Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s separate website, where a donation can be made directly to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. ¹²

Plan and Approach

FixUS conducts and publishes research on partisan divides in the U.S., particularly focusing on those areas outside of Washington, D.C. ²

The group conducts research, engages citizens through its “Listening Tour and Roadshow,” and brings together advocates from various fields. In addition, FixUS created the FixUS Roadmap, an agenda that looks at changing policy, and creating a group of followers who support FixUS’s goals. ²

Roadshow and Listening Tour

Part of the research process includes FixUS’s Roadshow and Listening Tour, which was launched in August 2018. ² The nationwide Roadshow and Listening Tour, which is modeled after a similar series by Fix the Debt Campaign, is a speaking tour across the country where speakers discuss the possible causes of and policy approaches to national issues with audiences. ¹³

As of July 2020, these tours have included 70 different local audiences from 27 states. ² Audiences and venues include civic and business groups, community forums, and young professional and student groups, while partnering with affinity organizations to involve more of the public. FixUS gives talks to students at universities across the U.S., to engage them in the political system. Attendees of the events often join FixUS as members, growing the group’s community. Speakers include policy advocates, business leaders, and former policymakers. ¹⁴

While out on the road, FixUS conducted a “landscape review” where it identified more than 160 other groups or organizations that are also focused on addressing improvements of the political divide through political, economic, cultural, and others. ² After learning there were similar groups, FixUS hosts breakfast meetings with them where over 100 groups have participated, sharing insights and strategies. FixUS also partnered with Ipsos, a market research firm. ²

FixUS is networking and increasing its visibility by holding and participating in events, conference calls, and forums. ¹⁵ It is also creating the FixUS Roadmap, to be completed over the course of 2020, which aims to overcome political “tribalism,” recommend and create reforms that would address institutional polarization, and new ways for Americans to engage in the policymaking process. ²

The Nation’s Issues

Paul Stebbins, a former chairman and CEO of World Fuel Services,¹⁶ founding member of FixUS, and current member of the leadership council of Fix the Debt Campaign, in a podcast interview claimed the U.S. political system is broken and blames it on, in some part, gerrymandering, a polarized media environment, social media, demographic separation of people, immigration, the digital world that results in a lack of communication, and the alienation of people. He said during the 2020 election campaign cycle over $2 billion dollars will be spent to elect a president, which he believes is excessive. ¹⁷

Mike Murphy, the director of FixUS, claims that the major issue facing the US is the polarization of the people and the country’s two-party system. Various groups and organizations that are focused on fixing the situation have started, with some attempting to change electoral and governance reform (through changes to redistricting, campaign finance, ethics rules, and congressional rules), studying how the current economic system has contributed to anxiety and political tension, encouraging action regarding economic disparities and a system that does not work for many Americans, and those groups that are addressing the cultural divide. ¹⁸

According to Maya MacGuineas, president of Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and Murphy, political disunion is the “defining issue of our time” and they both believe that in the 2020 election this needs to be addressed or other issues cannot be addressed. ¹⁹

In the Media

The Fulcrum, a news platform covering efforts to fix the political landscape and member of FixUS’s Roadmap, organizes and publishes public events and webinars focusing on topics that it believes contribute to the polarization of America. Such topics have included, “Polarization and the Pandemic,”²⁰ a conversation with former U.S. Representative Mickey Edwards (R-OK) regarding what is ailing the political system and ways to fix it,²¹ whether mandatory conscription could help to inspire shared experiences,²² and what parallels exist between the Battle of Gettysburg and the current political situation. ²³

FixUS does not have a Facebook page for the parent group, however individual state FixUS groups have Facebook pages, including FixUS – Michigan,²⁴ FixUS – Alaska,²⁵ FixUS – North Carolina,²⁶ and FixUS – California,²⁷ with all of these Facebook groups having less than 100 members.

FixUS’s Twitter page has been active since November 2018 with nearly 5,000 followers. ²⁸ Many of its Tweets are retweets from Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. ²⁹ It also shares information focused on left-leaning election administration policies, such as the Fair Maps Virginia campaign,³⁰ ranked-choice voting led by FairVote,³¹ and retweets from liberal campaign finance regulation group Issue One. ³²

Fix the System

Issue One, a left-progressive election administration policy group that advocates for restricting election-based speech activity, leads the Fix the System coalition that includes FixUS, Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, Leadership Now, the Lugar Center, Represent.US, Stand Up Republic, and Unite America. The coalition released an advertisement that urges Americans and Congress to support early voting and vote-by-mail for the November 2020 elections. ³³

Leadership

Mike Murphy is the chief of staff for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and the director of FixUS. Prior to Murphy joining the Committee, he worked for the Comeback America Initiative, a non-profit founded by David Walker, the former Comptroller General of the United States. Murphy also worked as a Senior Transportation Program Analyst for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, as well as in legislative affairs for the American Cancer Society and on Capitol Hill. ³⁴

He often writes editorial pieces on behalf of FixUS. ³⁵ Murphy stated that at one of his visits to a university the students participated in an activity where they worked on a simulation to fix the nation’s debt and were able to balance it, so he could not understand why politicians in Washington, D.C. could not balance the nation’s budget. ³⁵

Murphy received $178,983 in total compensation in 2018. ³⁶ The president of the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget, Maya Macguineas, also oversees many of the Committee’s projects, including FixUS. ³⁷ She received $376,051 in total compensation in 2018. ³⁶