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The rest of you may be waiting for Congress to pass an infrastructure bill, but not us. In Irvine and other surrounding areas, it’s build, build, build. We have not one, but two Marine Corps bases that were shuttered in 1994, and after a seemingly endless set of negotiations, followed by a housing bust that brought everything to a halt, we’ve given developers the green light to build with abandon. This particular truck is hauling away dirt at MCAS Tustin (home of the blimp hangars that I’ll show you someday), but there’s also plenty of action at MCAS El Toro. All this construction is, naturally, a matter of huge controversy for the usual reasons of traffic and noise (and, um, the possibility of more low-income residents), but the voters have more-or-less spoken, and they voted to build. So that’s what we’re doing.

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4 DAYS LEFT—AND EVERYTHING RIDING ON IT

A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. That’s risky, because a strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength—but a weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

With just 4 days left, we need a huge surge in reader support to get to our $400,000 year-end goal. Whether you've given before or this is your first time, your contribution right now matters. All gifts are 3X matched and tax-deductible.

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. That’s why we need you right now. Please chip in to help close the gap.

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