January/February 1996 Issue

He Who Has the Gold Rules

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“You pay to go to GOPAC.”
–Suzy Katt, Golden Rule, on getting to Gingrich

“Every American ought to have an opportunity to belong to [an MSA] system.”
–Newt Gingrich on Golden Rule’s MSAs

$10,000 $20,000 $40,000

Golden Rule has been betting big on the GOP for the past few years, and they’re getting ready to cash in their chips. The company is one of Gingrich’s largest donors, giving more than $200,000 to his various enterprises.

Golden Rule’s total political donations rose from $81,000 in 1989-90 to $277,000 in 1991-92, to a whopping $1,069,000 in 1993-94.

Here are some of Golden Rule’s bigger gifts in the last election cycle:

  • Republican Party soft money: $524,000
  • Campaign America (Bob Dole): $30,000
  • Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), early champion of MSAs: $24,600
  • William V. Roth (R-Del.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee: $10,000

Golden Rule has also financed lobbyists and “research” organizations that promote MSAs:

  • Council for Affordable Health Insurance: $100,000/year
  • National Center for Policy Analysis: $60,000/year
  • Lobbyist Robert Thompson: $250,000+

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.

payment methods

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.

payment methods

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