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Via Joe Romm, a wee quiz:

Q: Why do Republicans want to raise Alcoa’s taxes?  Also Chrysler’s, Ford’s, GE’s, and Pepsi’s?

A: Because these companies and 20 others are in favor of reducing greenhouse emissions.  In other words, they’re traitors, and they no longer deserve the tax breaks the GOP has worked so hard to give them over the years.

Isn’t political kabuki grand?  Turns out Joe Barton (R–Fantasyland) and his friends are planning to introduce a tidal wave of 448 amendments to the Waxman-Markey Clean Energy Act, apparently in the belief that kindergarten stalling tactics like this will get them taken seriously.  Among the 448 are 25 that remove all tax benefits from corporate members of the United States Climate Action Partnership, who obviously no longer deserve them.  Plus there are five more that ominously address the “tax status” of nonprofits who support action on greenhouse gases.

Very grown up.  But what about the other 418 amendments?  Well, a couple hundred or so are routine nonsense, but some of the others are more entertaining.  There’s the Dollar-Yuan-Euro Study, whatever that is.  The Economy Killer Lobbyist Transparency Provisions.  The American Hero Exemption and Credit.  And the Virgin Islands Tourism Killer Safety Valve.

But my favorite is BLACK_004, the Black Liquor amendment.  There’s no explanation of what this might be, but considering the almost comical bamboozlishness of the current black liquor loophole, you just know it has to be outrageous even by wingnut standards.  If you’ve forgotten what this is all about, details are here.

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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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