December 11, 2013

GOP Plan to “Punish” Democrats Is Probably the Stupidest Thing You’ve Ever Heard Of

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Ed Kilgore highlights what must be the dumbest, whiniest, most ineffectual “protest” ever. Ladies and gentlemen, the Senate Republican caucus:

Senate Republicans will stage a more than 30-hour talkathon on the Senate floor to protest Democrats’ triggering of the “nuclear option” last month. The GOP protest, which could extend into the weekend, will throw a wrench in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) hopes of wrapping up legislative business for 2013 as soon as possible.

Republicans will delay a final vote on Cornelia Pillard, one of President Obama’s picks for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, until about 1 a.m. Thursday. Then, Senate Republicans will hold the floor throughout the night, speaking out against Reid’s use of the nuclear option.

….“When you blow up the Senate rules, there has to be a consequence,” said a Republican senator. “We’ll stretch this into the weekend if need be,” said the GOP lawmaker.

Seriously? They’re going to thunder away to an empty chamber in order to “punish” Democrats by forcing them to the floor at 1 am for a vote? That’ll show them! And then they’re going to thunder some more in order to—what? Delay everyone’s Christmas shopping?

Yeesh. Even the most moronic of the tea partiers isn’t going to be impressed by this display of buffoonery. Get a grip, folks.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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