October 28, 2011

Quote of the Day: Some Wee Questions for the SEC

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From Jed Rakoff, the federal judge overseeing the SEC fraud settlement against Citigroup:

How can a securities fraud of this nature and magnitude be the result simply of negligence?

Good question! This is #9 of nine questions that Rakoff has about the settlement, in which Citigroup has been fined an arbitrary amount, with no real explanation for how the amount was calculated, no real explanation of just what the fraud entailed, and no admission by Citigroup of any culpability. I suspect that Rakoff isn’t going to get any satisfactory answers to his questions, but good for him for asking.

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DECEMBER IS MAKE OR BREAK

A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. That’s risky, because a strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength—but a weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

The December 31 deadline is closing in fast. To reach our $400,000 goal, we need readers who’ve never given before to join the ranks of MoJo donors. And we need our steadfast supporters to give again—any amount today.

Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do.

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