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The latest on credit conditions:

Although credit conditions remain strained, an April survey of loan officers by the Federal Reserve found a smaller number of banks were tightening loan standards compared with a few months ago.

Glimmers of improvement were most notable in commercial lending. The Fed said 40% of the 53 domestic banks it surveyed between March 31 and April 14 said they tightened standards on commercial and industrial loans, a smaller percentage than the 65% that said in January that they tightened standards.

Other metrics apparently show the same thing: banks are still cutting back on lending, but they aren’t cutting back quite as much as before.  In other words, the economy is still getting worse, but not quite as fast as it was earlier this year.  These days, that counts as good news.

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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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