White House Takes Question About Question Time

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At today’s White House press briefing, David Corn asked Bill Burton whether Obama would commit to holding regular Q&A sessions with Republicans, following the riveting exchange last week at the GOP’s issues retreat. Burton basically said no, arguing that the first session worked because of its “spontaneity.” This is a pretty weak excuse. If you’ve ever checked out the British parliament’s question time sessions, in which rowdy MPs grill the prime minister at length about the issues of the day, you’ll see that they’ve managed to retain plenty of spontaneity over the years (sometimes a little too much.) In any case, the White House evidently still needs some convincing. Here’s how you can help.

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A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. That’s risky, because a strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength—but a weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

The December 31 deadline is closing in fast. To reach our $400,000 goal, we need readers who’ve never given before to join the ranks of MoJo donors. And we need our steadfast supporters to give again—any amount today.

Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do.

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