October 29, 2013

BREAKING: Republicans Threaten Armageddon, Consumers Get Scared


Neil Irwin notes today that consumer confidence took a sharp downward turn in October. But it’s not clear if this will have any real effect on the broader economy:

Turns out, shutting down the government for 16 days while using the threat of a government debt default to battle over the nation’s budget isn’t great for peoples’ psyche

….It’s worth remembering that measures of confidence are always far more volatile than the actual amount of money Americans spend….So there are no guarantees that the plummeting consumer confidence will materialize into worse economic results for October. Still, coming off of a slew of weaker-than-expected data, it’s hard to imagine that the wallop that consumer confidence took in October will help matters.

Yep. If Republicans get down to business and agree to pass a simple budget by the end of the year, the effect of the October debacle will probably be limited. But if we go through the exact same thing again in January? Then all bets are off.

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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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