Quote of the Day: Running the Government Is Hard

From Ben Carson, former neurosurgeon who is now Secretary of Housing and Urban Development:

There are more complexities here than in brain surgery.

Actually, Carson is wrong. Brain surgery is every bit as complex as running a gigantic government department. It’s just totally different, and expertise in one has nothing to do with ability in the other. You’d think someone smart enough to be a brain surgeon could figure that out.

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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 today—any amount.

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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