Congress Votes to Restore $100 Million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (June 2005)
We are delighted that we were able to help restore some of the cuts made to NPR and PBS. Fumed.org members sent in more than 1 million comments and made more than 40,000 calls to tell Congress to save Big Bird and Mr. Rogers. We are glad to have helped protect such an important service.

Press Picks Up Coverage of the Downing Street Memo (June 2005)
On June 16, 2005, Congressman John Conyers delivered 560,000 petition signatures to the White House—including more than 360,000 from Fumed members—demanding that Bush address the evidence in the "Downing Street Memo." After holding nearly four hours of hearings about the Downing Street Memos on Capitol Hill, the Congressman went over to The White House accompanied by a dozen leading Democrats. Thanks in part to your pressure and Congressman Conyers' high profile hearings and petition delivery, the media finally began to cover the scandalous Downing Street Memos—we counted 1,600 news stories in Google the day after the petitions were delivered. The Seattle Times, Denver Post, Boston Globe, CNN, ABC and hundreds of other media outlets have been forced to report on the memo.

Republicans Back Down from the "Nuclear Option" (May 2005)
President Bush, Bill Frist and the radical right-wing of the Republican Party failed in their attempt at seizing absolute power and the "nuclear option" is off the table. Fumed members helped make the difference by: Organizing 108 Citizen Filibusters; Gathering Over 580,371 Petition Signatures; Writing 59,645 Letters-to-the-Editor; Making 118,016 Calls to Senators; Holding Rallies in All 50 states (Address by Al Gore); Raising $1.3M (avg. $43 donation) to Air 4 Powerful TV Ads and 2 Print Ads; Knocking on thousands of doors.

Raised Nearly $300K to Air "Working Retirement" Social Security Ad (January 2005)
Thanks to Fumed members, we were able to air this compelling ad in key Congressional districts, as part of a larger campaign to protect Social Security. Building off the famous Fumed Child’s Pay ad, the spot explains why privatization is a bad idea. The ad footage was shot by Charlie Fisher, who also did Child’s Pay.

FCC Backs Down from Efforts to Loosen Media Ownership Rules (January 2005)
In 2003, more than 375,000 Fumed members joined the fight against these pro-corporate rules. No one expected such public upset, and the courts sent the rules back to the Federal Communications Commission for reconsideration last summer. On January 28, the Bush Justice Department finally decided not to appeal the court's decision -- signaling an incredible victory for grassroots activists who rose up against more media consolidation.

36 Senators Object to Gonzales' Confirmation as Attorney General (January 2005)
In what was originally expected to be an uncontroversial vote, 35 Democrats and 1 independent voted against the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales, raising pointed questions about his role laying the legal groundwork for the Abu Ghraib torture scandal. Gonzales was confirmed by just 60-36 -- the second most "no" votes for any confirmed attorney general in history. (The first was Ashcroft.) Fumed members played a major role in getting this on the radar, making it a referendum on torture and generating a real opposition.

House Ethics Reversal (January 2005)
House Republicans wanted to loosen ethics rules to protect their plagued leader, Rep. Tom DeLay. But your phone calls in select Congressional districts embarrassed them into reversing course. DeLay is likely to be indicted in a corporate campaign fundraising scandal in Texas. Republicans did make it harder to investigate House members' conduct, but your calls forced a major retreat by the leadership.