July 9, 2015

This Year, Everyone Is In Disarray

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Democrats in disarray!

The ongoing debate over trade legislation within the Democratic Party between pro-business and pro-labor forces has put deep divisions in the party on public display….It is in this context that many in the labor movement, and on the left generally, view the Trans-Pacific Partnership, now in the final negotiating stages, as an unmitigated disaster. From this vantage point, Republicans who vote for trade agreements are working on behalf of their corporate supporters. Democrats who support the TPP are worse, however, seen by many as traitors to their constituents.

….While the left is ascendant, the likely scenario for a resolution of the intraparty disagreement over trade is as follows: Until she secures the nomination, Hillary Clinton will voice the level of criticism of the TPP necessary to prevent the issue from serving as a mobilization tool for her rivals. Then, if she actually wins the presidency, she will most likely follow the path of her predecessor….After winning the presidency as an adversary of free trade, Obama in office became an advocate.

Republicans in disarray!

The party is warring over funding for disease research, bickering over an education bill and deeply divided on the possible renewal of the Export-Import Bank, an object of scorn among the far right.

….The broad disagreement on so many fronts lately is striking. Congress is almost certain, again, to fail to come to a timely agreement on a long-term highway bill. Republican leaders had to abruptly pull the emergency brake on a sweeping reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, amid a tiff about privatizing air traffic controllers. As if all that wasn’t enough, a showdown over government funding is fast approaching.

….All of this acrimony has led some top Republican officials to wonder whether they’ll ever be able to get things in line.

So who’s in more disarray, Democrats or Republicans? Sounds to me like the answer is Republicans, though I suppose it depends on just how bitter the TPP fight gets. In any case, Congress is off for the entire month of August, so most of this stuff won’t blow up until September. Just in time for a government shutdown! Booyah!

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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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