August 10, 2010

Tread Boldly

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Hot diggity. The GOP leadership has released “Tread Boldly,” a guidebook for Republican members of Congress during the summer recess, and it includes a whole section called “Spending Restraint Solutions for Discussion.” Finally, we’ll get some details! So here they are:

Canceling unspent “stimulus” funds, saving up to $266 billion….Canceling excessive spending increases already in the pipeline….Cap Discretionary Spending….Freeze Congress’ Budget….Eliminate Unnecessary and Duplicative Federal Programs….Audit the Government for Ways to Save.

That’s fairly underwhelming, no? I’ll give them credit for the business about canceling unspent stimulus funds. That’s actual money. But a spending cap? Attacking waste’n’fraud? Freezing the minuscule legislative budget? “Auditing” the government? These are the hoariest tropes imaginable for anyone who wants to sound tough on spending but avoid any actual, real-life spending cuts. Where’s Social Security? Medicare? Medicaid? The Pentagon? Farm subsidies? Or any other actual, named program? Nowhere.

But there is support for extending the Bush tax cuts at a cost of $3.1 trillion over ten years. There’s no problem being specific about that. For some reason, it’s only spending they have trouble getting serious about.

(Via Hit & Run)

POSTSCRIPT: The cover is sort of….odd, too, isn’t it? I guess all parties do the nostalgia thing now and again, but Ike and Churchill and Maggie and Reagan and Lech (what? no John Paul II?) and TR and Jack? Seriously? Two British prime ministers, and pride of place to two Republicans who modern party members wouldn’t be caught dead endorsing?

And “Tread Boldly”? Not to get too ridiculous here, but when you think of “treading,” is “boldly” really the first word that comes to mind?

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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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