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PASS THE BILL….Can I say something? Thank you.

I understand that John McCain wants to rescue his drowning campaign and thinks a dramatic moment as Savior of the Financial System might be just what he needs. I understand that House Republicans are right-wing lunatics who probably think we could solve all our problems if we just went back on the gold standard. I understand that congressional Democrats don’t want to pass a bailout bill unless they have political cover from across the aisle. I understand that Henry Paulson is not the most credible messenger and that his original rescue proposal was a joke. I’m very happy that Chris Dodd and others have added oversight, equity shares, CEO compensation limits, and funding tranches to the Paulson bill. It’s still not perfect, but at this point it’s not a bad job from the sausage factory either.

Now: will you just pass the fucking thing? We’ve been flailing around with enormous, unprecedented, ad hoc rescue attempts for over a year, and they haven’t worked. Despite what lunatic Republicans think, despite what the public thinks, despite what even some of the reality-based blogosphere apparently thinks, our financial system really does seem to be on the verge of seizing up. This is not just a scam cooked up by George Bush and Ben Bernanke and a sinister cabal of GOP machers.

We’re already fated to suffer through at least a moderate recession whether we like it or not, but I, for one, would like to avoid a massive one. I would like to do this even if the price includes saving a few rich people from having to sell their second yachts. We can settle their hash later. I would even like to do this despite the fact that I don’t know with absolute certainty that everything in the current bill is either necessary or sufficient. It’s true that a few more days of discussion probably won’t hurt, but that doesn’t mean it’s OK to waste time assuaging the egos and political careers of grandstanding presidential candidates and the economic illiterates who man the GOP House caucus. For chrissake, people, just pass the bill.

Now go read Steven Pearlstein.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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