April 11, 2011

Quote of the Day: Boehner Wants More, More, More

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From House Speaker John Boehner, staking out an early position on the upcoming fight to raise the nation’s debt ceiling:

The president says I want you to send me a clean bill. Well guess what, Mr. President, not a chance you’re going to get a clean bill. There will not be an increase in the debt limit without something really, really big attached to it.

This is hardly a surprise. We’ve been talking for months about how there’s going to be a big battle over the debt ceiling, and obviously big battles have to be fought over something. Boehner is just being a little more bellicose about this than usual.

So what’s the “really, really big” thing that Boehner has in mind? Maybe I’m being obtuse, but I’m at a bit of a loss over this. I don’t think Boehner can get away with demanding concessions on side issues like Planned Parenthood or EPA regs. He lost on that already, and his position won’t be any better in a couple of months. As for straight budget issues, what’s the point? The House is working on a budget right now and it will land on the president’s desk soon enough. That’s the place for a fight over FY2012 outlays.

So what else is there? Some kind of deal on slashing Medicare? Maybe, but I’d be pretty surprised if Boehner really wanted to tie the Republican Party to big Medicare cuts in an extremely public battle like this. Permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts? Something else?

I know that I’m demonstrating a lack of imagination here, but I’m hard-pressed to see what kind of big things Boehner can really attach to a debt ceiling bill. Help me out.

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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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