Social Security: Message of the Day!!!

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I’ve received five six seven eight emails from the DNC and the Obama campaign since 11:00 pm last night about Social Security. Most of them attack John McCain.

“DNC Releases New Web Ad Highlighting the Threat John McCain Poses to Social Security.”

“MCCAIN WATCH: SAME-AS-BUSH PLAN TO PRIVATIZE SOCIAL SECURITY.”

And so on. McCain has suggested in the past that he supports private savings accounts, but he has always fudged on what they would look like and whether or not they would mirror exactly the ones in the controversial plan President Bush pushed several years back. Moreover, McCain has called the basic funding mechanism of Social Security a “disgrace,” meaning he doesn’t philosophically agree with the program or doesn’t understand how it works. The Democrats are right to hit him for all of that.

But there’s a distinctly lame feel to the Democrats excitement here — You’re not supposed to talk about Social Security in campaigns because it pisses people off! McCain is talking about it! Let’s nail him! You can’t claim the guy is a fake maverick and then attack him when he talks out of school.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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