The most important Daily Kos email of the year (please read)

Friend, Daily Kos readers and activists are essential to our work—we literally wouldn't be here without you. Small contributions of just a few dollars at a time are our biggest source of income. Compare that to right-wing outlets that have to appease corporate sponsors, billionaire backers or Donald Trump. We don't have big moneyed interests propping us up—we're accountable directly to you. That's why I'm writing to you today. The single most powerful thing you can do to support our work is set up a monthly recurring contribution. This may sound like a small thing to do, but seeing thousands of $1 or $5 or $10 contributions set up to recur automatically every month is hugely helpful to us when it comes to budgeting and executing campaigns to make change. It helps us make sure nothing goes to waste, and no opportunity is missed. [So please, if you haven't already, take one minute right now to set up a $5 monthly recurring donation to Daily Kos. It would be enormously helpful.]( [If you can't donate monthly, you can click here to donate $5 one time.]( Thank you, Michael Langenmayr, Daily Kos --------------------------------------------------------------- Friend, I hope you had a restful, happy and healthy holiday. We all deserved it this year. This time last year, the relief of President Biden's win was tempered by the fact that Trump was still in office—and actively trying to steal the election for a second term. COVID cases were at a high, and still rising. Control of the Senate hinged on two difficult runoff races in Georgia. You were probably hoping to catch a break this year. (I was!) But then came the insurrection, the conspiracy theories, the mainstreaming of the anti-vaxx movement (hey, thanks, Fox!), and a long, hard slog for Democrats to pass their agenda through a Congress they control by razor-thin majorities—with incorregible Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema creating havoc every step of the way. It's been a long year, but our work is not yet over. The fanatical white supremecist mob that brought Trump into office has grown larger. Republicans have wholeheartedly embraced the Big Lie. Facebook allows disinformation to spread like wildfire. America needs independent, progressive media outlets now more than ever. People love to say that Democrats can't message well. Heck, I've said it many times! But that's not totally true. President Obama was one of the great orators of the past century. Bernie Sanders is more disciplined at sticking to a simple, effective message than most anyone else. AOC has shown how to spread progressive ideas far and wide through social media. Democrats are great at messaging. But they can't compete in a media environment where a handful of large corporations control every outlet, where the biggest "news" network on TV collaborates with Trump to push out right-wing propaganda, and where tech giants like Facebook allow—hell, encourage—the spread of hateful lies. I say again: America needs independent, progressive media outlets now more than ever. Daily Kos is the country's largest progressive, independent news outlet and we are far, far too small to compete with behemoths like Fox. Ad revenue has been devoured by Big Tech, and cannot support operations. We don't have billionaire backers or corporate sponsorship. We have you—and hundreds of thousands of readers and activists like you—each chipping in a few bucks at a time to keep us online. That's why I'm writing to you today. [Daily Kos is the country's largest independent, progressive news and activism outlet. We don't rely on ads, big corporate sponsors or billionaire mega-donors to make ends meet. We rely on readers like you. I'm asking you: Can you chip in $5 a month to help Daily Kos keep fighting?]( [Can't contribute monthly? Click here to chip in $5 one time.]( Thank you and stay safe, Markos Moulitsas Founder, Daily Kos If you wish to donate by mail instead, please send a check to Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612. Contributions to Daily Kos are not tax deductible. (Please note that we may be slow to process checks during the coronavirus outbreak.) Sent via [ActionNetwork.org](. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Daily Kos, please [click here](.