July 30, 2019

Donald Trump Tells the Truth Today

I have remarkable news today. President Trump tweeted that “China is doing very badly, worst year in 27,” and it turns out this wasn’t a lie:

China’s GDP growth using normal measures was 6.6 percent, slightly below the 6.7 and 6.8 percent of the previous two years. So kudos to Donald.

Of course, using the (probably) more accurate conversion to purchasing power parity, China’s growth was precisely average for the period following the Great Recession. China has some economic headwinds for sure, but their growth rate has been OK for the past decade.

In any case, the modest downward slope of the trendline began around 2005 and has nothing to do with Trump or Trump’s tariffs. He just can’t believe that China hasn’t yet caved in to his world-class negotiating skills, so now he’s telling his base that China is crumbling and victory is near!

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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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