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Ezra Klein surveys yesterday’s report from the Census Bureau and says: “Median income dropped a bit, poverty rose a bit, and so too did the number of Americans without health insurance. But the actual changes aren’t very large.”

Based on the reporting I saw yesterday, which initially caused me to think that income had dropped only slightly, this is a widespread view.  But it just isn’t true.  In fact, the 2008 drop in median household income was the biggest since the Census Bureau started tracking this stuff in 1976.  Income dropped $1,860 in 2008, and the next closest competitor is 1980, when it dropped $1,439.  Last year was the worst year for household income in both absolute terms and percentage terms in the past three decades.

And, as Ezra says, that was only 2008.  This year is likely to be as bad — or possibly worse. Income drops typically persist for several years during a recession, and the combined impact of this recession is almost certain to do more damage to middle class incomes than any recession since World War II.

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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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