Dear Commons Community,

The two major Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, are doing well in attracting donors to their campaigns.

As reported by Reuters:

“Hillary Clinton raised $55 million in the last three months of 2015, her campaign said on Friday.

The latest haul for Clinton brings her 2015 fundraising total to $112 million, and gives her one of the best-funded campaign treasuries in the race for the November 2016 U.S. presidential elections.

“At the beginning of this campaign, Hillary Clinton set a goal of $100 million in primary contributions for 2015 and blew past that goal, raising more than $112 million in primary money for the year,” her campaign said in a statement.

It said she had raised $37 million for the primary campaign, the most for any non-incumbent in a non-election year, and $18 million for the Democratic Party in the fourth quarter.

Clinton has prided herself on raising funds from women and donors of small amounts. In the most recent quarter, 94 percent of the money raised was in donations of $100 or less, her campaign said.”

As reported by the Associated Press:

“Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders raised more than $33 million during the past three months in his bid to win the Democratic nomination, his campaign said on Saturday, just short of the amount brought in by rival Hillary Clinton during the same period.

Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, has now collected $73 million for the primaries through a powerful online fundraising apparatus that should help him compete with Clinton deep into spring. His haul will allow him to spend money at a comparable rate with Clinton, who raised $37 million since the beginning of October and $112 million during 2015 for her primary campaign.

“This people-powered campaign is revolutionizing American politics,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager, in a statement. “What we are showing is that we can run a strong, national campaign without a super PAC and without depending on millionaires and billionaires for their support. We are making history, and we are proud of it.”

Clinton is the Democratic front-runner in national polls, but Sanders remains within striking distance against her in Iowa, which holds its caucuses on Feb. 1. Sanders is hoping to surprise Clinton in Iowa and then use his New England ties to defeat her in the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 9, where polls have shown him with a slight advantage.”

While votes ultimately count most in an election, the ability to raise campaign funds is one harbinger of how an electorate will go especially when the funding comes from so many small donors.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Sixteen states and another twenty municipalities have adopted new minimum wage rates that take effect in 2016.  While the federal minimum wage remains unchanged, a number of states and cities will be hiking local wage rates on Jan. 1. Some are slated for later in the year.  

Prior to this year, fewer than half the states had minimum wage rates exceeding the federal rate of $7.25. For the first time, a majority of states will have higher rates than the federal minimum as new laws or indexed increases in existing laws take effect.

Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia will now have general minimum wage rates above the federal minimum, some of those have scheduled 2016 rate increases, as shown above. The minimum wage in more than a dozen other states—such as Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon and Washington—is indexed for inflation and will automatically adjust annually for increases in the cost of living.

While more still needs to be done, this is a positive trend for workers at the lower income rungs of our economy.

Tony