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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We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

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