March 23, 2012

Paul Ryan’s 2012 Budget Slightly Less Appalling Toward the Poor

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Sorry. Turns out I was totally wrong about Paul Ryan’s budget. It really is different from last year’s.

As you can see from the chart on the right, his 2012 budget gets 62% of its cuts from programs intended to help those with low-incomes. According to CBPP, this includes $2.4 trillion in reductions from Medicaid and other health care program; $134 billion in cuts to SNAP (food stamps); at least $463 billion in cuts to mandatory programs serving low-income Americans; and at least $291 billion in cuts in low-income discretionary programs.

But here’s the thing: last year’s Ryan budget got 65% of its cuts from programs for the poor. Progress! Who says Paul Ryan doesn’t care about America’s non-rich?

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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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