May/June 2004 Issue

Midnight Passage

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Midnight Passage

The House of Representatives has had lots of reasons to keep its work out of the public eye this session. On the one hand, it’s been “spending money like a drunken sailor” (to quote John McCain); on the other, it’s been slashing vital programs, including veterans’ benefits and future Head Start funding. Who wants to see any of that in the morning papers? So it should come as little surprise that members of Congress have been working overtime—long past reporters’ deadlines and under cover of darkness—to pass some of their most controversial bills. — Wasim Salfiti

WHAT

WHEN

TIME

MARGIN

Cut to veterans’ benefits

Friday morning, March 21, 2003

2:54 a.m.

3 votes

Reduced funding for education and health care in 2004 budget

Friday morning, April 11, 2003

2:39 a.m.

5 votes

Bush’s second tax cut, worth $350 billion

Friday morning, May 23, 2003

1:56 a.m.

31 votes

Health privatization and prescription drug bill

Friday morning, June 27, 2003

2:33 a.m.

1 vote

Head Start “reform”

Friday morning, July 25, 2003

12:57 a.m.

1 vote

The $87.5 billion bill for Iraq and Afghanistan

Friday morning, October 31, 2003

12:12 a.m.

177 votes

The $530 billion Medicare bill

Saturday morning, November 22, 2003

5:53 a.m.

5 votes

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From the desk of Mother Jones CEO, Monika Bauerlein...

Newsrooms can be funded in many ways. One of the most controversial (and volatile) ways is by a for-profit corporation or a billionaire owner. We see it across the headlines on a weekly basis: the claw backs in public media, the gutting of The Washington Post, the bending over backwards to appeal to Trump and his allies.

But not here.

When Mother Jones first started publishing 50 years ago, our founders made a critical decision: to be a reader-supported nonprofit. They knew that no corporate owner would be interested in a muckraking newsroom; they also knew that no muckraking newsroom would be interested in following the agenda of a corporate owner.

And so, we’ve been reader-funded for half a century. We rely on contributions from our readers—readers like you—whether it’s $50, or $15 a month, or whatever fits your budget. People give what they can, and every donation makes a difference for our newsroom, which has grown tremendously—in size and reach and renown—since its inception in 1976.

You may be wondering: What does it take to publish an investigation? And what does my donation actually fund? The answers are one and the same: It takes people, resources, and time. And that’s what your donation funds directly.

Every donation Mother Jones receives from readers fortifies our newsroom, whether we’re covering underreported scandals out of Washington, DC, or the most important news of the day. And right now, each donation will be doubled because of our $50,000 match. So when you make a donation—$5, $50, any amount—it’ll go twice as far.

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Thanks for reading.

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