No Dice on “No Confidence” Vote

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It’s fish-or-cut-bait time in the Senate. Democrats failed to obtain the 60 votes they needed to conduct a “no confidence” vote on AG Alberto Gonzales. (Best AG AG insult of the day: “This is a little man in a very big job, and he has embarrassed his country and his president in the way he has carried it out,” wrote Martin Frost.) Democrats have approved but not issued subpoenas for the testimony of evil mastermind Karl Rove and, well, Harriet Miers. The Dems also have the legal right to impeach Gonzales.

Joining Democrats in calling for the “no confidence” vote were Arlen Specter (Pa.), John Sununu (N.H.), Gordon Smith (Ore.) Chuck Hagel (Ne.), and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine. Seven more votes were needed.

And, now all but officially a member of the Republican Party, one-time Democratic VP contender Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut voted “no.”

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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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