April 9, 2010

Liberal Plot to Save California Foiled…For Now

Flickr/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeromeleslie/4405713313/" target="_blank">jeromeleslie</a> (Creative Commons)

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In January I spoke with UC-Berkeley linguist and progressive activist George Lakoff about his proposed referendum to repeal California’s Propostion 13—the infamous ballot initiative that mandated a 2/3 supermajority to approve tax-raising measures. For a state locked in a perpetual budget crisis (sound)—and with an ideologically polarized state legislature—Lakoff’s attempt to restore “majority rule” (as he put it), would have dramatically altered the most dysfunctional state government in the union.

As of Wednesday, however, things weren’t looking so good for Lakoff’s initiative. After sparring with state Attorney General (and presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee) Jerry Brown over wording changes, Lakoff has now withdrawn the measure. Although he plans to re-submit the referendum, even Lakoff isn’t too optimistic about his odds of collecting the required signatures by the June deadline, telling supporters “the timeline will be tight.” In other words, don’t bet on it.

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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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