Cheeseheads Rule Judiciary Committee

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Usually when people complain that the make-up of the Senate gives small, sparsely populated states too much power, they’re thinking about Wyoming. But this week, with the Senate Judiciary Committee running the Sotomayor confirmation hearings, that dynamic has changed a bit. The Uptake, an outfit that’s been streaming the hearings live through our website, has come up with a nice map to demonstrate the regional powerhouses in the confirmation hearing.

The obvious conclusion: Cheeseheads rule. Both senators from Wisconsin (Feingold and Kohl) are on the committee, as are both senators from Minnesota (Franken and Klobuchar), giving those states a big voice in how the hearings proceed and also, their ultimate outcome. Who knew Al Franken would end up such a player after only five days on the job?

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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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