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Ezra Klein and the Wonkblog crew handed out their second annual Wonky awards today, “where we recognize outstanding achievements — and spectacular disasters — in policy wonkery.” It’s a surprisingly good list! By that, of course, I mean that I mostly agree with their picks, which is the way that most of us define “good,” right?

But I do have one big nit to pick: Grover Norquist as Wonk of the Year. Not because Norquist isn’t important. He obviously is. Not because he isn’t smart. And not because tax fights don’t deserve to be highlighted. I’m perplexed because Norquist isn’t a wonk. He’s got one simple message that he’s been hammering away at for decades: taxes should be as low as possible. That’s it. No speeches, no white papers, no Greek letter economics. Just an exercise of raw power in the service of low taxes. That makes him a player, but it doesn’t make him a wonk.

That aside, it’s a pretty interesting list. It’s worth a read.

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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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