Republicans Cave to Marco Rubio

Tom Williams/Congressional Quarterly/Newscom via ZUMA

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It looks like Marco Rubio is getting his wish. Thanks to his threat to vote against the tax bill, negotiators are increasing the refundability of the child tax credit:

Taxpayers without income-tax liability will be able to get $1,400 of the $2,000 per-child credit, said Rep. Kristi Noem (R., S.D.), one of the members of the House-Senate negotiating committee. That’s up from $1,100 in the version that passed the Senate.

Of course, now they have to pay for it, perhaps by having the individual tax cuts expire in 2024 instead of 2025. If that’s what happens, then Rubio will have gotten an extra $300 for six years ($1,800) at the cost of losing the whole thing a year earlier ($1,100). That’s a net gain of $700, or $100 per year. Yippee.

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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.

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