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INFLATION….The consumer price index fell last month, but this was mostly due to falling oil prices, so it’s no big deal. It’s a good thing, in fact. Remove oil prices and inflation was up very slightly, perhaps 0.1% or so.

That’s worryingly close to zero, and that’s a much bigger deal, especially since we’re still in the early days of this recession. If prices fall any further, we’re in deflation territory, and that would be dismal indeed. So as much as I dislike the auto bailout on its merits, this would not be a good time to let GM go under. Nor is it a good time to cavil about federal stimulus spending or to force state governments to slash expenditures. So tell me again: how many days are there until January 20th? It would be nice to have an actual president again.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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