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From Newt Gingrich, after two days spent furiously rowing back his Meet the Press attack on Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan:

Any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood.

You have to give the guy credit for stones, I guess. On Sunday, he called Ryan’s plan “right-wing social engineering” and said he was opposed to it. Within hours he was getting hammered by just about every conservative luminary in the country and watching his presidential campaign go up in smoke. So first he tried to pretend that NBC host David Gregory had somehow tricked him, even though Gregory’s question was a pretty straightforward softball, and Gingrich’s answer was obviously a considered one. Then Gingrich explained that his language had probably been a wee bit “too strong.” Then he blamed the liberal media for taking his comments “out of context.” Then he suggested that his views were “evolving,” and the press really needed to keep up. Then he “clarified” that what he really supported was a voluntary version of the Ryan plan that could be implemented right now, instead of 10 years from now. Then he called Paul Ryan to apologize. Finally, tonight, having apparently convinced himself that 48 hours of abject abasement had literally erased what he said on Sunday, he declared that anyone who accurately quotes his Sunday statement in the future is a liar.

That’s impressive, even for Newt. But you know what’s really impressive? He’s demanding that his Sunday comments be officially declared oldthink even though he still doesn’t support Ryan’s plan. Chutzpah, baby!

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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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