Against all odds, our Washington D.C. politicians earned their salaries and our respect the past few weeks.  In a rare show of bipartisanship, both parties got behind the JOBS Act, which scooted through Congress and was signed into law by President Obama today. It’s a collection of six bills intended to make it easier for small, private businesses to raise capital.  Among the big supporters is Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, who wrote a great piece on it.

One of the measures specifically legalizes crowdfunding.  This benefits sites like Slated, which benefits small companies, which benefit all of us.  The JOBS act isn’t perfect, and it will likely see improvements in the coming years.  But what a start.